Many people look forward to Saturday. Indeed, in most organizations this day is a day off, or a shortened one. The weekend officially begins on Saturday, and while rejoicing at the approach of a legal day off, inquisitive people are wondering why it is named that way. Moreover, in some European countries this day has a completely different name. So, why is Saturday called by this word?
If you look into the details, it will not be difficult to answer. This is a completely logical name that came from the Hebrew language along with the Christian religion.
In Slavic languages
The origin of the word “Saturday” in the etymological dictionary in Slavic languages is as follows.
It came to the Russian language from Old Russian, where there is the word “Saturday”. From this source came:
- Russian – “Saturday”;
- Ukrainian, Belarusian and Serbo-Croatian - “Saturday”;
- Bulgarian – “s’bota”.
You might be interested: Gang is a polysemantic noun
From the Old Slavonic “sobota” come:
- Czech, Slovak, Polish, Lower Luga – sobota;
- Polabian – sübǘta.
To understand the origin of the word “Saturday”, you need to understand how it came into Old Russian and Old Church Slavonic.
European languages and Saturday as the day of Saturn
Saturn
In Russia it is customary to say “Saturday”, in England – “Saturday”, in Slovenia – “Sobota”, in Georgia – “Shabati”. Due to cultural exchange, primarily associated with the spread of Christianity, the name of this day has spread very widely and is found in many languages in this form. Moreover, the word turned out to be consonant with the ancient Roman “saturnalia” and the “day of Saturn” as it was called within the framework of another, no less ancient and influential culture.
Interesting: Why is the Dead Sea called Dead? Reasons, photos and videos
The ancient Roman influence on the emerging European statehood was very great, and it largely shaped people’s worldviews, traditions and culture. Russia has not encountered such a powerful factor of external influence, but in Europe the Roman legacy is still felt. Even with the advent of Christianity, the days of the week did not change their name here, remaining dedicated to the ancient Roman gods. And given the consonance between the old name of Saturday and the new one, the question of renaming the day did not arise at all. Saturday was dedicated to the god Saturn from the old Roman pantheon, who was originally considered the god of fertility and patron of farmers, but then became the god of time, similar to the Greek Kronos.
Becoming an unforgiving and gloomy god, who presided over a day that was considered unlucky for business endeavors. It was believed that inactivity and rest, as well as spiritual practices, were the only things that would not be cursed on this day of the week, and people rested. This tradition was later adopted by the tribes that formed the new European statehood after the end of Roman civilization. It has taken root so much that it has survived to this day.
Thus, the word Saturday as a designation of the day of the week came to Russia along with Christianity from the Hebrew language, where the word “Sabbath” meant “not to work.” This is a religious day of rest, the name of which has taken root in the Russian language, but its true meaning has not, since Sunday was already considered a day of rest. Today, many people rest on both Saturday and Sunday, while others have a shortened day on Saturday. In any case, such a structure of the week has taken root, being the optimal ratio of periods of work and rest, while the names of the days have a secondary meaning. In Europe, this day is still named after the ancient Roman god Saturn, as was customary thousands of years ago during the Roman Empire.
From Latin and Greek
In turn, the word came into the Old Russian language from Ancient Greek, where there is a noun σάμβατον. Whereas in Old Church Slavonic it appeared by borrowing from the Latin language - from sabbatum. From it are also derived:
- Italian – sabato;
- French – samedi;
- Spanish and Portuguese – sábado;
- Romanian – sâmbătă;
- Armenian – šabat (շաբաթ);
- Georgian – shabati (შაბათი);
- Hungarian – szombat;
- Bashkir – shambe;
- Tajik - shanbe;
- Tatar – shimbә;
- Kazakh – senbi;
- Chuvash – shămatkun.
How did the word appear in Latin and Greek?
Borrowing from Hebrew
The word being studied came into Latin from ancient Greek, and into the latter from ancient Hebrew. In Hebrew it is written שַׁבָּת and reads “Shabbat.” This term is related to the verb “shavat”, meaning “to cease”, “to abstain”, “to rest”.
For Jews, Shabbat - Saturday - is the seventh day of the week. The Torah commands people to abstain from any work during this time. The Sabbath is also revered by other categories of believers, which include Karaites, Samaritans, representatives of such movements in Christianity as Russian “Subbotniks” and Seventh-day Adventists. More details about the Jewish Sabbath will be discussed below.
