31:14 Ye shall keep the {g} sabbath therefore; for it [is] holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth [any] work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
(g) God repeats this point because the whole keeping of the law stands in the true use of the sabbath, which is to stop working and so obey the will of God.
31:14 It is holy unto you - That is, it is designed for your benefit as well as for God's honour; it shall be accounted holy by you.
31:12-17 Orders were now given that a tabernacle should be set up for the service of God. But they must not think that the nature of the work, and the haste that was required, would justify them in working at it on sabbath days. The Hebrew word /shabath/ signifies rest, or ceasing from labour. The thing signified by the sabbath is that rest in glory which remains for the people of God; therefore the moral obligation of the sabbath must continue, till time is swallowed up in eternity.
