Why Sabbath is Like an Oath

The root of “oath,” although allegedly Gemanic,

transliterates the Hebrew word for it, ot, spelled aleph tav, suggesting

a new way to explain, bilingually but not I hope insanic,

why Exodus describes the day that we must dedicate this day each week to resting,

as an ot,

polyglot.

The seventh day of every week is a ritual which bibliically confirms

the bond of Jews to God, the weekly Sabbath celebration,

a blessing that should be regarded as a wordless oath whose legal terms

link creativity of God to ritual lack of it by the

Jewish nation.

Exod. 31:16-17 states:

וְשָׁמְר֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּ֑ת לַעֲשׂ֧וֹת אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּ֛ת לְדֹרֹתָ֖ם בְּרִ֥ית עוֹלָֽם׃

The Israelite people shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout the ages as a covenant for all time:

בֵּינִ֗י וּבֵין֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל א֥וֹת הִ֖וא לְעֹלָ֑ם כִּי־שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֗ים עָשָׂ֤ה יְהֹוָה֙ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבַיּוֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י שָׁבַ֖ת וַיִּנָּפַֽשׁ׃ {ס}

it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days GOD made heaven and earth, [before] ceasing from work and being refreshed on the seventh day.

This poem bilingually links א֥וֹת ot, spelled aleph, vav, tav, the Hebrew word for the “sign,” that Exod. 31:17 identifies as the rationale of the Sabbath, to the English word “oath”— a link that suggests to me that obedience of this commandment is poetically comparable to fulfillment of an oath.

Etymology of “oath”:

Middle English oth, from Old English að “judicial swearing, solemn appeal (to deity, sacred relics, etc.), in witness of truth or a promise,” from Proto-Germanic *aithaz, from PIE *oi-to- “an oath” (source also of Old Irish oeth “oath”). Common to Celtic and Germanic, it is possibly a loan-word from one to the other, but the history is obscure and it may ultimately be non-Indo-European. Germanic cognates include Old Norse eiðr, Swedish ed, Old Saxon, Old Frisian eth, Middle Dutch eet, Dutch eed, German eid, Gothic aiþs “oath.”