A Sabbath day’s journey is how far a person can walk on a Sabbath without violating the Law. Generally, it is considered to be 2000 cubits, about half a mile (or 3/5ths of a mile), or about one kilometer. The phrase is used in the book of Acts where it is referring to the distance from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives.

Acts 1:12, “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.”

A Sabbath day’s journey is derived from the Old Testament regulations found mainly in the following two verses.

• Exodus 16:29, “See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
• Numbers 35:5, “You shall also measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.”
• Joshua 3:4, “However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”

The intention of God’s command to rest on the Sabbath was codified in the restriction of the distance that the people of God could travel. But, the Jews had different ways of interpreting the distance of a Sabbath day’s journey. Was it from their own home or their town? If it was their town, then they could increase that distance from their home significantly. After all, what if the town itself was 2000 cubits across and a person lived on one side of it and wanted to go two thousand cubits past the other side? Sometimes the Jews would also place food along a lengthy path and state that this was to their home and would then extend the distance even further.

Commentaries

• “a sabbath day’s journey—about two thousand cubits.”¹Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997
• “A Sabbath Day’s walk was about 3,000 feet or a bit more than half a mile (cf. Ex. 16:29; Num. 35:5). The Mount of Olives is this short distance east of Jerusalem.”²Walvoord, John F., and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.