Remember and Keep

By Dawn Edwards
08/01/10

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8

‫ׁש ֹו הַּׁשַ ּבָת אֶת־י ֹום זָכ ֹור‬
ֽ ְ‫לְקַּד‬

What does it mean to “remember” the Sabbath and why is it important to “keep” it holy? A solid
answer to these questions is necessary in order for us to “…sanctify Messiah as Master in [our]
hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks [us] to give an account for
the hope that is in [us], yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in
the thing in which [we] are slandered, those who revile [our] good behavior in Messiah will be
put to shame.” I Peter 3:15-16.

In this study we will break down each of the Hebrew words in Exodus 20:8 according to the
meaning of their individual letters then unite them to create a full concept of the verse.

Our first word is “REMEMBER”. Strong’s Concordance designates H2142 zakar ‫ זָכַ ר‬as the
number for this Hebrew word but that is the root word of the actual word used which is H2139
‫ זָכ ֹור‬zakkuwr. When we look closely at these two words we see an added letter…the vav/vaw.
The simple definition of zakkuwr is “mindful”. When we break down the letters this is what we
find:

Zayin Mattock food, cut, nourish, pierce, scatter, plow, harvest, tool
Kaph Open palm bend, open, allow, tame, cover, bless
Vav Tent peg add, secure, hook, join, pierce
Resh Head of a man first, top, beginning, think, person, sum

H2142 is an adopted root word which is defined in verb form as “remember, or a recalling of
events of the past or to act upon a past event”; and in noun form as “male; and memorial”. It
could mean “to remember a man”! When we add the Vav and incorporate the meaning of each
letter we have: Scatter the [kernel] heads with a pierced open palm – or – pierce the
ground then scattering the [kernel] heads with the open palm. This is a picture of
sowing seed in a field! We can see a reference to Messiah in the pierced open palm (remember a
man).

What is the purpose of sowing seed? Producing fruit! Remember this verse? John 12:24
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone;
but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” We have a picture of perpetual life…a kernel of wheat is sown
into the ground…it bears fruit…this fruit is harvested with some of it planted beginning the cycle
all over again!

Remembering is NOT simply recalling something from the past as a mere thought…it is to be a
perpetual memorial to a special event! I remember my wedding by keeping my vows every day
and having a celebration every anniversary of that occasion! My husband and I mark the
calendar in advance every year and make plans to go out to dinner. Sometimes we schedule that
date, along with surrounding dates, as vacation time and go away for some time of intimacy!

Then next word is ‫ אֶת‬aleph-tav. These are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alephbet and
denote beginning and end. According to Strong’s Concordance and the Hebrew scholars this
‘word’ is generally unrepresented in English! It can be found over 600 times in the Tanahk and is
a reference to Yeshua Messiah who said of himself in Revelation 22:13
"I am the Alpha and the Omega aleph-tav, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
[Remember that Yeshua was Hebrew NOT GREEK! He would have spoken Hebrew or Aramaic
(a Hebrew dialect)!]

In our key verse, the reference could be to remember the BEGINNING and END of the ‫י ֹום‬
Yowm/Day! This is the next word in the verse and is recorded as Strong's H3117with the
following definition: To be hot; a day. The Hebrew letters and their meanings are:
Yod Hand work, throw, make, energize, worship
Vav Tent peg add, secure, hook, join, pierce
Mem Water chaos, might, blood, out of, what, how

The root word, yom, is a combination of a picture of a hand (representing work) and the picture of
water; together they mean “working water". It is a reference to the sea or other large body of
water. A day ends and the new day begins when the sun sets in the west over the
Mediterranean sea…when the sun and sea are joined! This gives us a definition of “day” as
being more than just ‘daylight’. We can see another allusion toward Messiah in the pictographs
of each letter: the blood flowing out of the pierced hand!

Our next word is ‫ ַּׁשּבָת‬shabath Sabbath (Strong's H7673); from the root word H7676 - shabbath
‫שַׁ ּבָת‬, which means to cease, desist, rest; the ceasing of work or activity in order to rest. The two
letter root is ‫ שב‬Shab - Verb: Turn/Noun: Seat. The pictographic meaning is two front teeth
representing pressing or shoving; with a picture of tent. Combined these mean "Press toward the
tent" with tent being a place of dwelling… the place returned to (after turning back or away from
someone or something). A captive is one turned away from a place of dwelling. This word can
also be defined as “shove”. The letters of the word Shabbath are:
Shin Two front teeth sharp, press, eat, two, destroy, again
Beyt Tent floor plan family, house, in, with, peace, divide
Tav Crossed sticks mark, sign, signal, monument, seal, own, covenant
The picture is to “press toward the house to rest as a sign or covenant’!

