Fire on Shabbat
by Michelle Johnson

I would like to “think outside of the box” for this study.  It is on a “controversial” topic that keeps coming up, time after time after time.  I thought that maybe, by “thinking outside of the box” and coming up with different ideas, views, and ways of looking at it, it might shed some “new” light on the subject.  I am NOT saying that this view is the  “correct” one.  I will be, for lack of a better way of expressing myself at the moment, playing “devil's advocate” on this subject, and hope, that by doing so, it will cause others to pause, step back, look at it from other angles, and think about it, and dig into the Scriptures for themselves.  The Scripture versions I will be using are: The King James Version; The Hebrew Names Version; and The Complete Jewish Bible.

To place the Scriptures in question into context, Shemot (Exodus) chapter 34 ends with Moshe having to veil his face when he would speak to the people of Isra'el because “(v. 29-30) When Moshe came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, he didn't realize that the skin of his face was sending out rays of light as a result of his talking with YHWH. 30 When Aharon and the people of Isra'el saw Moshe, the skin of his face was shining; and they were afraid to approach him.”  Continuing in Chapter 35 verse 4 and onward, the Scriptures speak of taking up a collection for YHWH from among the people - “anyone whose heart makes him willing is to bring the offering for YHWH”.  It speaks of these offerings consisting of things for the tabernacle; the ark; the table; the menorah; the anointing oil; the incense altar; etc etc etc.

Sandwiched in between these verses comes the “controversial” Scriptures in question:

Shemot 35:1-3

1  Moshe assembled all the congregation of the children of Yisra'el, and said to them, "These are the words which the LORD has commanded, that you should do them. 2  'Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Shabbat of solemn rest to the LORD: whoever does any work in it shall be put to death. 3  You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the day of Shabbat.'"

From Matthew Henry's commentary on Exodus 35:

He begins with the law of the sabbath, because that was much insisted  on in the  instructions he had received (v. 21, 3 - v. 21 says “21  They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought the LORD's offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all of its service, and for the holy garments.): Six days  shall work be done, work for the tabernacle, the work of the  day that was now to be done in its day;  and they had little else  to do here in the wilderness, where they had neither  husbandry  nor merchandise, neither food to get nor clothes to make: but  on  the seventh day you must not strike a stroke, no, not at  the  tabernacle-work; the honour of the sabbath was above that  of the sanctuary, more  ancient and more lasting; that must be  to you a holy day, devoted to God, and  not be spent in common  business. It is a sabbath of rest. It is a sabbath of  sabbaths (so some read it), more honourable and excellent than any of the  other feasts, and should survive them all. A sabbath of sabbatism, so  others read it, being typical of that sabbatism or rest, both  spiritual and  eternal, which remains for the people  of God. It is a sabbath of rest, that is, in  which a rest from  all worldly labour must be very carefully and strictly  observed.  It is a sabbath and a little sabbath, so some of the Jews would  have  it read; not only observing the whole day as a sabbath, but  an hour before the  beginning of it, and an hour after the ending  of it, which they throw in over  and above out of their own time,  and call a little sabbath, to show how  glad they are of  the approach of the sabbath and how loath to part with it. It is  a sabbath of rest, but it is rest to the Lord, to whose honour  it must be  devoted. A penalty is here annexed to the breach of  it: Whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Also a particular prohibition of  kindling fires on the sabbath  day for any servile work, as smith’s work, or  plumbers, etc.

From David Guzik's Study Guide for Exodus 35:

Exodus 35 - Offerings For the Tabernacle

The  next five chapters are mostly a fulfillment of chapters 25-30

A.  (1-3) Keeping the sabbath

1. Put here to say "rest  in the Lord before you work for Him"

These two sources came from “Blue Letter Bible” online - and though it may have been written by Christians for Christians, I thought (as I am playing devil's advocate here) that I would throw them in, as they do make sense, and give an “alternative” view to what we normally think of when we read these verses.

According to Torrey's New Topical Textbook (also from BlueLetterBible.com), fire has many connotations, some of which are found below:

Can be increased in intensity - Dan. 3:19,22

Things connected with:

Burning coals -  Mishlei 26:21 - As coals are to embers and wood to fire is a quarrelsome person to kindling strife.  - I put this verse in full as it shows yet another example of the term “to kindle”.

