493) Carrying on Shabbat: From Jeremiah to the Mishna

Jerusalem began trading on the silk route from around 200 BCE

Introduction

This article ꟷ based extensively on the research by Professor Alex P. Jassen[1] ꟷ examines how four pre-Mishnaic texts show evidence of the origin and expansion of the prohibition against carrying on Shabbat. The specific textual prohibition against carrying on Shabbat first begins with Yirmiyahu’s (Jeremiah’s) prohibition against carrying a ‘load’ (מַשָּׂא֙, massa), for trade and commercial purposes, and only in Jerusalem. It then underwent a process of expansion during Second Temple times as it passed through the four texts of Nechemiah (Nehemiah), the Book of Jubilees, the Dead Sea Scrolls and finally became the Mishna’s general Halachic prohibition, as we know it today, against carrying ‘anything’ to or from ‘any’ domain. We shall trace and map this textual progression. Our focus is on the textual trail, as the oral tradition (which we briefly discuss at the conclusion) is not possible to track in the same way. 

Shabbat in the Torah

The Torah does not tell us much about Shabbat observances other than that we, and the members of our households, must keep it holy, cease working and observe a period of rest. 

It is interesting to note that the two versions of the Ten Commandments, in Exodus (20:8-11) and Deuteronomy (5:12-15), offer different reasons for observing the Shabbat. The first states that Shabbat is to commemorate the creation: “כִּ֣י שֵֽׁשֶׁת־יָמִים֩ עָשָׂ֨ה יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָ֗רֶץ, For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth.” The second states that we must rest in order to: “וְזָכַרְתָּ֗֞ כִּ֣י־עֶ֤֥בֶד הָיִ֣֙יתָ֙ ׀ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔֗יִם, Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt.” However, no specific details are provided to inform on how we are to observe the Shabbat practices and prohibitions. 

There are some other biblical references to Shabbat such as Exodus 35:1-3 which specifies לֹא־תְבַעֲר֣וּ אֵ֔שׁ kindling fire as a prohibition. Exodus 34:21 identifies בֶּחָרִ֥ישׁ וּבַקָּצִ֖יר תִּשְׁבֹּֽת ploughing and harvesting. Exodus 16:23 alludes to refraining from אֵ֣ת אֲשֶׁר־תֹּאפ֞וּ אֵפ֗וּ וְאֵ֤ת אֲשֶֽׁר־תְּבַשְּׁלוּ֙ בַּשֵּׁ֔לוּ, cooking, and Numbers 15:32-36 speaks of אִ֛ישׁ מְקֹשֵׁ֥שׁ עֵצִ֖ים, gathering sticks. 

Shabbat in the Tanach

There are other references to Shabbat scattered throughout the Tanach, such as Amos 8:5, Isaiah 58:13-14, Jeremiah 17:19-27, and Nehemiah 10:32; 13,15-22. In these cases, the emphasis is specifically on trading, commerce and general business. 

These examples from the Tanach begin to reflect a growing expansion of the earlier Torah commandment to rest on Shabbat, and they seem to offer a later more contemporaneous interpretation of what constitutes labour in Tanach times. The shift is from ploughing, reaping, harvesting, and making fire ꟷ to trade and commerce. 

1) Jeremiah (650-570 BCE)

This shift to commerce is well encapsulated in Jeremiah 17:19-27. This is the first time we find a clear reference to carrying on Shabbat.[2] But it is not carrying as we understand it today, rather, it is only carrying a load (massa) which suggests a commercial intent: 

כֹּה־אָמַ֨ר יְ-הֹוָ֜ה אֵלַ֗י הָלֹ֤ךְ וְעָֽמַדְתָּ֙ בְּשַׁ֣עַר בְּנֵֽי־[הָעָ֔ם] (עם) אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָבֹ֤אוּ בוֹ֙ מַלְכֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֔ה וַאֲשֶׁ֖ר יֵ֣צְאוּ ב֑וֹ וּבְכֹ֖ל שַׁעֲרֵ֥י יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם

 כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְ-הֹוָ֔ה הִשָּׁמְר֖וּ בְּנַפְשֽׁוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם וְאַל תִּשְׂא֤וּ מַשָּׂא֙ בְּי֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת וַהֲבֵאתֶ֖ם בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֥י יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם: וְלֹא תוֹצִ֨יאוּ מַשָּׂ֤א מִבָּֽתֵּיכֶם֙ בְּי֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת וְכָל מְלָאכָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַֽעֲשׂ֑וּ וְקִדַּשְׁתֶּם֙ אֶת י֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוִּ֖יתִי אֶת אֲבוֹתֵיכֶֽם 

“Thus said GOD to me: Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go forth, and in all the gates of Jerusalem… Thus said GOD: Guard yourselves for your own sake against carrying burdens on the sabbath day, and bringing them through the gates of Jerusalem.

Nor shall you carry out burdens from your houses on the sabbath day, or do any work, but you shall hallow the sabbath day, as I commanded your ancestors… But if you do not obey My command to hallow the Sabbath day and to carry in no load through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will set fire to its gates; it shall consume the fortresses of Jerusalem and it shall not be extinguished” (Jeremiah 17:19-27). 

Jeremiah refers here to carrying a load (with its apparent commercial and trade connotations) through the gates of the city of Jerusalem and the houses within Jerusalem. The mercantile and commercial nuance of Jeremiah’s ‘load’: 

“could potentially suggest that items that have no commercial use or value – items that are explicitly used in the home – may in fact be transported on the Sabbath” (Jassen 2011:272). 

The later texts will expand on and develop this idea even further. 

Rooting in earlier traditions

One notices that Jeremiah, speaking in G-d’s name,  uses the expression “as I commanded your ancestors.” However, as mentioned, we have no previous biblical references to carrying. As we shall see, each of the subsequent sources that expand on the notion of carrying, root themselves in this very extract from Jeremiah, and Jeremiah himself roots his ‘innovation’ in “כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוִּ֖יתִי אֶת אֲבוֹתֵיכֶֽם, as I commanded your ancestors” (even though there are no overt previous biblical references to carrying on Shabbat). Each expansion uses the same basic keywords (highlighted) as found in Jeremiah, emphasising their rootedness in an earlier tradition. 

2) Nehemiah (473-403 BCE)

Let us now turn to the next phase of the expansion of the notion of carrying on Shabbat, after it was first (textually) introduced by Jeremiah. Nehemiah reformulates Jeremiah’s prohibition of carrying a ‘load’ (massa) on Shabbat and defines exactly what Jeremiah meant by a ‘load.’  Nehemiah, although expanding on Jeremiah, however, still retains his rootedness in the language and imagery of the Jeremiah text as indicated by the highlighting as follows: 

בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֡מָּה רָאִ֣יתִי בִֽיהוּדָ֣ה ׀ דֹּֽרְכִֽים־גִּתּ֣וֹת ׀ בַּשַּׁבָּ֡ת וּמְבִיאִ֣ים הָעֲרֵמ֣וֹת וְֽעֹמְסִ֪ים עַל־הַחֲמֹרִ֟ים וְאַף־יַ֜יִן עֲנָבִ֤ים וּתְאֵנִים֙ וְכׇל־מַשָּׂ֔א וּמְבִיאִ֥ים יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם בְּי֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֑ת וָאָעִ֕יד בְּי֖וֹם מִכְרָ֥ם צָֽיִד׃ וְהַצֹּרִים֙ יָ֣שְׁבוּ בָ֔הּ מְבִיאִ֥ים דָּ֖אג וְכׇל־מֶ֑כֶר וּמוֹכְרִ֧ים בַּשַּׁבָּ֛ת לִבְנֵ֥י יְהוּדָ֖ה וּבִירוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃ וָאָרִ֕יבָה אֵ֖ת חֹרֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֑ה וָאֹמְרָ֣ה לָהֶ֗ם מָֽה־הַדָּבָ֨ר הָרָ֤ע הַזֶּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אַתֶּ֣ם עֹשִׂ֔ים וּֽמְחַלְּלִ֖ים אֶת־י֥וֹם הַשַּׁבָּֽת׃ הֲל֨וֹא כֹ֤ה עָשׂוּ֙ אֲבֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם וַיָּבֵ֨א אֱלֹהֵ֜ינוּ עָלֵ֗ינוּ אֵ֚ת כׇּל־הָרָעָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את וְעַ֖ל הָעִ֣יר הַזֹּ֑את וְאַתֶּ֞ם מוֹסִיפִ֤ים חָרוֹן֙ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְחַלֵּ֖ל אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּֽת׃ וַיְהִ֡י כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר צָֽלְלוּ֩ שַׁעֲרֵ֨י יְרוּשָׁלַ֜͏ִם לִפְנֵ֣י הַשַּׁבָּ֗ת וָאֹֽמְרָה֙ וַיִּסָּגְר֣וּ הַדְּלָת֔וֹת וָאֹ֣מְרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר֙ לֹ֣א יִפְתָּח֔וּם עַ֖ד אַחַ֣ר הַשַּׁבָּ֑ת וּמִנְּעָרַ֗י הֶֽעֱמַ֙דְתִּי֙ עַל־הַשְּׁעָרִ֔ים לֹא־יָב֥וֹא מַשָּׂ֖א בְּי֥וֹם הַשַּׁבָּֽת׃

“At that time I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the sabbath, and others bringing heaps of grain and loading them onto asses, also wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of goods, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. I admonished them there and then for selling provisions. Tyrians who lived there brought fish and all sorts of wares and sold them on the Sabbath to the Judahites in Jerusalem. I censured the nobles of Judah, saying to them, ‘What evil thing is this that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day! This is just what your ancestors did, and for it, God brought all this misfortune on this city; and now you give cause for further wrath against Israel by profaning the sabbath!’ When shadows filled the gateways of Jerusalem at the approach of the Sabbath, I gave orders that the doors be closed, and ordered them not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I stationed some of my servants at the gates, so that no load (מַשָּׂ֖א) should enter on the Sabbath” (Nehemiah 13:15-19). 

Nehemiah is censuring the inhabitants of Jerusalem for carrying on Shabbat and for their general pursuit of commercial and business activity. What for Jeremiah was simply a ‘load,’ is now specified in greater detail to include “heaps of grain and loading them onto asses, also wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of goods.” Again all these items are ‘brought’ (i.e., carried) into, and out of, the city of Jerusalem on Shabbat. 

Significantly, Nehemiah adds an extra dimension not alluded to in Jeremiah and that is ‘וְכׇל־מַשָּׂ֔א’ and all ‘forms of loads,’ and וְכׇל־מֶ֑כֶר ‘all sorts of wares.’ Jeremiah had only specified a  מַשָּׂא֙, ‘load,’ and Nehemiah contributed an important expansion because it includes other things that may no longer be part of a heavy commercial ‘load.’ 

Nehemiah allows for the possibility that even more types of items may fall under the forbidden category of carrying on Shabbat. This opens up a huge Halachic potential for further development of the notion of ‘carrying,’ Nehemiah also roots himself in earlier tradition for authority by reminding the people that “this is just what your ancestors did,” corresponding to Jeremiah’s similar reference to “your ancestors.” 

