This volume offers a fresh hermeneutical approach to the Sabbath, focusing on its origins and foundational meaning in the Hebrew Bible. Moving beyond questions of historical development, practical applications, and theological debates, the study brings to bear thoroughgoing philological and exegetical analysis in order to examine the seventh day of creation as the underpinning of the concept of rest. The book argues that the seventh day is ‘the day of the Presence’, thereby offering a new perspective on the theological and existential dimensions of rest in the Hebrew Bible. It appeals to specialists in biblical studies, theology, and religious studies, as well as to graduate students, academics, and clergy.

Beniamin Laurențiu Chircan (b. 1981, Romania) is a pastor in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He has an academic background in biblical studies, religious studies, and Christian theology, with particular expertise in the Hebrew Bible. He holds a BA in Theology from Adventus University and an MA in Religion from Andrews University (USA). He also completed coursework in the MA programme in Religious Studies at the University of Bucharest. He was awarded a PhD in Philology (Biblical Literature) by the University of Bucharest in 2022. He was an associate lecturer at the University of Bucharest, where he taught in the Jewish Studies programme and the MA programme in Religious Studies. He has also taught Biblical Hebrew at Adventus University.