Definition of "Sabbath"

A biblical week consists of seven days and the last day of the week has a special name, the Sabbath, which translated from the Hebrew means "to stop/cease/quit" or "to rest". God himself is the one who created and clearly defined the six working days and the one day of rest and every attack on the Sabbath is also an attack on God. 

Just like any other biblical/Israelite day of the week, the Sabbath consists of two phases, the night phase (darkness) and the day phase (brightness, light). It begins after sunset, and when the sun rises in the morning and the light-day comes on, half the Sabbath day is already over. 

In Israel only the Sabbath had a name (the day of stop/rest) and the day before that (the preparation day for the Sabbath, also called Pre-Sabbath), all other days were expressed only by numbers (first day, second day...):

So, the Sabbath is never to be confused with Saturday, but it is strictly speaking the period from Friday evening to Saturday evening, in each case after sunset, that is, from about 6 p.m. on the geographical location of Israel. The Sabbath is clearly defined as the 24-hour and last day of the week since the creation of the earth. It is very important to note this. And when the New Testament (NT) speaks of the "Sabbath" (σαββατου) in the singular (Mk 16:9) and of the "Sabbaths" (σαββατων) in the plural, only this clear definition is meant. A new definition of a "week" or even a "Sunday" (an allegedly "new Christian Sabbath") was never mentioned in the Bible. The illustrations above and below show the Israeli hour count (blue) and the corresponding Roman time (red) (for more info see Day).

There is a very big difference between the Sabbath and Saturday. Both days follow completely different calendars. Sunday is therefore also not the first day of the biblical week, but it is a day of the pagan week, which people made up because they did not want to accept the division of time given by God. God ends the biblical week with a holiday (the holy Sabbath), but the world first begins the pagan week with a holiday (Sunday) and works only after that and Saturday is considered a preparation day for "the holy Sunday" of the Genitiles. 

The Hebrew language speaks of שבת = Shabbat, or השבת (ha-Shabbat, with article: the Sabbath/s). In Ex 20:8 you can read: "Remember the yom ha-Shabbat", which literally means "Remember the day of the Sabbath" (singular). In the Greek equivalent of the Septuagint (LXX), it was translated according to Greek grammar as "remember the day of the Sabbaths" (ημεραν των σαββατων; in the plural). We encounter exactly the same expression "των σαββατων" several times in the likewise Greek NT (see mia ton sabbaton). There has never been a new definition of the word "Sabbath", but the same one that existed 4,000 years before the birth of Jesus (i.e. since Adam and Eve); to this day it is 6,000 years with the same old Sabbath definition that God personally gave us.

There is a worldwide acceptance that the Sabbath also began at the time of Jesus with the sunset and ended at the following sunset and not at midnight or in the morning. There are several biblical proofs for this:

