ContradictionsReading order 322Bible context 2 min read
Does God work on the Sabbath?
Genesis describes God's seventh day rest, while Jesus appeals to his Father's ongoing work when defending action on the Sabbath.
- Textual conflict
- Weak tension
- The alleged conflict needs substantial assumptions, such as treating an omission as a denial or figurative language as literal.
- Importance
- Major
- A major event or claim with wider implications.
Rest from completed creation and ongoing later Sabbath activity describe different times and kinds of work.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
God rests from creation work on the seventh day
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Genesis 2:2-3
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Genesis 2
Jesus invokes his Father's continuing work on the Sabbath
And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
John 5:16-17
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)