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SABBATH DAY’S JOURNEY*
Regulation derived from Jewish literature limiting travel on the Sabbath. The prohibition against work on the Sabbath was interpreted to exclude extensive travel (Ex 16:27-30). A person was permitted to travel 2,000 cubits (about a half mile, or 900 meters; see Jos 3:4, NLT mg) but no further. This was determined by the distance between the ark and the people following it (Jos 3:4) or from the pasturelands to the Levitical cities (Nm 35:4-5). Thus, in the former instance, one would not go further to worship or in the latter to pasture an animal. The only biblical reference describes the distance from the Mt of Olives to Jerusalem (which, according to Josephus, was 1,000 to 1,200 yards, or 914.4 to 1,097.3 meters) as “a Sabbath day’s walk” (Acts 1:12).
The rabbis invented ways to at least double the distance. One could establish his home 2,000 cubits away by carrying food sufficient for two meals: one to be eaten and the other to be buried—thereby to mark a temporary domicile. He might alternatively fix his gaze upon a location 2,000 cubits away as his legal home for the Sabbath. He could, separately or in conjunction with a preceding modification, view the entire town as his home and so figure the Sabbath day’s journey from the village limits.
See also Sabbath.