Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the creation of the heaven and earth in six days and the redemption from slavery and the Exodus from Egypt. Since the Jewish religious calendar counts days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on the civil calendar is Friday.
Shabbat observance entails refraining from work activities, and engaging in restful activities to honor the day. Judaism's traditional position is that the unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people as their first and most sacred institution. Variations upon Shabbat are widespread in Judaism and, with adaptations, throughout the Abrahamic and many other religions.
According to halakha (Jewish religious law), Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before the sun sets on Friday evening until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night, or an hour after sundown.Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 293:2 Shabbat is ushered in by lighting candles and reciting blessings over wine and bread. Traditionally, three festive meals are eaten: The first one is held on Friday evening, the second is traditionally a lunch meal on Saturday, and the third is held later Saturday afternoon. The evening meal and the early afternoon meal typically begin with a blessing called kiddush (sanctification), said over a cup of wine.
At the third meal a kiddush is not performed, but the hamotzi blessing is recited and challah (braided bread) is eaten. In many communities, this meal is often eaten in the period after the afternoon prayers (Minchah) are recited and shortly before Shabbat is formally ended with a Havdalah ritual.
Shabbat is a festive day when Jews exercise their freedom from the regular labours of everyday life. It offers an opportunity to contemplate the spiritual aspects of life and to spend time with family. The end of Shabbat is traditionally marked by a ritual called Havdalah, during which blessings are said over wine (or grape juice), aromatic spices, and Havdalah candle lighting, separating Shabbat from the rest of the week.
Etymology
The word Shabbat derives from the Hebrew root ש־ב־ת. Although frequently translated as "rest" (noun or verb), another accurate translation is "ceasing [from work]." The notion of active cessation from labour is also regarded as more consistent with an omnipotent God's activity on the seventh day of creation according to Genesis.
Origins
Babylon
A number of scholars propose a cognate Akkadian word šapattu or šabattu, which refers to the day of the full moon. A lexicographic list found in the library of Ashurbanipal glosses šabattu as "[the gods'] day of the heart's rest" (ūm nûḫ libbi), although this probably refers to the appeasement of the gods' anger. Other scholars doubt that there is a connection between the biblical Sabbath and the Akkadian šapattu/šabattu, as the two words may not have a common etymology and šapattu refers almost exclusively to the fifteenth day of the month or the phenomenon of lunar alignment, not to the seventh day of a week.
Connection to Sabbath observance has been suggested in the designation of the seventh, fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-eight days of a lunar month in an Assyrian religious calendar as a 'holy day', also called 'evil days' (meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities). The prohibitions on these days, spaced seven days apart (except the nineteenth), include abstaining from chariot riding, and the avoidance of eating meat by the King. On these days officials were prohibited from various activities and common men were forbidden to "make a wish", and at least the 28th was known as a "rest-day"."Histoire du peuple hébreu". André Lemaire. Presses Universitaires de France 2009 (8e édition), p. 66 This theory has also been challenged on the grounds that the 'evil days' did not always fall every seven days and did not entail a general cessation of work.
The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia advanced a theory of Assyriologists like Friedrich Delitzsch (and of Marcello Craveri) that Shabbat originally arose from the lunar cycle in the Babylonian calendar containing four weeks ending in a Sabbath, plus one or two additional unreckoned days per month. The difficulties of this theory include reconciling the differences between an unbroken week and a lunar week, and explaining the absence of texts naming the lunar week as Sabbath in any language.
Egypt Seventh-day Shabbat did not originate with the Egyptians, to whom it was unknown; and other origin theories based on the day of Saturn, or on the planets generally, have also been abandoned.
Hebrew Bible
Sabbath is given special status as a holy day at the very beginning of the Torah in Genesis 2:1–3. It is first commanded after the Exodus from Egypt, in Exodus 16:26 (relating to the cessation of manna) and in Exodus 16:29 (relating to the distance one may travel by foot on the Sabbath). It is also commanded in Exodus 20:8–11 (as one of the Ten Commandments). Sabbath is commanded and commended many more times in the Torah and Tanakh, appearing 111 times in a total of 89 verses across the Hebrew Bible, including by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, and Nehemiah.Lexicon :: Strong's H7676 – šabāṯ, Blue Letter Bible. Accessed June 24, 2026. "Strong's Number H7676 matches the Hebrew שַׁבָּת (šabāṯ), which occurs 111 times in 89 verses in the WLC Hebrew." Twice as many animal sacrifices were offered on Shabbat compared to the daily offering of the other six days of the week.Every Person's Guide to Shabbat, by Ronald H. Isaacs, Jason Aronson, 1998, p. 6
The longstanding Jewish position is that the continuous observance of the seventh day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution. The origins of Shabbat and a seven-day week are not clear to scholars; the Mosaic tradition claims an origin from the Genesis creation narrative.
