Note 148 — Chapter XXXVI · SELF-REGARDING DUTIES AND VIRTUES—INDUSTRY—REST

Prof. Jastrow seems to have failed to see this when he says (loc. cit. p. 323) that “if the Sabbath was originally an ‘unfavourable’ day on which one must avoid showing one’s self before Yahwe, it would naturally be regarded as dangerous to provoke his anger by endeavouring to secure on that day personal benefits through the usual forms of activity.” Wellhausen, again, suggests (op. cit. p. 114) that the rest on the Sabbath was originally the consequence of that day being the festal and sacrificial day of the week, and only gradually became its essential attribute on account of the regularity with which it every eighth day interrupted the round of everyday work. He argues that the Sabbath as a day of rest cannot be very primitive, because such a day “presupposes agriculture and a tolerably hard-pressed working-day life.” But this argument appears very futile when we consider how commonly changes in the moon are believed to exercise an unfavourable influence upon work of any kind. See infra, Additional Notes.