Meaning of the word Saturday
Apostolov Peter and Paul August 19 Transfiguration of the Lord on August 28 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 19 on September11 Burning of the Head of John the Baptist 21 The Christmas of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 27 October of the Cross of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 4 Introduction to the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Most Holy Parents on March 9. Bota before a week of the Last Judgment )March 30 Ecumenical parental Saturday of the 2nd week of Lent April 6 Ecumenical parental Saturday of the 3rd week of Lent April 13 Ecumenical parental Saturday of the 4th week of Lent May 9 Commemoration of the departed soldiers May 14 Radonitsa June 22 Trinity parental Saturday November 2 Dimitrievskaya parental SaturdayOrthodox fastFast for an Orthodox person - this is a combination of good deeds, sincere prayer, abstinence in everything, including food.
Sunday 1394 14 25.1.1974, Friday 1395 15 14.1.1975, Tuesday 1396* 16 3.1.1976, Saturday 1З97 17 23.XII.1976, Thursday 1398* 18 12.XII.1977, Monday 1399 19 2.XII.1978 , Saturday 1400 20 21.XI.1979, Wednesday 1401 21 9.XI.1980, Sunday 1402 22 ZO.Kh.1981, Friday 140Z 23 19.X.1982, Tuesday 1404 24 8.X.1983, Saturday 1405 25 27. IX.1984, Thursday 1406 26 16.IX.1985, Monday 1407 27 6.IX.1986, Saturday 1408 28 26.VIII.1987, Wednesday I409 29 14.VIII.1988, Sunday 1410 30 4.VIII.1989, Friday 1411 1 24.VII.1990, Tuesday 1412 2 13.VII.1991, Saturday 1413 3 2.VII.1992, Thursday 1414 4 21.VI.1993, Monday 1415 5 10.VI.1994, Friday 1416 6 31.VI 995, Wednesday 1417 7 19.V.1996, Sunday 1418 8 9.
after all, you know that Saturday is your apogee, you stand on red and green - you've never seen such a night in your life before and you're driving along the boulevard, you're looking for the souls of Saturday night, aren't they knocking there in the bar, the phone is ringing noisily - it's probably yours brother-in-law, the waitress comes up smiling into your eyes, or just a tear welling up, and in the alley, you feel a little bit sick in the chill and you dream about Saturdays that are long gone and, staggering, you wander straight to the soul of Saturday night, stumbling, you wander straight to the soul of Saturday night
... I’ll drink a glass of it. “Saturday, bathhouse, ice-hole, beer, cheese...” Saturday, bathhouse, ice-hole, beer..., lunch, cinema. Wife, lunch, cinema, Saturday, bathhouse. “Fog from under the door...
calls “trident soldiers”: April 7 (Saturday), “Aries” and August 25 (Saturday) “Virgo”; June 14 (Thursday) “Gemini” and October 7 (Sunday) “Libra”; April 17 (Tuesday) “Aries” and June 22 (Friday) “Cancer”; April 9 (Monday) “Aries” and May 22 (Tuesday) “Gemini”; February 13 (Tuesday) “Aquarius” and February 24 (Saturday) “Pisces”; June 1 (Friday) “Gemini” and June 24 (Sunday) “Cancer”; September 25 (Tuesday) “Libra” and October 16 (Tuesday) “Libra”.
Saturday, Saturday, Saturday... No one will ruin my day today!” – I thought, lying in my bed at ten thirty in the morning.
Remember the biblical parable about how the Pharisees approached Christ with insidious questions: they say, why does he heal on Saturday if Saturday is a holiday? And how worthily the Lord answered that man is not for the Saturday, but the Saturday is for man.
After all, today is Saturday, and on Saturdays there is no heating here - let, they say, happily noisy, tipsy commoners warm the hall with their breath.
This is how it was yesterday, this is how it looks today, and it will probably be this way tomorrow, unless tomorrow is Saturday, because on Saturdays there is a terrible crowd around the pool, incessant screams of children and drawn-in stomachs of men walking to the bar and back.
And everything would have been fine if the next morning David hadn’t rung the doorbell at my apartment, because it was Saturday, and on Saturdays we go with him to the Lastochka cafe and drink beer.
Not just the seventh day
Understanding the origin of “Saturday”, it should be noted that this word means not only rest on the seventh day of the week. It applies to days of rest from work and holidays in general, regardless of the period during which they fall. For example, this was the Day of Atonement. It was mentioned in the book of Leviticus. This is the tenth day of the seventh month according to our calculation. It falls on September 10th. Among the Jews, it was associated with fasting, as well as with contrition for sins.
On such a day, the high priest made a sacrifice on his own behalf. He placed two goats in front of the Tabernacle, cast lots and slaughtered one of them as a sacrifice in the name of atonement for the sins of the entire people. Over another goat, the sins of the people were confessed by the priest, and then the animal was driven out into the desert. At the end, the ritual of burnt offering was performed.
In Ancient Babylon
To understand the origin of the word “Saturday”, it would be advisable to consider another version of its use in ancient times.
