Sabbath in the Making: A Study of the Inner-Biblical Interpretation of the Sabbath Commandment

The ancient institution of the Sabbath which has persisted throughout the centuries and to this very day defines the identity, religious and cultural practices of the Jewish community. This study aims to offer a more accurate description of the literary and redaction history of the Sabbath commandments in the Bible from the perspective of the inner-biblical interpretation, and to understand the theological and intellectual endeavour of scribes, who were responsible for the different redactional layers. Hence, the Sabbath commandments are presented against the time span of 'exile and return' spread over the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods. In the final part, the Sabbath is discussed as identity marker: How did it function as identity marker, self-understanding and self-definition of the exiled Judean group? What was the role of the Sabbath day in the identity building strategies of the biblical authors in general? How is this perception reflected by the Sabbath commandments?