1. During the first seven days of the creation story, the evening (the night phase, see definition Day) is always mentioned first (Gen 1; "and there was evening and there was morning..." or ESV translation: "evening passed and morning came -that was the first day..."). After the evening (night) then follows the light-day (i.e. the time when it is bright on a calendar day), which begins with the morning. The Israelites have always understood this verse in their own Hebrew language as always defining the beginning of a calendar day from darkness. They naturally understand the statements in their own Hebrew language much better than Christians who only have a Bible translation and whose weekdays begin at midnight. In the understanding of the Hebrews the creation week (Genesis 1) always meant the beginning of the day from the dark phase, not from sunrise. This is how they see it in Israel today as well, and the entire Hebrew calendar is based on the fact that a calendar day begins with the night phase. Today we know exactly when the calendar day began in Jesus' time because the Pharisees started the calendar day and every Sabbath from the evening (Hebrew ereb, literally: setting) after sunset and Jesus said that we should listen to the Pharisees but not live according to their works (Mt 23).
   In this context, the remarks of Daniel are also interesting, who also has the future days begin with the evenings: "For 2,300 evenings and mornings (not mornings and evenings). Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state" (Dan 8:14). The beginning of a Hebrew calendar day has historically always been the period after sunset and so it is to this day. 
2. The book of Nehemiah reports: "So I gave orders for the city gates to be shut at the beginning of every Sabbath, as soon as evening began to fall, and not to be opened again until the Sabbath was over...". (Neh 13:19). The Hebrew basic text literally speaks of a progressing "shading of the gates", i.e. of a slow darkening during the day and not of a night that has already happened (i.e. not at midnight). In Israel, it was customary to close the city gates for security reasons before it got dark and not sometime after. This was even more the case before the Sabbath, since no work was allowed to be done on the Sabbath. 
3. God gave another clear instruction for the Sabbath beginning in connection with the Day of Atonement, the High Sabbath: "From sunset [in Hebrew literally: ereb; evening, see evening] on the ninth day of the month to sunset [evening] on the tenth observe this day as a special day of rest, during which nothing may be eaten" (Ex 23:32). It makes no sense to claim that only this one Sabbath should begin after sunset (evening) and all other Sabbaths from midnight or only from sunrise. The biblical Sabbath always began after sunset.
4. There are also examples from the NT itself, e.g. from the gospel of Mark: "Jesus and his disciples came to the town of Capernaum, and on the next Sabbath Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach... 32 After the sun had set and evening had come, people brought to Jesus all the sick and those who had demons. 33 All the people of the town gathered in front of the house" (cf. Mk 1:21-33, ESV). Mark emphasizes here that the whole city went to Jesus only after the sun had set, at the beginning of the night (i.e. after the end of the biblical Sabbath), in order to be healed. Why? During the Sabbath day, this was not possible because the Pharisees would never have allowed healings and casting out of demons of the "whole city" on the Sabbath, and punished transgressions of their rules severely. But after sunset the Sabbath was over (about 6 p.m., so still on Saturday night) and everyone could come to Jesus. This is another proof that the Sabbath began after sunset and ended there again. The Jews celebrate the Sabbath to this day in the same way as their ancestors did at the time of Jesus and also before that. They have not made a mistake.
5. An important example is what happened on the 14th of Nisan, because the lambs were to be slaughtered "between the evenings" (that is, at 3 p.m.). This is the exact time at which our Lord died, thus fulfilling the Law in a perfect way. Joseph now had to hurry with the burial and why? Simply because from 6 p.m. the HIGH Sabbath (15th Nisan) began. If the Sabbath did not begin until sunrise, then there would be plenty of time for the crucifixion and burial and no one would have to hurry because there would be an extra 12 hours. However, there were only 3 hours between Jesus' death and the beginning of the Sabbath, and people had to prepare for the high Passover Sabbath so they could eat the lamb. Thus, it is also clearly proven here that calendar days and the Sabbaths begin from the dark phase of a whole day.
   Jn 19:31-42: "Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day) [the 15th of Nisan], the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away..... 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there."
6. The Jews have been celebrating the Sabbath from sunset to the next sunset for thousands of years to this day. The Sabbath begins when the first stars can be seen. At the time of Jesus, the Sabbath began from sunset, this is evident from numerous historical sources (Flavius Josephus...). The Pharisees were self-righteous and unloving, but they correctly transmitted God's calendar and Jesus said that we should listen to them (Mt 23:1-3), because they, unlike the Sadducees, correctly preserved God's calendar and the calculation of the feast days.
   The Jews understand the Hebrew language of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and Genesis 1 much better than the Christians, who know neither the language nor the traditions of the Israelites. Some Christians come along with an arrogant attitude and now want to persuade the Israelites that they should supposedly miscalculate the Sabbath and all days for thousands of years and calculate their counting of calendar days and Sabbaths at once from midnight or from sunrise. These are bad false teachings, which want to replace the biblical calendar of God by sun-god theories, by giving a higher value to the sun and the god of the pagans standing behind it. These Christians should travel to Israel with their bible and talk to the rabbis, then they will realize how much they disgrace themselves. They will neither be able to convince the Israelites nor the Christians who know the biblical calendar of God.
7. Even Wikipedia, countless Bible encyclopedias and historical sources, numerous scholars and Bible translators such as Martin Luther, all correctly describe biblical day and Sabbath beginnings. But all these above mentioned arguments are of no use to some Christians, they stubbornly want to start a biblical day at midnight (Gregorian calendar) or from sunrise. Thus, they will never understand the time of the Lord's resurrection either. And they will have to answer for these changes in God's calendar in the last judgment, because they have seduced the children of God to other definitions of days, Sabbaths and feast days, which God did not want.
8. Jesus, according to the Bible, rose on a Sabbath morning, on His day, "on one/first of the Sabbaths" (Mk 16:2; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1) or "early on the first Sabbath" (Mk 16:9). This refers to the annual counting of the 7 Sabbaths until Pentecost. The women did not come to the tomb at the end of the day or the beginning of the evening, but on Sabbath morning while it was still dark. They did not come to the tomb on an ordinary preparation day (Friday), nor on the first day of the week (Sunday). Jesus did not rise on a preparation day (6th day of the week) nor on the first day of the week (Sunday). This is the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. It is precisely through the resurrection on the Sabbath (on the 7th day) that Jesus fulfilled the law in full and thereby became our salvation and our Sabbath rest.

