n my New Testament Literature class we study the miracles Jesus did on the Sabbath, and I talk about the wonderful blessings of Sabbath rest.

There are always questions about what rest means. Is it work to shop or eat in a restaurant? What about basketball or swimming? Would God forgive working to pay school bills?

When I was a boy, we took Isaiah 58:13, 14 seriously. You know the one: "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken" (NKJV).

The text seemed perfectly clear. It wasn't right to do our own pleasure on the Sabbath. We could go to church. We could eat a delicious meal. We could invite another family to our home, drive in the country, or go on a nature walk. We could sit quietly and read a Sabbath book. That was about it. Sometimes I found it a bit limiting, but generally I enjoyed Sabbath.

I was recently in the most conservative conference in Germany presenting a weekend seminar to about 70 young people at a youth camp. After Sabbath dinner they spent an hour playing soccer and volleyball. The conference youth director joined right in.

Was this right? It certainly wasn't the American custom among Adventists. Clearly they were doing their own pleasure. Were they breaking the Sabbath?

Teaching biblical literature at a state university has taught me to put aside my prejudices and traditional understandings and "prove it by the book," in context. I studied Hebrew at a nearby seminary so I could do that more effectively.

So what about Sabbath pleasures? Studying the passage in Hebrew has convinced me that we've badly misunderstood it.

Most of Isaiah 58 deals with the futility of people's trying to please God by fasting, while they continue to oppress their workers. We might expect verses 13 and 14 to be related to the idea of oppressive work.

The Hebrew word chafetz, translated "pleasure," also occurs in verse 3, where it is tied to exploiting workers. "Pleasure" is the usual translation of chafetz, but it can also be translated "business," "affair," and "matter." (In Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 17 it is translated "purpose.") "Doing your pleasure" in verse 13 should be translated, in context, as "doing your business," and "finding your own pleasure" as "finding business" or "looking for customers."

Speaking Your Own Words?
What about "nor speaking your own words"? In Hebrew the expression is daver davar, literally "the speaking of a word." Does this mean we should be silent on Sabbath? No, it doesn't. In 1 Samuel 21:8 davar is translated "business." In 2 Samuel 19:29 we also find daver . . . davar. There the words are translated "speak . . . of your matters," as in "business matters."

So God isn't asking us to not take pleasure on Sabbath. He's asking us to refrain from "finding business," "talking business," and making deals on Sabbath.

In the phrase "doing your own ways," the word translated "ways" is derek. This is the usual word for "road" or "way," but it can also mean "customary undertaking." This means "business as usual."

What follows is my own rather stilted but extremely literal translation of the passage from the Hebrew text:

"If you turn back, on account of the Sabbath, your foot's doing of your affairs on My holy day, and you call to the Sabbath, 'Exquisite delight!' To the holy day of Yahweh, 'Honored!' And if you make it honorable, without doing your customary undertaking, without finding your business and talking of business, then you will take exquisite delight in Yahweh, and I will make you ride over the high places of the land, and I will make you eat of the inheritance of Jacob your father, because the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."

I'm not going to tell you here what is right or wrong to do on Sabbath-that's between you and God-but God says that whatever we do, it should make us think of the Sabbath as an "exquisite delight."

That sounds to me like pleasure.

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Ed Christian teaches English and biblical literature at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. His e-mail address is christia@kutztown.edu.