Dictionary:

Sabbath

  (săb'əth)

1. The seventh day of the week, Saturday, observed as the day of rest and worship by the Jews and some Christian sects.
2. The first day of the week, Sunday, observed as the day of rest and worship by most Christians.

[Middle English sabat, from Old French sabbat and Old English sabat, both from Latin sabbatum, from Greek sabbaton, from Hebrew šabbāt, from šābat, to cease, rest.]

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The seventh day of the week; the day of religiously mandated rest.

In Judaism, the Sabbath (in Hebrew, Shabbat, or rest) was and is the holiest day of the week. Historically, no work of any kind could be done; hence, fire could not be made and, by extension, nothing that runs electrically or mechanically can be started up by observant Jews. Food is prepared in advance and special customs ensure rest and reflection on the past week, and thereby restoration of the soul for the coming week.

The Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown Friday and lasts twenty-five hours, until nightfall Saturday; the Christian Sabbath is usually celebrated on Sunday. In Israel on the Sabbath, public facilities are closed. Outside of Haifa, buses of the state cooperatives do not run, no El Al (Israeli) airliners take off or land, and no Hebrew newspapers are published.

Public observance of the Sabbath has been the source of some tension within Israeli society. Since the formation of the state, Orthodox and, in particular, haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews have been insistent that restaurants, movie theatres, and other "profane" public establishments remain closed in observance of the Sabbath. Although such closings have been common, increasing numbers of businesses are remaining open on the Sabbath.

There is no ban in Israel on the driving of private cars on the Sabbath, but haredi Jews, in an effort to enforce the religious prohibitions of the Sabbath, have periodically clashed with local authorities and drivers by demanding the closure to automobile traffic of public thoroughfares that pass near or through their enclaves on the holy day of rest. This has occasionally led to violent demonstrations, stone-throwing, and mass protests by Orthodox Jews against "desecration of the Sabbath." Although most of these demonstrations ultimately have led to the limitation or eventual halt of the flow of traffic on these thoroughfares during the Sabbath, the protests have also led to increased tensions between Orthodox and secular Israelis and often hostile debates about religious coercion in Israeli society.

— SAMUEL C. HEILMAN

The holy day of rest and reflection observed each Saturday among the Jews. This custom fulfills the third of the Ten Commandments (“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”). The Sabbath commemorates the last of the seven days of Creation as described in the Book of Genesis, the day God rested from his labors of creating the heavens and the Earth.

n.

A weekly festival having its origin in the fact that God made the world in six days and was arrested on the seventh. Among the Jews observance of the day was enforced by a Commandment of which this is the Christian version: "Remember the seventh day to make thy neighbor keep it wholly." To the Creator it seemed fit and expedient that the Sabbath should be the last day of the week, but the Early Fathers of the Church held other views. So great is the sanctity of the day that even where the Lord holds a doubtful and precarious jurisdiction over those who go down to (and down into) the sea it is reverently recognized, as is manifest in the following deep-water version of the Fourth Commandment:

    Six days shalt thou labor and do all thou art able,
    And on the seventh holystone the deck and scrape the cable.

The Sabbath (or Sabbat) is a weekly day of rest and/or worship that is observed in the Judeo-Christian faiths. The term derives from the Hebrew shavat, "(to) rest". It originates from the biblical account of the last day of creation, and was repeated as part of the Ten Commandments. A number of other religions have a similar practice, and the term has also been imported into secular usage.

In religion:

• Sabbath in Christianity, a weekly religious day of rest in Christianity, usually on Sunday
  • Sabbath in Seventh-day Adventism, observed from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, in similar manner to Judaism
• Shabbat, a weekly day of rest in Judaism
  • Shmita, the Sabbatical Year, during which the land had to remain uncultivated and some debts were to be forgiven every seventh year
  • Shabbat, sabbath prohibitions found in Seder Moed in the Mishnah
• Uposatha, a weekly opportunity for "cleansing of the defiled mind" in Buddhism
• Ahn Shi Il, the Unification Church's equivalent of a Sabbath
• Sabbath (witchcraft), an unverified midnight meeting of witches
• Wheel of the Year, a Wiccan metaphor and calendar for the cycle of the seasons, often referred to as Sabbats

In popular culture:

• Black Sabbath, a British heavy metal band with vocalist Ozzy Osbourne
• Sabbat (band), a British thrash metal band formed in the 1980s
• Sabbat (Japanese band), a Japanese black metal band
• Sabbat (rock opera), a hard rock opera written by Craig R. Pedersen and the rock band Uther Pendragon
• Sabbat (World of Darkness), a sect of vampires in White Wolf Game Studio's Vampire: The Masquerade roleplaying game
• Sabbath (Doctor Who), a Doctor Who villain
• Sabbath economics, an economic model championed by Christian economist Ched Myers
• Sabbath Strange, cat owned by the fictional character Emily Strange

Other uses:

• Sabbatical year, a prolonged hiatus from one's career, typically one year

See also

• Blue law, laws in certain parts of the United States which restrict work on Sunday
• Friday prayer, a congregational prayer held every Friday just after noon in Islam

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - sabbat, hviledag

Nederlands (Dutch)
sabbat, sjabbes

Français (French)
n. - sabbat, jour du seigneur

Deutsch (German)
n. - Sabbat, Sonntag

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (θρησκ.) (ιουδαϊκό) Σάββατο, (για Προτεστάντες) Κυριακή (αργία), (μτφ.) αργία

Italiano (Italian)
sabato, il giorno di riposo ebraico secondo il Decalogo (sabato)

Português (Portuguese)
n. - sábado (m), sabá (m)

Русский (Russian)
священный день отдохновения, покой, шабаш

Español (Spanish)
n. - (judío) sábado, (cristiano) domingo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - sabbat, vilodag

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
安息日, 主日

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 安息日, 主日, 猶太教為星期六, 基督教為星期日, 安息日, 主日

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 안식일, 휴식기간, 정적

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 安息日, 休息, 平和, 静寂

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) يوم السبت‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮יום שבתון דתי שבועי - שבת (יהודים) או יום ראשון (נוצרים), זמן נופש‬

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