Short List of Languages Around the World that confirm the Sabbath

By Kelly McDonald, Jr.

The Hebrew word for Sabbath is Shabbat. One of the proofs that the Sabbath is from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset is that many different languages call Saturday some version of Sabbath, sabado, saptu, etc… Let’s take a look at a short list:

Indonesian – Sabtu

Tagalog (Philippines) – Sabado

Latin – Sabbatum (ancient Latin also used Sabata)

Italian – Sabato

Spanish – Sabado

Portuguese – Sabado

Greek – Savatoh

Koine Greek – Sabbata and Sabbaton (koine Greek was spoken from about 300 BC to 300 AD)

Russian – Subota

Polish – Sobota

Arabic – Al Sabt

Somali (East Africa) – Sabti

Mandingo also called Mandinka (West Africa) – Sibiti

Ormo or Galla (East Africa) – Sanbata tenna

Kisii, also called Gusii or Ekegusii (Africa) – Esabato

In modern Greece, Friday is called paraskevi or Preparation day. It comes from the ancient Jewish and Christian custom of preparing on Friday to keep the Sabbath. One reason why this happened is because the Sabbath begins Friday at sunset. In the Bible, days begin/end at sunset.

We can see that on different continents and different countries, one thing remains constant: the Sabbath is preserved by language.

To learn more about when the Sabbath is, check our our FREE article “When is the Sabbath?” – CLICK HERE to read. 

Kelly McDonald, Jr. BSA President www.biblesabbath.org