3) The Book of Jubilees

The Book of Jubilees is a Midrashic commentary on, or reworking of, the Book of Genesis and part of the Book of Exodus. It emerged towards the end of the Second Temple period around the second century BCE. It is a pseudepigraphic work, presented as originating from Moshe. Although the Book of Jubilees was considered authoritative by Hasmonians (Chashmonaim), the rabbis generally were not in favour of the work and it is not mentioned by the Mishna, nor is it included in the canon of the Hebrew Bible or Tanach. Herein lies an interesting irony because despite its negative rabbinic reception, the Book of Jubilees expanded yet further on, and added to the understanding of the laws of, carrying on the Shabbat: 

“One of the hallmarks of the rewriting in Jubilees is its attempt to infuse its rewritten Torah with its new understanding of Jewish law” (Jassen 2011:263). 

Two lists of Shabbat restrictions frame the early and later sections of the Book of Jubilees. Each contains details concerning carrying on Shabbat: 

a) “To bring in or remove on it [the Shabbat] anything which one carries in their gates (any) work that they had not prepared for themselves in their dwellings on the sixth day. They are not to bring (anything) out or in from house to house on this day” (Jub. 2,29-30).

b) “Or who lifts any load to bring (it) outside his tent or his house is to die” (Jub. 50,8). 

The Book of Jubilees was originally written in Hebrew, but that version is no longer extant. It now exists in its Ethiopic (Ge‘ez) translation. Still, one can trace the highlighted keywords that connect the text back to Jeremiah (17:21,22) just as we highlighted with Nehemiah who also drew upon Jeremiah. The Book of Jubilees retains words from Jeremiah such as ‘bring in,’ ‘remove,’[3] ‘gates’ and ‘house.’ 

“[N]either passage in Jubilees retains any sense of the restricted commercial application of ‘load’ in Jeremiah (or Nehemiah). Rather, Jubilees expands the law to identify it as applying to any item that could potentially be carried” (Jassen 2011:265). 

The Book of Jubilees’ use of the expression “anything which one carries in their gates” opens up the Halachic possibility that even an item unrelated to commerce and as small and insignificant as, say a button, falls under the prohibition of carrying on Shabbat. 

“While Nehemiah draws upon the language of Jeremiah in order to include a broader range of commercial pursuits, Jubilees transforms the carrying prohibition in Jeremiah to include the carrying of any item for any purpose.” (Jassen 2011:266). 

4) The Dead Sea Scrolls

Another unlikely source where we find a further expansion of the notion of carrying on Shabbat and bringing it more in line with contemporary Halacha, is the Dead Sea Scrolls. We will look at three texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls. As with the Book of Jubilees, the Dead Sea Scrolls pay much attention to Shabbat. The Damascus Document is particularly concerned with the laws of Shabbat. This, again, is another irony because the Dead Sea Scrolls were written by Jewish sectarians and we would not expect their Halachic content to have much bearing on rabbinic Halacha: 

a) Damascus Document: 

אל יוציא איש מן הבית לחוץ ומן החוץ אל בית

ואם בסוכה יהיה אל יוצא ממנה ואל יבא אליה

“Let no man carry out (anything) from the house outside and from the outside into the house. And if he is in a booth (or ‘sukkah’) he shall not carry out (anything) from it and he shall not bring in it (anything)” [(CD) 11,7-9 (par. 4Q270 6 v 13-14; 4Q271 5 i 3-4)]. 

b) 4QHalakha A:

“[Let no] man carry out (anything) from his place for the entire Sabbath [from the outside to the house] and from the house to the ou[tside]” [(4Q251) 1-2 (olim frg. 1) 4-5: 33]. 

c) 4QMiscellaneous Rules:

“Let no ma[n] ca[rry out] from his tent any vessel or foo[d] on the day…of the Sabbath” [(4Q265) 6 4-5: 34]. 

These cases are essentially three examples of the same law forbidding carrying on Shabbat. And, as we have seen before, they similarly try to root their authenticity in Jeremiah by the re-use of the same keywords (highlighted) from Jeremiah 17,21-22b, but they give it new meaning. 

Significantly, however, there is no longer a reference to the ‘load,’ implying a commercial intent, that was so prevalent previously in Jeremiah, Nehemiah and even the Book of Jubilees. 

