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2 [1] A SABBATH UNTO THE ETERNAL, “[This means] in honor of the Eternal [and that it is not primarily intended for man’s benefit], in the same sense as this expression is used in the case of the Sabbath of Creation” [i.e., the weekly Sabbath, of which it is also said, *a Sabbath unto the Eternal*]. This is the language of Rashi. But this was not the intention of the Rabbis in their interpretation, for all [weekly] Sabbaths, and also the festivals, are in honor of the Eternal, and yet in not one of them [i.e., the festivals] does Scripture say that they are “unto the Eternal.” Instead, it says *it shall be a solemn rest unto you*, and in the case of the Day of Atonement it states, *It shall be unto you a Sabbath of solemn rest*. The text of the Beraitha in the Torah Kohanim [quoted by Rashi] is as follows: “*A Sabbath unto the Eternal*. Just as it says with reference to the Sabbath of Creation, so is it said regarding the Sabbatical year, *a Sabbath unto the Eternal*.” But the meaning of *a Sabbath unto the Eternal thy G-d* stated in connection with the Sabbath of Creation, is that *on it He ceased from work and rested* and therefore *thou shalt not do any manner of work*. It was with reference to that idea that the Sages, of blessed memory, said that the same expression is also stated in the case of the Sabbatical year, since it is the seventh in [the cycle of] the years [just as the weekly Sabbath is the seventh day in the cycle of days; and the meaning thereof here is that since the seventh year is *a Sabbath to the Eternal*, as will be explained, we are to desist from working the land].
Now here [in the Torath Kohanim mentioned above, the Rabbis] have roused our attention to one of the great secrets of the Torah. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has already given us a hint of it when he wrote: “The meaning of *a Sabbath unto the Eternal* is like that of the Sabbath-day. The secret of the years of the world is alluded to in this place.” [Thus far is Ibn Ezra’s comment.]
Bend now your ear to understand that which I am permitted to inform you about it in the words that I will cause you to hear, and if you will be worthy, you will contemplate them [and understand them]. I have already written in *Seder Bereshith* that the six days of creation represent [all] the days of the world, *and the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the Eternal thy G-d*, for on it will be the Sabbath to the Great Name, just as we have been taught [in a Mishnah]: “On the seventh day what psalm did the Levites sing [in the Sanctuary? They sang] *A Psalm, a Song. For the Sabbath-day* — [a song] for the World to Come, which will be wholly a Sabbath, and rest for life everlasting.” Thus the [seven] days [of the week] allude to that which He created in the process of creation, and the [seven] years [of the Sabbatical cycle] refer to that which will occur during the creation of all “the days” of the world. It is for this reason that Scripture was more stringent regarding [the transgression of the laws of] the Sabbatical year than with respect to those guilty of transgressing all other negative commandments, and made it punishable with exile, just as He was stringent with respect to forbidden sexual relations [for which the punishment of the people, as opposed to that of the individual, is also exile]; as it is said, *Then shall the Land be paid her Sabbaths*, and He repeated this matter many times: *As long as it lieth desolate it shall have rest*, and it is further said, *And the Land shall lie forsaken without them, and shall be paid her Sabbaths*. “And so we have been taught [in a Mishnah]: “Exile comes for the delaying of justice, and for the perversion of justice, and for [the neglect of] the year of rest for the Land.” [This stringency of punishment is] because whoever denies it [i.e., the law of the Sabbatical year], does not acknowledge the work of creation and [life in] the World to Come. Similarly the prophet [Jeremiah] was stringent, and decreed exile for neglecting to send [Hebrew] servants to freedom in the seventh year [of their service], as it is said, *I made a covenant with your fathers … At the beginning of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother* etc., for in the case of a servant the seventh year is also like a [complete] Jubilee; and the Jubilee is known also [at the very beginning of the Torah] — from *‘Bereshith’* (*In the beginning*) to *‘Vayechulu’* (*And there were finished*) — intimating that in the Jubilee everything is to return [to its origin], *every man unto his possession, and every man unto his family*. For it is *a sure foundation*, and *he that believeth* shall keep silence. This is what is meant in saying, *‘v’shavtah ha’aretz shabbath’* (*and ‘the land’ shall keep a Sabbath*); *and ye shall proclaim liberty ‘ba’aretz’* (*throughout ‘the land’*), for the reference here is to “the land of eternal life” which is alluded to in the first verse [of the Torah], and of which it is said, *‘v’ha’aretz ezkor’* (*and I will remember ‘the land’*). I have already mentioned this several times. Perhaps it is to this that our Rabbis alluded in saying: “Fifty gates [degrees] of understanding were created in the world, and all were transmitted to Moses with one exception.” For each cycle of seven years constitutes “the gate of one house” [creation], and thus He informed him of all existence from beginning to end, with the exception of the holy Jubilee.
Version: Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Source: https://www.nli.org.il/he/books/NNL_ALEPH002108945/NLI
License: CC-BY