Judaism - Judaism - The Sabbath: The Jewish Sabbath (from Hebrew shavat, “to rest”) is observed throughout the year on the seventh day of the week Saturday. According to biblical tradition, it commemorates the original seventh day on which God rested after completing the creation.
Scholars have not succeeded in tracing the origin of the seven-day week, nor can they account for the origin of the Sabbath. A seven-day week does not accord well with either a solar or a lunar calendar. Some scholars, pointing to the Akkadian term shapattu, suggest a Babylonian origin for the seven-day week and the Sabbath. But shapattu, which refers to the