The Dead Sea Scrolls extend the restriction even further,  beyond one’s house, to any private space. This idea of various Shabbat ‘domains’ was to have much impact on the later Halacha as expressed in the Mishna. 

“By leaving a gaping hole in the text exactly where Jeremiah identifies what specific type of object may not be carried on the Sabbath, the Damascus Document and 4QHalakha A assert that there are no limitations regarding what types of object may not be carried” (Jassen 2011:271). 

Having examined four pre-Mishnaic texts, showing the origins and expansion of the prohibition against carrying on Shabbat, we now turn to the Mishna to see how the Halacha, as we know it, was finally codified. 

The Mishna

The Mishna in Shabbat 1:1 specifies two domains restricted by the laws of carrying, namely, the public domain and the private domain. Like the Damascus Document, the restrictions similarly apply to carrying items both into and out of these domains. 

The Mishna does not cite any biblical sources. Yet, as we have seen throughout this discussion, it too uses the identical verbal root found in Jeremiah 17:21–22 (יציאות השבת or ‘carrying out’) alluding to the earlier authority in Jeremiah. 

The Mishna in Shabbat (7:2) uses similar allusions to root it to Jeremiah (by using המוציא מרשות לרשות or “One who brings out an object from one domain to another). 

Summary

We have analysed four Second Temple period texts which have provided a window into pre-Mishnaic Judaism. 

1) Jeremiah prohibits carrying a primary מַשָּׂ֔א or “load” for trade and commercial purposes, certainly in Jerusalem. This becomes the Scriptural source for the prohibition of carrying on Shabbat, as the Torah is silent on carrying. 

2) Nehemiah retains the commercial context of carrying on Shabbat in Jerusalem, but includes וְכׇל־מַשָּׂ֔א and וְכׇל־מֶ֑כֶר (“all loads” and “all sorts of wares”) in his definition of carying. 

3) The Book of Jubilees moves away from the commercial context of carrying in Jerusalem and refers to “anything which one carries” (while still retaing the use the word “any load” from Nehemiah but with a far more expanded meaning) and Jerusalem is replaced by “house to house” and “tent.” 

4)The Dead Sea Scrolls follows the non commercial context of the Book of Jubilees to refer to carrying “anything,” and even adds “vessels” and “food.” It significantly omits the term “load” for the first time. 

Analysis

I mentioned at the beginning that this was to be an excursus only into the textual trail behind the development of the Halachic notion of carrying on Shabbat as later understood by the Mishna. It is difficult to write conclusively about an oral tradition simply because we have no real records of its details. However, I think that what we have seen, is, in fact, the closest we can get to glimpse of a rare written record of some sort of oral tradition with regard to the laws of carrying on Shabbat. It seems that this oral tradition was so encompassing and pervasive that written records of it remained trapped in the diverse textual traces we have explored. 

An oral tradition, although sometimes subject to misunderstanding due to its undefined and oral nature, is not to be underestimated in the development of any system of law, including, Halacha. These texts seem to be evidence of the existence of such an oral tradition.

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[1] Jassen, A. P, 2011, ‘Tracing the Threads of Jewish Law: The Sabbath Carrying Prohibition from Jeremiah to the Rabbis’, ASE, vol. 28, no.1, 253-78. 

[2] While the ‘gatherer of sticks’ (Numbers 15:32-36) seems to suggest carring, the Torah notes that they were unsure what to do with the man (who R. Akiva later identifies as Tzlafchad – b. Shabbat 96b), so they placed him in confinement. However, the ‘gatherer,’ or mekoshesh eitzim, is generally regarded as breaking the prohibition of reaping.

[3] Jassen (2011:266) explains: “In its rewriting of Jer 17,21, Jub. 2,29 collapses the two verbal clauses (“carrying...” and “bringing...”) into one main clause («to bring in or remove…)”