Flame -  Shir-HaShirim (Song of Solomon) 8:6;  Yesha'yahu 66:15

Sparks -  Iyov 18:5, Yesha'yahu 1:31

Ashes -  Aleph M'lakhim (1 Kings) 13:3

Smoke -  Yesha'yahu 34:10

Kept alive by fuel - Mishlei 26:20; Yesha'yahu 9:5

Characterized as:

Bright - Yechezk'el (Ezekiel) 1:13

Enlightening - Tehillim 78:14, 105:39

Melting - Tehillim 68:2, Yesha'yahu 64:2

Purifying - B'midbar 31:23

Drying - Iyov 15:30

Consuming - Shoftim (Judges) 15:4,5, Tehillim 46:9, Yesha'yahu 10:16,17

Insatiable - Mishlei 30:16

Sacred -

Came from before YHWH - Vayikra 9:24

Always burning on the altar - Vayikra 6:13

All offerings consumed by - Vayikra 6:9,12

Incense burned with - Vayikra 16:12, B'midbar 16:46

Guilt of burning incense without - Vayikra 10:1

Restored to the Temple - Divrei-HaYamim Bet (2 Chronicles) 7:1-3

Frequently employed as an instrument of divine vengeance - Tehillim 97:3; Yesha'yahu 47:14, 66:16

In houses - lighted in the winter- Yirmeyahu 36:22

Illustrative of: God's protection - B'midbar 9:16, Z'kharyah 2:5

YHWH's  vengeance - D'varim  4:24

YHWH as judge - Yesha'yahu 10:17, Mal'akhi 3:2

The word of YHWH - Yirmeyahu 5:14, 23:29

We have just seen how “fire” can be used in many ways to describe different things.

Now, to look at some correlating passages to Shemot 35:3 -

Shemot 12:16 - 16  In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you.

Here we see that this is talking about Hag HaMatzot, or Passover.  No matter which day during that week Shabbat would fall on (and 2 days were to be treated as a Shabbat), we see that no work was to be done, “except what each must do to prepare his food”.  As they would take the gound manna and bake it into cakes, logically speaking, they had to have had a fire burning to do so.

 Shemot 16:23 - 23  He said to them, "This is that which the LORD has spoken, 'Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Shabbat to the LORD. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.'"

Now this verse had me puzzled for awhile, as there are two possible interpretations thereof:  1.  Bake everything you are going to have for both today as well as tomorrow; 2. Bake what you are going to eat today, and leave the rest of the ground manna alone and make it tomorrow.  Seeing as when they would leave the ground manna for the next day during the week it would rot, this second interpretation seems to me to be the more miraculous of the two.

B'Midbar (Numbers) 15:32-36 - 32  While the children of Yisra'el were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the day of Shabbat. 33  Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moshe and Aharon, and to all the congregation. 34  They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35  The LORD said to Moshe, The man shall surely be put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp. 36  All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones; as the LORD commanded Moshe.

Why was the man gathering sticks?  Scripture doesn't say here, so all we can do is speculate.  He could have been gathering sticks to light a fire to cook with or to keep warm by; OR he could have been gathering the sticks to do some work for the Tabernacle.

Yesha'yahu 58:13- 14 - 13  If you turn away your foot from the Shabbat, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Shabbat a delight, [and] the holy of the LORD honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking [your own] words: 14  then shall you delight yourself in the LORD; and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Ya`akov your father: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.

Here we see that we are to not do the things that we would normally do on Shabbat, as it is a special and holy day.  In the wilderness, to quote Matthew Henry once again: “they had little else  to do here in the wilderness, where they had neither  husbandry  nor merchandise, neither food to get nor clothes to make”, other than working on things for the Tabernacle.

Going back and looking at  Shemot 35:3 more closely, I will attempt to break it down for you, using both the Strong's as well as the BDB.

         Strong's “kindle”:

H1197

baw-ar'

A primitive root; to kindle, that is, consume (by fire or by eating); also (as denominative from H1198) to be (become) brutish: - be brutish, bring (put, take) away, burn, (cause to) eat (up), feed, heat, kindle, set ([on fire]), waste.

BDB “kindle”:

 H1197

ba^?ar

BDB Definition:

1) to burn, consume, kindle, be kindled (verb)

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to begin to burn, be kindled, start burning

1a2) to burn, be burning

1a3) to burn, consume

1a4) Jehovah’s wrath, human wrath (figuratively)

1b) (Piel)

1b1) to kindle, burn

1b2) to consume, remove (of guilt) (figuratively)

1c) (Hiphil)

1c1) to kindle

1c2) to burn up

1c3) to consume (destroy)

1d) (Pual) to burn

2) to be stupid, brutish, barbarous (verbal denominative)

2a) (Qal) to be stupid, dull-hearted, unreceptive

2b) (Niphal) to be stupid, dull-hearted

2c) (Piel) to feed, graze

2d) (Hiphil) to cause to be grazed over

Part of Speech: see above in Definition

A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive root

Same Word by TWOT Number: 263

Strong's “no”:

H3808

lo, lo, lo

lo; a primitive particle; not (the simple or abstract negation); by implication no; often used with other particles: -  X before, + or else, ere, + except, ig [-norant], much, less, nay, neither, never, no ([-ne], -r, [-thing]), (X as though . . . , [can-], for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.

