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14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it[a] must surely be put to death; indeed,[b] if anyone does[c] any[d] work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his[e] people.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 31:14 tn This clause is all from one word, a Piel plural participle with a third, feminine suffix: מְחַלְלֶיהָ (mekhaleleha, “defilers of it”). This form serves as the subject of the sentence. The word חָלַל (khalal) is the antonym of קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be holy”). It means “common, profane,” and in the Piel stem “make common, profane” or “defile.” Treating the Sabbath like an ordinary day would profane it, make it common.
  2. Exodus 31:14 tn This is the asseverative use of כִּי (ki) meaning “surely, indeed,” for it restates the point just made (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449).
  3. Exodus 31:14 tn Heb “the one who does.”
  4. Exodus 31:14 tn “any” has been supplied.
  5. Exodus 31:14 tn Literally “her” (a feminine pronoun agreeing with “soul/life,” which is grammatically feminine).