Ki Tisa

The Peshat of Shabbat

by Avraham ibn Ezra

Meet Avraham ibn Ezra (1093-1167): philosopher, poet, Hebrew grammarian, Torah commentator. He dug deeply into the words of Torah in order to bring out the Peshat, the plain meaning of the text.

Torah: you must keep My Sabbaths (Shemot/Exodus 31: 13)

Ibn Ezra: One of our great sages says that, since only the first Sabbath of creation can literally be called God's, the plural here must mean that the world will last 6,000 years, and the seventh millennium will be God's "sabbath." But in fact the sabbatical year is a sabbath, and there are many Sabbaths throughout each year.

Torah: a covenant for all time (olam) (31:16)

Ibn Ezra: Some interpret the phrase "a sign for all time" as "a sign about the world" - it is a sign that the world was created. But I have searched the entire Bible and have not found the word olam with a meaning other than the one of "all time." The world olam means "world" only in rabbinic Hebrew.

Torah: on the seventh day God ceased from work and was refreshed (vayinafash) (31:17)

Ibn Ezra: Literally "refreshed" means "resouled," like one who feels so tired that he needs rest to restore his soul. Admittedly, God "never grows faint or weary" (Isaiah 40:28), but the Torah speaks here in human terms so that even the foolish can understand.

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