The Babylonians had such a concept as “sha patu”. Its meaning is “middle day.” We were talking about the 15th day of the month, which was “the day of calming God’s hearts.” Like the Jews, it was celebrated with prayer and repentance.
In addition, certain activities were prohibited in Babylon on certain dates. These were the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th of the month. This was especially true for royalty. The reason for the ban was that these dates were considered unlucky.
In Vasmer Max's dictionary
Saturday Ukrainian, blr. Saturday, other Russian Saturday, Old Glory sebota (Zogr., Assem., Savv., Supr.), Bulgarian. Sabota, Serbohorv. Saturday Along with this - st.-slav. Sobota (Mar., Ps. Sin., see Vondrak, Aksl. Gr. 13), Czech., Slavic., Polish. sobota, lab. sübǘta. Forms with *so- come from Middle Latin. sabbatum (Melikh, Jagić-Festschr. 213 et seq.), forms in sǫ-, on the contrary, from Middle Greek. *σάμβατον, plural. -α (cf. Tsakonian samba, Transanto-Greek sámba) or from Balkan-Lat. *sambata (Romanian sâmbătă, Engadinian samda, French samedi). A secondary nasal is attested in Late Greek; Wed W. Schulze, Kl. Schr. 295 et seq.; KZ 33, 384; G. Mayer, IF 4, 326. Hence the d.-v.-n. sambaʒtag "Saturday". In favor of the Greek the origin of *sǫbota was made by Vasmer (IORYAS 11, 2, 388; 12, 2, 280; Gr.-sl. fl. 196), Kiparsky (130 et seq.); Schwartz, AfslPh 41, 124 et seq.; Guyer, LF 35, 221 et seq.; Sobolevsky, Borrowing. 14; Durnovo, RES 6, 108; Mladenov 626. Balkan-lat. the theory was presented in particular by Skok (RES 5, 19). The middle day (see) could also testify in favor of this. Against the assumption of germ. through the exceptional distribution of the form *sobota in all Western countries. Slavs, so no goth. (Stender-Petersen 432 et seq.), nor about d.-v.-n. (Mi. EW 314 et seq.; Uhlenbeck, AfslPh 15, 491) in this sense there can be no question; see Guyer, Kiparsky, ibid.; Sergievsky, IRYA 2, 358. Lat. and Greek forms ascend through Greek. σάββατα, plural, to Aram. šabbǝtā or other Hebrew. šabbāt; see Shvitser, KZ 62, 1 et seq.; Littman 29 et seq. Russian -bb- is explained by the influence of the spelling -bb- in Western Europe. languages. •• (See also Mikovsky, “Indiana Slavic Studies,” I, Bloomington, 1956. –T.)
Keep the Sabbath day
As indicated in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, as well as in the book of Kings and in some other writings, the seventh day among the Jews is considered a day of holy rest, on which it was forbidden to work. This instruction also applied to strangers, slaves, and even livestock.
It was forbidden to light a fire or carry a burden. Food for the Sabbath had to be prepared in advance. It was forbidden to leave the place of residence. Because of this, gathering wood and manna was a violation. A break from all business life was necessary. The penalty for violating the regulations was death.
However, the main meaning of the Sabbath was not the inaction itself, but the consolation of the Israelis. They gathered together to praise the Lord and perform worship. The daily burnt offering was doubled, and new loaves were brought into the sanctuary.
Connection with God's Rest
In conclusion, studying the origin of the word “Saturday”, it should be noted that rest on this day symbolized for the Jews participation in the rest of God. On the seventh day after he created the world, God decided to take a break from business and blessed this date. And he commanded Israel to observe this holiness. That is, Saturday must be highlighted in a series of other days, as the one that is special, since it is dedicated to the Lord.
For the Jews, delivered by Jehovah from forced, continuous labor in Egyptian slavery, this day became a sign that they were sanctified by God. He set them apart from the other nations, and they live only as a covenant people because of his blessing. Thus, for Jews, keeping and breaking the Sabbath is equivalent to keeping and breaking a covenant made with God.
Source
Christians are not required to keep the Old Testament Sabbath
In Colossians 2:13-19, the Apostle Paul says that Christians are not required to keep the Sabbath or any of the Old Testament laws. Paul says that no one is obligated to keep the Sabbath, but he also says that if someone wants to keep it for their own reasons, there is nothing wrong with that. The person who claims that worship on Sunday is wrong, unlike the Sabbath, is not very well versed in the New Testament.
Sunday worship is not the Old Testament Sabbath. Nowhere in the New Testament is this mentioned. We know from early Christian history that the early church worshiped on Sunday. You can read this from all the writers of the first centuries (Clement, Polycarp, Irenaeus of Lyons, Justin Martyr, and dozens of others). This was the first day, sometimes called the “eighth day” or “day of the Lord” (Revelation 1:10).
