4.8 The Dispute over the Disciples’ Plucking of Grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23–28; Luke 6:1–5; Matt. 12:1–8) (JaS 38)
m. Šabbat 7.2*
This passage from the Mishnah, if at all representative of the kinds of prohibitions in Jesus’ day, reveals the strictness with which the commandment “to keep the Sabbath holy” was understood.
A. The generative categories of acts of labor [prohibited on the Sabbath] are forty less one:
B. (1) he who sews, (2) ploughs, (3) reaps, (4) binds sheaves, (5) threshes, (6) winnows, (7) selects [fit from unfit produce or crops], (8) grinds, (9) sifts, (10) kneads, (11) bakes;
C. (12) who shears wool, (13) washes it, (14) beats it, (15) dyes it;
D. (16) spins, (17) weaves,
E. (18) makes two loops, (19) weaves two threads, (20) separates two threads;
F. (21) ties, (22) unties,
G. (23) sews two stitches, (24) tears in order to sew two stitches;
H. (25) he who traps a dear, (26) slaughters it, (27) flays it, (28) salts it, (29) curds its hide, (30) scrapes it, and (31) cuts it up;
I. (32) he who writes two letters, (33) erases two letters in order to write two letters;
J. (34) he who builds, (35) tears down;
K. (36) he who puts out a fire, (37) kindles a fire;
L. (38) he who hits with a hammer; (39) he who transports an object from one domain to another—
M. lo, these are the forty generative acts of labor less one.
4.9 Synagogue Sabbath Healing: The Man with the Withered Hand (Mark 3:1–6; Luke 6:6–11; Matt. 12:9–14) (JaS 39)
Testament of Simeon 2.12–13
In this passage from the Testament of Simeon, we see the respect placed upon healing as a sign of God’s forgiveness and blessing (for repentance).
12The Lord bound my hands and feet, however, and thus prevented my hands from performing their deeds, because for seven days my right hand became partly withered. 13I knew, children, that this had happened to me because of Joseph, so I repented and wept. Then I prayed to the Lord God that my hand might be restored and that I might refrain from every defilement and grudge and from all folly, for I knew that I had contemplated an evil deed in the sight of the Lord and of Jacob, my father, on account of Joseph, my brother, because of my envying him.
m. Šabbat 22.6*
According to this rabbinic tradition, a person was not even allowed to set a broken bone on the Sabbath.
E.… And they do not straighten [the limb of] a child or set a broken limb.
m. ʿEduyyot 2.5*
This passage from the Mishnah reveals restrictions placed on medical treatment and healing on the Sabbath. See also m. Šabbat 14.4 and 19.2 below.
A. Three matters did they say about before R. Ishmael, and he did not rule concerning them either to prohibit or to permit, and R. Joshua b. Matya worked them out.
I B. He who cuts open an abscess on the Sabbath—
C. if it is to make an opening for it, he is liable.
D. But if it is to draw out the pus from it, he is exempt.
II E. And concerning him who traps a snake on the Sabbath—
F. if he got involved with it so that it would not bite him, he is exempt.
G. But if it was for purposes of healing, he is liable.…
m. Šabbat 14.4*
A. He who is concerned about his teeth may not suck vinegar through them.
B. But he dunks [his bread] in the normal way,
C. and if he is healed, he is healed.
D. He who is concerned about his loins [which give him pain], he may not anoint them with wine or vinegar.
E. But he anoints with oil—
F. not with rose oil.
G. Princes [on the Sabbath], anoint themselves with rose oil on their wounds, since it is their way to do so on ordinary days.
H. R. Simeon says, “All Israelites are princes.”
m. Šabbat 19.2*
For the text of 19.2, see m. Šabbat 19.1–2 in section 13.12 below.
t. Šabbat 16.22*
According to this passage from the Tosefta, Shammai did not permit prayer for the sick on the Sabbath, but Hillel did allow it.
A. And so did Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel say, “The House of Shammai say, ‘They do not distribute charity to the poor on the Sabbath in the house of assembly—
B. “*‘even funds to marry an orphan boy and an orphan girl.
C. “*‘And they do not make a match between a man and his mate.
D. “*‘And they do not pray for a sick person on the Sabbath.’
E. “And the House of Hillel permit.”
CD 11.5–18
The Damascus Document at Qumran gives certain restrictions for life on the Sabbath within the Qumran community.
5 … No-one should go after an animal to pasture it outside his city, except for 6a thousand cubits.… He is not to raise his hand to strike with the fist.… If 7it is stubborn, he should not remove it from his house.… No-one should remove anything from the house 8to outside or from outside to the house. Even if he is in a hut, he should remove nothing from it 9or bring anything into it. He is not to open a sealed vessel on the sabbath.… No-one should wear 10perfumes on the sabbath, to go out or come in.… In his dwelling no-one should lift 11a stone or dust. The wet-nurse should not lift the baby to go out or come in on the sabbath.… 12No-one should press his servant or his maidservant or his employee on the sabbath.… {Not} No-one should help an animal give birth on the sabbath day … And if he makes it fall into a well 14or a pit, he should not take it out on the sabbath. No-one should stay in a place close 15to gentiles on the sabbath … No-one should profane the sabbath by riches or gain on the sabbath … 16And any living man who falls into a place of water or into a place <…>, 17no-one should take him out with a ladder or a rope or a utensil. No-one should offer anything upon the altar on the sabbath, 18except the sacrifice of the sabbath, for thus it is written: Lev 23:38 “except your offerings of the sabbath.”
Bock, D. L., & Herrick, G. J. (2005). Jesus in Context: Background Readings for Gospel Study (80–82). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