The Shabbat is the ONLY day of the week that is given a name! All of the others are designated
by numbers. We work for six days, counting each as leading up to Shabbat, and then we return
home to rest! When we do this we become a sign to the world of the sovereignty of YHVH.

“Keep” and “Holy” are blended in the Hebrew. The word, ‫ לְקַּדְ ֽׁש ֹו‬l’chodeshuw has in the center
ֽ ְ‫ קַּד‬qadash (chodesh) Holy (Strong's H6942):
ֹ ‫ׁש‬
Qof Rising sun behind, last, rise, east, cycle, time, distinguish
Dalet Door move, hang, enter, open, path, way
Shin Teeth sharp, press, eat, two, destroy, again
 “divide the time/way – or set apart”
Often we get the impression from pastors/teachers that holiness is an ethereal concept too
unattainable for us humans. If we correctly define the Hebrew word, it simply means “set apart”
making Leviticus 19:2 say, "Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, '
You shall be holy set apart, for I YHVH your Elohim am holy set apart.’”(Quoted in I Peter
3:16) We now understand that the Shabbat is to be “set apart”!

Bookending the word “chodesh” are the letters:

lamed staff lead, yoke, control, teach, forward, tongue
vav tent peg secure, hook, add, join, pierce
“to secure the yoke”

We can see that “keep” means to securely and permanently attach something – like a yoke!
Yeshua said, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:30) It is not a hard
thing He asks of us.

When we put all of this together we have a command to make a perpetual memorial which is
marked by the BEGINNING and END of a specific day on which we press toward the house
to rest in a covenant; and we are to secure this memorial as a yoke upon ourselves and set it
apart from all other days!

What is this specific day? Exodus 20: 9 – 10 tells us…"Six days you shall labor and do all your
work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of YHVH your God; in it you shall not do any work, you
or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner
who stays with you.” We rest from our labor on the seventh day because He rested from His
labor on the seventh day. (Gen. 2:2) This means we don’t get to choose which day will be our
Sabbath! There is no option to establish the first day of the week as a day of rest then work the
next six days. We are to follow the example set by YHVH and Yeshua who is the Lord of the
Sabbath!

Exodus 20:9, 31:13; Leviticus 19: 3, 30, and 26:2 also tell us that the sabbath is YHVH’s day!
This includes ALL of the seven-day Sabbaths and EACH of the Sabbaths associated with His
Feasts! What does that mean for us? It means we need to get out our calendars and mark each
Shabbat from Friday sunset until Saturday sunset as SET APART for honoring and worshiping
our creator. The day should be completely unlike any other day…no physical labor, no working
a job whether for money or as a volunteer, no housework, etc. Every day should include time in
YHVH’s Word, but the Shabbat should be especially set aside for study time, preferably with a
community of believers.

Community gatherings should include fellowship, worship and prayer.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Messiah richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and
admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness
in your hearts to YHVH.

Ephesians 5:18 – 21 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with
the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody with your heart to YHVH; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Master
Yeshua Messiah to YHVH, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Messiah.

1 Timothy 4:13 Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and
teaching.

These community gatherings are essential in our walk with Yeshua and are the reference in the
scripture which says, “…not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25)
We need to schedule our lives around these Shabbats (including, especially, the Feasts) – not fit
them into our lives between other activities. This “fitting them in” mentality is opposed to
‘setting them apart’ and puts us in the position of breaking the Fourth Commandment! This day
is not another social engagement to be rearranged on a whim because ‘something else came up’!
It is an appointment with YHVH…one that we need to keep!

Keeping this day holy includes making sure that we do not cause someone else to work on our
behalf! Please refer back to Exodus 20:10. No one should be able to use us as their reason for not
honoring the Sabbath themselves. If we believe that EVERYONE SHOULD follow Torah then
we should live like EVERYONE REMEMBERS the SABBATH DAY and KEEPS it HOLY!