BDB “no”:

H3808

lo^'  /  lo^h

BDB Definition:

1) not, no

1a) not (with verb - absolute prohibition)

1b) not (with modifier - negation)

1c) nothing (substantive)

1d) without (with particle)

1e) before (of time)

Part of Speech: adverb

A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive particle

Same Word by TWOT Number: 1064

Strong's “fire”:

H784

aysh

A primitive word; fire (literally or figuratively): - burning, fiery, fire, flaming, hot.

BDB “fire”:

H784

'e^sh

BDB Definition:

1) fire

1a) fire, flames

1b) supernatural fire (accompanying theophany)

1c) fire (for cooking, roasting, parching)

1d) altar-fire

1e) God’s anger (figuratively)

Part of Speech: noun feminine

A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive word

Same Word by TWOT Number: 172

Strong's “throughout”:

H3605

kole, kole

From H3634; properly the whole; hence all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense): - (in) all (manner, [ye]), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, [no-] thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso (-ever).

BDB “throughout”:

H3605

ko^l  /  ko^l

BDB Definition:

1) all, the whole

1a) all, the whole of

1b) any, each, every, anything

1c) totality, everything

Part of Speech: noun masculine

A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H3634

Same Word by TWOT Number: 985a

Strong's “habitations”:

H4186

mo-shawb', mo-shawb'

From H3427; a seat; figuratively a site; abstractly a session; by extension an abode (the place or the time); by implication population: - assembly, dwell in, dwelling (-place), wherein (that) dwelt (in), inhabited place, seat, sitting, situation, sojourning.

BDB “habitations”:

H4186

mo^sha^b  / 

BDB Definition:

1) seat, assembly, dwelling-place, dwelling, dwellers

1a) seat, sitting, those sitting, sitting company or assembly

1b) dwelling place, dwelling

1c) situation, location

1d) time of dwelling

1e) those dwelling, dweller

Part of Speech: noun masculine

A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H3427; a seat

Same Word by TWOT Number: 922c

Now that the definitions of the “controversial” words in question have been made, our job now is to decide which part(s) of the definitions best “fit” the context of the Scriptures.  We see that “kindle no fire throughout [your] habitations” can have several different meanings, such as:

“Do not kindle a fire in your homes on Shabbat” - This version we are all familiar with.

“Consume [by fire or eating] no fire in the whole of your seat/dwelling/assembly” - Does this interpretation even make sense?

Let's look at another:

“Do not become brutish/stupid/ignorant/barbarous/dull- hearted   in any of your dwellings/assemblies/locations” - A good idea at any time, not just on Shabbat.

“Do not be ignorant of YHWH's flaming anger in all of your locations” and “Do not cause YHWH's anger to burn in any of your dwelling places/assemblies/locations” - It is a good thing to study the Scriptures to know what causes YHWH's anger to burn and how to avoid doing that.

“Do not be unreceptive of the supernatural fire [of YHWH] in the time or place of your dwelling” - No matter where we are, what we are doing, the time or the place, we are to be faithful to YHWH, “receptive of the supernatural fire” that led the children of Isra'el through the wilderness, that can and will lead us through our own personal “wilderness”.

And finally, here is one more Scripture:

Yirmeyahu 17:27 27  But if you will not listen to me to make the day of Shabbat holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Yerushalayim on the day of Shabbat; then will I kindle a fire in the gates of it, and it shall devour the palaces of Yerushalayim, and it shall not be quenched.

Questions:

1.   Was Shemot 35:3 given for a specific time and place, or was this to be an eternally lasting mitzvot?

2.  If it was NOT for a specific time and place, and was to be eternally kept, why is this mitzvot only mentioned this one time, in this one place? Most, if not all, of the other specific time and place mitvot are repeated.  Why was this one not?

3.  Why did Moshe have to first get the people's attention and tell them specifically that they were not to have fires burning on Shabbat, just before he gave them the instructions concerning the making of the Tabernacle?

4.   After looking at the other “possible” interpretations to Shemot 35:3, is it possible that this particular mitzvot had other connotations to it that would have been recognized by the people?  For example, if you work over a hot fire in the desert doing metal work, I am sure that tempers would flare very easily.  Was this somehow also instructing the people to be careful on how they react to and treat others, i.e., “Do not become brutish or barbarous”?

5.  Was the “Do not kindle a fire” mitzvot purely for work purposes, and was cooking excluded from this (remember the mitzvot concerning Hag HaMatzot)?