Discovery BoxExodus 31:13-14 
Context31:13 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, 1 for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 2 31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it 3 must surely be put to death; indeed, 4 if anyone does 5 any 6 work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his 7 people.
1 sn The instruction for the Sabbath at this point seems rather abrupt, but it follows logically the extended plans of building the sanctuary. B. Jacob, following some of the earlier treatments, suggests that these are specific rules given for the duration of the building of the sanctuary (Exodus, 844). The Sabbath day is a day of complete cessation; no labor or work could be done. The point here is that God’s covenant people must faithfully keep the sign of the covenant as a living commemoration of the finished work of Yahweh, and as an active part in their sanctification. See also H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the OT and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-42; M. Tsevat, “The Basic Meaning of the Biblical Sabbath, ZAW 84 (1972): 447-59; M. T. Willshaw, “A Joyous Sign,” ExpTim 89 (1978): 179-80.
2 tn Or “your sanctifier.”
3 tn This clause is all from one word, a Piel plural participle with a third, feminine suffix: מְחַלְלֶיהָ (mÿkhalleha, “defilers of it”). This form serves as the subject of the sentence. The word חָלַל (khalal) is the antonym of קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be holy”). It means “common, profane,” and in the Piel stem “make common, profane” or “defile.” Treating the Sabbath like an ordinary day would profane it, make it common.
4 tn This is the asseverative use of כִּי (ki) meaning “surely, indeed,” for it restates the point just made (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449).
5 tn Heb “the one who does.”
6 tn “any” has been supplied.
7 tn Literally “her” (a feminine pronoun agreeing with “soul/life,” which is grammatically feminine).
