Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-01-30
THE HEBREW SABBATH.

The Christian Endeavor icr January
his year, oontaiue an article upon the
Sabbath question, the contents oil
which should be widely known. In
1t the claim is put forth that the jewish
Sabbath curing the Mosaic dispensa'
ton was not, az commonly believed,
Saturday, but ohangeable day, as
every festival observed on 6xod date
necessarily must be. This view 10 ad'
vocated by Rev. 3. w. Gamble OF the
South Kansas conference OF the
Methodist Episcopal church. AT u
fret glance it certainly appears
absurd, but when the argument in
favor OF 1t is more closely considered,
1t assumes different aspect. Should
II, ON thorough examination, be found
to be correct, the discovery may I'M
hesitatingly be pronounced n most in
portant Que, as settling forever the
controversy between those vino OBJ.
serve the Christian Sabbath and the
clamorers for return TO the Mosaic
ordinances.
Briefly stated, Rev. CANDLES ar
gument 10 as follows. The Jewish &c.
cleaiastical year commenced on the
fret OF Nlsan or Abb. But &C.
cOrding to the law OF Sabbaths LEV.
23) the fifteenth, twenty.second and
iwenty.ninth OF that month always
were 5abbathe, and rs six secular days
were TO intervene between each Sab.
bath the year round. IL tollows that the
Sabbath day would fall In rotation on
every day Of the week, Just as our
Christmas day or the Fourth OF July
does.
The law concetning tho Sabbath
was that on that day no work should
be done. But 1t was also by the law
prescribed that on the 10Th OF Aoib
the Jewish families should arrange
for the eating OF the passover. select a
suitable lamb, and 30 on. On the IL b
OF the same month the lamb should
be killed, dressed and prepared for
first ripe grain was waved in the tenn
pie ana the harvest began. But 1t Is
evident that these dates would fire..
quently fall on Saturday, as can be
demonstrated by any calendar The
conclusion is therefore seemingly un-
avoidable that though every seventh
day always was Sa bbath, everysaturday
was not. Otherwise the Jews were 10
the peculiar position OF being both
commanded and forbidden to DO work
on come OF their SabbathH-a difficulty
that does not exist II the theory is &C.
cepted that every seventh day, not
every Saturday, was the weekly Sab.
bath.
There was another popularity about
the Jewish Sabbath. According to
Lev. 20, the people were instructed to
proclaim "the morrow after the
seventh Sabbath" u day Of holy con.
vocation. The seventh week there.
fore had two Sabbaths. making COM
plete cycle OF fiity days. This fact
throws tho first day OF the week, AMI
consequently alao the seventh, ono
day further forward than It was before
the passover. The same rule obtained
regarding Sabbath years. Every sev-
epth year was year Of rest, but when
forly-nine years were completed the
al Guh
year OF jubilee. Tho seventh week OF
yoars consisted OF eight yeare, two OF
which were Sabbath yeare.
The conclusions are:
The weekly Sabbath OF the Jews
was instituted In commemoration Of
the dellverance from Egypt on the
18th OF Ablb. This date was there.
fore always always Sabbath and the
others were counted from 1t.
Each week contained ak secular
days and one, and sometimes two,
6lbbaths.
The fret day Of the week was the
day following the single or double
Sabbath.
The question remains how and when
the Hebrew nation came TO adopt
Saturday as their weekly Sabbath.
Mr.. Gamble thinks il that subject were
irqnired into the custom could be
traced no farther back than between
the fourth and second centuries after
Christ. DR.. Hlrsch, a jewish rabbi,
asserts. however that there arc docu,
ment5 proving that the custom da,e.
still farther back. out be also admits
that originally The SabbAlhs were on
fixed dates instead Of a certain day OF
the week, az wO now count The days.
The subject is, to say the least, ex-
ceeoingly interesting AMI deservei
thorough investigator.
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