The first non-Biblical reference to Sabbath is in an ostracon found in excavations at Mesad Hashavyahu, which has been dated to approximately 630 BCE.
Status as a Jewish holy day
The Tanakh and siddur describe Shabbat as having three purposes: To commemorate God's creation of the universe, on the seventh day of which God rested from (or ceased) his work, which is the reason cited in the Ten Commandments as they appear in the Exodus 20 ("For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth... but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.");Bier, Meir. When God Rested: Understanding the Meaning of Shabbat, Aish HaTorah, November 5, 2025. Accessed July 22, 2026. "Shabbat observance is one of the most defining expressions of Jewish faith and identity. The Talmud teaches that keeping Shabbat is an affirmation that God created the world and continues to guide its ongoing existence.... The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Torah, and in each instance, Shabbat occupies a central place. In the first version, the Torah commands: 'Do not do any work… for in six days God made heaven and earth… but He rested on the seventh.' In the second version, it adds: 'Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and that God brought you out… therefore God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath.'Exodus 20, BibleGateway. Accessed July 22, 2026. "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."Exodus 20, Sefaria. Accessed July 22, 2026. "For in six days GOD made heaven and earth and sea—and all that is in them—and then rested on the seventh day; therefore GOD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it." To commemorate the Exodus of the Israelites and their redemption from slavery in ancient Egypt, which is the reason cited in the Ten Commandments as they appear in the Deuteronomy 5 ("Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand.... Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.")Deuteronomy 5, BibleGateway. Accessed July 22, 2026. "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day."Deuteronomy 5, Sefaria. Accessed July 22, 2026. "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the ETERNAL your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the ETERNAL your God has commanded you to observe the sabbath day." As a "taste" of Olam Haba (the "world to come" in the Messianic Age).Kovel, Avraham. "Shabbat: A Taste of Life’s Purpose", Aish HaTorah, February 16, 2025. Accessed July 24, 2026. "And that is the purpose of Shabbat. The Talmud states, 'Shabbat is a taste of the World to Come.'... Berachot 57b, Bereshit Rabbah 17:5. What's the significance of calling Shabbat 1/60th of the World to Come (Berachot 57A)?... Similarly with Shabbat – when we make it distinct and special, we can taste that 1/60th of the World to Come."
Judaism accords Shabbat the status of a joyous holy day. In many ways, Jewish law gives Shabbat the status of being the most important holy day in the Hebrew calendar:One measure is the number of people called up to Torah readings at the Shachrit/morning service. Three is the smallest number, e.g. Mondays and Thursdays. Five on the Holy days of Passover, Shavuoth, Succoth. Yom Kippur: Six. Shabbat: Seven. It is the first holy day mentioned in the Bible, and God was the first to observe it with the cessation of creation (Genesis 2:1–3). Jewish liturgy treats Shabbat as a "bride" and "queen" (see Shekhinah); some sources described it as a "king".The Talmud (Shabbat 119a) describes rabbis going out to greet the Shabbat Queen, and the Lekhah Dodi poem describes Shabbat as a "bride" and "queen". However, Maimonides (Mishneh Torah Hilchot Shabbat 30:2) speaks of greeting the "Shabbat King", and two independent commentaries on Mishneh Torah (Maggid Mishneh and R' Zechariah haRofeh) quote the Talmud as speaking of the "Shabbat King". The words "King" and "Queen" in Aramaic differ by just one letter, and it seems that these understandings result from different traditions regarding spelling the Talmudic word. See full discussion. The Sefer Torah is read during the Torah reading which is part of the Shabbat morning services, with a longer reading than during the week. The Torah is read over a yearly cycle of 54 parashioth, one for each Shabbat (sometimes they are doubled). On Shabbat, the reading is divided into seven sections, more than on any other holy day, including Yom Kippur. Then, the Haftarah reading from the Hebrew prophets is read. A tradition states that the Jewish Messiah will come if every Jew properly observes two consecutive Shabbatoth.Shabbat 118 The punishment in ancient times for desecrating Shabbat (stoning) is the most severe punishment in Jewish law.See e.g. Numbers 15:32–36. In addition, the divine punishment for desecrating Shabbat, kareth (spiritual excommunication), is the most severe of divine punishments in Judaism.Rambam's commentary on the Mishna, tractate of Avot, Chapter 2 a. (he) On Shabbat an offering of two lambs was brought in the temple in Jerusalem.Numbers 28:9.
Rituals
Welcoming Shabbat
Honoring Shabbat (kavod Shabbat) on Preparation Day (Friday) includes bathing, having a haircut and cleaning and beautifying the home (with flowers, for example).