2 The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them. 2 By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation. 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created—when the LORD God made the earth and heavens.
Ob and In:
Repeated words:
(1) Completed, finished; (BDB) bring to an end, finish a thing, task, work, This is the first usage of the word in the OT.
ceased; (NET) שָׁבַּת (shabbat) can be translated “to rest” (“and he rested”) but it basically means “to cease.” This is not a rest from exhaustion; it is the cessation of the work of creation.
Reflection: God is so powerful that He brought to the finish line of creating everything of the world in just 6 days. The proof is that He can rest on the 7th day.
(2) blessed, made it holy
God blessed the living creatures and mankind to multiply. Now, God the 7th day and made it holy.
(NET) The Piel verb קִדֵּשׁ (qiddesh) means “to make something holy; to set something apart; to distinguish it.” On the literal level the phrase means essentially that God made this day different. But within the context of the Law, it means that the day belonged to God; it was for rest from ordinary labor, worship, and spiritual service. The day belonged to God.
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