Baqash : To Seek

The 7th day Sabbath seems to be the biggest dividing doctrine between the SDA church with its members, and the Catholic Church with other mainline protestant denominations.

This is the first entry to a multi-part series which deals with the Adventist response to the majority of the Christian world’s contentions to the SDA teaching on the Sabbath. I will bring the verses which non-7th day Sabbath keepers use to address SDA claims, and present the Adventist rebuttal, then present my own rebuttal to the SDA response.

Throughout this series I will use either the KJV or NKJV translations of the Scriptures, as I understand they are typically the most trusted amongst SDA members.

Colossians 2:14-17

“¹⁴ having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

¹⁶ So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ¹⁷ which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”

This verse is typically used by Non – SDA members to say something like:

Non SDA Claim: “If you see here, there is no longer a need or requirement to keep the 7th day Sabbath, as referenced here in the same category as the feasts, being shadows to come and fulfilled in Christ”

SDA Response: I will attempt to steel-man the Adventist position now to deal with the heart of the issue. As an ex-SDA church member, I made this argument myself. “The word used here for “sabbaths” is the Greek word σαββάτων (sabbatōn). This is important to note, as when Jesus Himself is speaking of the 7th Day Sabbath specifically, it is rendered using the word σαββάτου (sabbatou). This is consistent throughout the biblical text where the word “sabbatōn” is used as a plural, intending to communicate about the High Sabbaths or feast days”

My Response: I want to deal with this text as responsibly as possible, and as detailed as I can. The claim is about the use of the Greek words “Sabbatou” and “sabbatōn”. To understand this distinction and how exactly it is used in the Biblical text, we must look in both the New and Old testament. As it is often said, you cannot understand the New, without also understanding the Old.

Thesis:

The SDA objection to Colossians 2:16 often depends on a grammatical distinction between σαββάτου and σαββάτων, claiming that the former refers to the weekly Sabbath and the latter to ceremonial or high Sabbaths. But this distinction does not hold up under NT or LXX usage. The same Sabbath word appears in multiple forms, and those forms do not map neatly onto weekly versus ceremonial Sabbaths. Therefore, Colossians 2:16 must be interpreted by context. Its context is the old-covenant sacred calendar, and the OT pattern of “feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths” naturally refers to annual, monthly, and weekly observances. Thus, Colossians 2:16 most naturally includes the weekly Sabbath as part of the old-covenant calendar shadows fulfilled in Christ.

Pure Definitions:

Form	Case / number	Typical Function
σάββατα	nominative/accusative plural	subject/object: “Sabbaths”
σαββάτοις	dative plural	“in/on/at/for Sabbaths”
σαββάτων	genitive plural	“Sabbaths”
σαββάτου	genitive singular	“of Sabbath”
σάββατον	nominative/accusative singular	“Sabbath”

The SDA claim is that sabbatōn applies to a plurality, specifically either High Sabbaths or Feasts and that sabbatou applies to the 7th Day Sabbath. Lets take a closer look at some more verses.

Matthew 12:8: “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath(σαββάτου : sabbatou)” Mark 2:28: “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. (σαββάτου : sabbatou)”Comparing this with Colossians 2:17 and the use of σαββάτων : sabbatōn, there is an apparent distinction. However, when we look closer, things are not as simple as “One is feast days or high sabbaths and the other is the 7th day”

1 Corinthians 16:2: “On the first day of the week(σαββάτου : sabbatou) let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.” Mark 16:2 “Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week(σαββάτων : sabbatōn), they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.”

Sabbatou and sabbatōn here also refer to a week. The NT does not sustain the claim that σαββάτου is reserved for the weekly Sabbath while σαββάτων is reserved for ceremonial or high Sabbaths. Both forms can refer to Sabbath/week language depending on context

John 19:31:”The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day(σαββάτου : sabbatou), (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” Notably, the word sabbatou is used to describe a “High Sabbath” during the crucifixion.

Matthew 28:1″ Now after the Sabbath(σαββάτων : sabbatōn), as the first day of the week(σαββάτων : sabbatōn) began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.”

It is imperative when studying these previous two texts to notice: John uses “sabbatou” to describe the 7th day Sabbath which happened to land on the Passover making it a “High Sabbath”, and that Matthew uses sabbatōn to describe the same day. There is then no indication, based off the use of the words to say one means feast days and the other means the 7th day Sabbath, and these forms do not maintain the clean distinction claimed by the SDA argument. They can both appear in contexts connected with the Sabbath/week cycle, and neither form is reserved exclusively for weekly or ceremonial Sabbaths.

If you, the reader, are still unconvinced, we must go now to the Old Testament. Not only will I display the words used for the 7th day Sabbath, High Sabbaths, and Feasts, but also I will establish a curious pattern throughout the OT and the New in Colossians.

Old Testament:

Leviticus 23:3: “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath(σάββατα : sabbata) of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath(σάββατα : sabbata) of the Lord in all your dwellings.” Verse 4: Distinguishes the 7th Day Sabbath from feast days “These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons….(Proceeds to list them)”

Leviticus 23:32: ““It shall be unto you a sabbath(σάββατα : sabbata) of rest(σαββάτων : Sabbatōn), and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath(σάββατα: sabbata).” This references the Day of Atonement, a Feast Day. There are many differences in translation to English of the opening to this verse, but the most literal would be “It Shall be unto you a sabbath of sabbaths”

Interesting note: The word “Sabbata” is used only once in the Greek NT, and it is to refer to the 7th Day Sabbath. This is a text which SDA members use to support their position that the Apostles still kept the 7th Day Sabbath. Acts 17:2: “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths(σάββατα : sabbata) reasoned with them from the Scriptures”

So we see when comparing the Old and New testament uses of the word “sabbata”, it is primarily using it as a singular referring to the Sabbath, and occasionally attached to feast days.

