Why a Tireless God Rested and How He Blessed the Seventh Day

"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth" (Exodus 20:11): were they created in six days? Is it not already said, "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made" (Psalms 33:6)? If so, why does it say "for in six days the LORD made the heavens"? Rather, to exact punishment from the wicked who destroy a world created in six days, and to grant good reward to the righteous who sustain a world created in six days. Another interpretation: "for in six days the LORD made" — for three reasons the Sabbath was given to Israel: on account of the exodus from Egypt, as it is written, "and you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 5:15); and on account of "for in six days the LORD made"; and on account of "and He rested on the seventh day." "The sea and all that is in them": the sea was included in the work of creation, yet Scripture tells that there is praise in the sea equal to all the works of creation. Similarly you say, "this Leviathan You formed to play with" (Psalms 104:26) — was Leviathan not included in the works of the sea? Rather, Scripture tells that there is praise in Leviathan equal to all the works of the sea. "And He rested on the seventh day": this teaches that rest was not created until the seventh day. Another interpretation: "and He rested on the seventh day" — is there toil and weariness before Him? Is it not already said, "He does not faint nor grow weary" (Isaiah 40:28)? If so, why does it say "and He rested"? Rather, to exact punishment from the wicked who destroy a world created with toil and weariness. Another interpretation: "and He rested" — is this not a matter of lighter-to-heavier reasoning? If He who spoke and the world came to be, before whom there is no toil and weariness, wrote of Himself "and He rested," then a human being, of whom it is written, "man is born to toil" (Job 5:7), how much more is he obligated to rest on the seventh. "Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy": with what did He bless it and make it holy? He blessed it with the manna and made it holy with the manna. He blessed it with the manna: on every day it says, "an omer per head" (Exodus 16:16), but on the Sabbath it says, "two omers for each" (Exodus 16:22); on every day it says, "it bred worms and stank" (Exodus 16:20), but on the Sabbath it says, "it did not stink, nor was there any worm in it" (Exodus 16:24). Rabbi Shimon ben Yehudah, a man of the village of Akkos, says: He blessed it with luminaries and made it holy with luminaries. He blessed it with the light of a person's face and made it holy with the light of a person's face; and even though the luminaries were impaired from the eve of the Sabbath, they were not struck until the conclusion of the Sabbath. And even though the light of a person's face was impaired from the eve of the Sabbath, it was not struck until the conclusion of the Sabbath, as it says, "the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days" (Isaiah 30:26). Rabbi Yose said to him: why do I need this? Is it not already said, "man in his splendor does not abide" (Psalms 49:13) — his glory did not abide with him, but his glory was nullified and he became like the beasts that perish? He said to him: no; the decree was passed on the eve of the Sabbath, yet it did not take hold until the decree was passed upon him, and he was not struck until the conclusion of the Sabbath.