The Pattern of Colossians

We will continue in the Old Testament study of the “Sabbath”, identifying the use of the words Sabbatōn, Sabbata, and Sabbatou – There is a more significant factor, being a “Calendrical Formula” used throughout Scripture. It describes events in the Liturgical calendar of the Jews as:

Sabbaths — New Moons — Feasts

That translates to:

Weekly — monthly — yearly

Numbers 28:9-10: “And on the sabbath day(σαββάτων : Sabbatōn) two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof:¹⁰ This is the burnt offering of every sabbath(σαββάτων : Sabbatōn), beside the continual burnt offering [Of the Sabbaths] (σαββάτοις : On the Sabbaths) and his drink offering.”

Passage	Offering	Time cycle
Numbers 28:3–8	continual burnt offering	daily
Numbers 28:9–10	Sabbath burnt offering	weekly
Numbers 28:11–15	new moon offerings	monthly
Numbers 28:16 onward	Passover / Unleavened Bread / other feasts	yearly

1 Chronicles 23:31: “And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the LORD in the sabbaths(σαββάτοις : of the Sabbaths), in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the LORD”

2 Chronicles 2:4″ Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths,(σαββάτοις: on the Sabbaths) on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.”

2 Chronicles: 8:13″ Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths,(σαββάτοις : on the Sabbaths) and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.”

Ezekiel 45:17:”And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths,(σαββάτοις : in the Sabbaths) in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel.”

Hosea 2:11: “I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths(σάββατα : sabbata), and all her solemn feasts.” Notice – Before Hosea, typically the word referring to the “Sabbaths” is σαββάτοις. Here in Hosea, σάββατα is used. This is the same word the scripture uses in Acts 17:2 to refer to the 7th Day Sabbath.

The SDA claim that Colossians 2:16 refers only to ceremonial “high Sabbaths” is grammatically possible, but not definitive or likely purely based off of the Greek words used because annual feast days and the 7th day Sabbath can be called Sabbatōn, sabbata, sabbatou, or other iterations.

The phrase “feast, new moon, sabbaths” echoes a well-attested Old Testament calendar formula. In passages like 1 Chronicles 23:31, 2 Chronicles 2:4, 2 Chronicles 8:13, Hosea 2:11, and Ezekiel 45:17, “Sabbaths” are listed alongside new moons and feasts as part of the regular sacred calendar. In those contexts, the natural sense is not “annual feasts, monthly observances, and annual feasts again,” but “yearly, monthly, and weekly observances.” Therefore Colossians 2:16 most naturally includes the weekly Sabbath.

The SDA Response: “The Greek forms of Sabbatōn do not settle the issue. The OT calendar formulas show that weekly Sabbaths can be listed with new moons and feasts, but that only proves that the weekly Sabbath had a place in Israel’s ceremonial calendar. Colossians 2:16, however, is concerned with shadows, food, drink, festivals, and ritual judgment. Therefore Paul is addressing ceremonial obligations attached to the Mosaic system, not abolishing the creation-based Sabbath commandment of the Decalogue. The Sabbath predates Sinai, was written by God in the Ten Commandments, was honored by Christ, observed in Acts, and is projected into eschatological worship. The New Testament never explicitly transfers Sabbath sanctity to Sunday. Sunday gatherings occurred because of the Resurrection, but gathering on Sunday is not the same thing as replacing the seventh-day Sabbath command.”

My Response: Dealing with the “In the Context…” issue

I agree Colossians 2 is about old-covenant ritual and calendar observances. But that does not exclude the weekly Sabbath, because the weekly Sabbath was itself part of Israel’s old-covenant calendar. The OT Greek pattern regularly lists Sabbaths alongside new moons and feasts as weekly, monthly, and yearly observances. Numbers 28 gives the same structure: daily offerings, Sabbath offerings, new moon offerings, then feast offerings. So the context of Colossians does not force ‘ceremonial feast-sabbaths only.’ It actually fits the broader sacred-calendar formula, including the weekly Sabbath. The moral principle of worship and rest remains, but the Mosaic seventh-day covenant sign is fulfilled in Christ.

I am not claiming σαββάτων can never refer to feast Sabbaths, but instead I am saying the OT pattern gives no reason to exclude the weekly Sabbath from Colossians 2:16. Since the triad naturally means yearly, monthly, weekly, the Adventist has to prove that Paul suddenly narrowed ‘Sabbaths’ to annual feast-rests only. The text itself does not specify this.

I understand this does not settle the “Sabbath” vs “Sunday” debate. Hopefully though, the reader will no longer buy the common SDA objection to the Colossians verse which claims σαββάτων specifically refers to feast days.

Throughout the coming weeks, I will deal with the topic of the “Lord’s Day”, and various other SDA claims about the Sabbath. Spoiler: I agree that there is no single verse that says, ‘The Lord’s Day is the first day of the week.’ The question is whether Scripture, apostolic practice, and early Christian testimony together identify the Lord’s Day with the day of Christ’s resurrection.