Once again, the Israelites have been celebrating the Sabbath from sunset on Friday evening until Saturday evening for thousands of years. This was also the practice of the Pharisees and Josephus Flavius or other historians have not claimed otherwise. Even today all Jews celebrate the Sabbath from sunset as their fathers did throughout all generations. They can only laugh at the Christians who want to change God's order in the Torah and invent new Sabbath definitions, embarrassing. The biblical Sabbath never began from sunrise. Mostly it is those Christians who also want the pagan Easter Sunday in the Bible, while the Bible mentions the Sabbath 7 times in the resurrection chapter (see Resurrection on the Sabbath). These Christians often have an arrogant attitude and think that the Jews are supposedly not intelligent enough to determine their own Sabbath and now depend on new revelations from Christians on how to keep their holy days. No, the Israelites have always celebrated their holiest day properly and they still do, from sunset to the next sunset. On such an extremely important issue, they will never accept the new Christian inventions, which are not based on any biblical foundation, but on lack of understanding and theological interpretations. There is also not a single verse in the NT where Jesus allegedly complained that the Sabbath would begin at a wrong time. Sunrise is always the middle of an entire calendar day. And if you still want to argue, you can even find clear definitions on Wikipedia. The Israelites will never postpone the beginning of the Sabbath until sunrise, but instead they will reveal the false teachings of the deceivers based on the Hebrew Bible: They are teachings of demons who want to change God's timing. 

God himself is the inventor of holidays, long before people invented their own holidays and their own calendar. The first holiday of the universe and human history is the Sabbath, a weekly day of rest. After God created Adam and Eve on the sixth day, there was a holiday (Sabbath) the very next day, during which the couple could enjoy their lives. Later on, 7 annual holidays (the "High Sabbaths") were also introduced by God. The world does not accept God's holidays at all and has instead devised many holidays of its own.

The foreign word "Sabbath" used in many languages comes from the Hebrew "Shabbat". However, it is not derived from its origin from "rest," as most Christians think, but rather from "cease and desist". This refers to the stopping or finishing of work with the aim of taking a break. Strictly speaking, the Sabbath is not the "day of rest", but the "day of stopping", the "day of cessation", as it should be literally translated. Since most Bible translations translate Gen 2:2 and 2:3 as "He [God] rested on the seventh day" instead of "He stopped [Hebrew shabat] on the seventh day" as it should be literally translated, a misunderstanding arose in that some Christians assumed that God was so exhausted after the creation of the earth that He needed a rest. But God, as a spirit being, could not have been exhausted at all, but "He ceased/stopped" to be active, because it was his own voluntary decision to do nothing on that day. Since "rest" is always connected with "stopping to work", it must be explained why in some places "rest" is used in addition to "stopping", as in Ex 20:11: "and He rested on the seventh day". Through the personal rest of God, the Sabbath received a high significance, since God gave man an example, and if God already rests, by how much more should man also rest. God often refers to the Sabbath as "His day" ("my day"; Lev 26:2; Isa 56:4; Jer 20:12-24; 22:8,26; 23:38; 44:24), so Jesus too is the "Lord of the Sabbath" (Matt 12:8), it is His day. The Sabbath is indeed "the day of God," but the Sabbath is at the same time also "the Sabbath was made for the good of human beings; they were not made for the Sabbath" (Mk 2:27). It is therefore the day of rest and regeneration, not only for man, but also for the animals (Ex 20:10) and for all nature. Through the meeting and Bible study, the relationship of people to God should be improved on this day. In addition, the seventh day stands prophetically as a foreshadow for the millennial kingdom (the 7th millennium). After the 6,000 years of human history follows the 1,000-year Sabbatical millennium in which peace and harmony will reign worldwide.

As has already been described, it was not people, churches or state governments that defined the Sabbath and set it as a day of rest/stop, but God, the creator of the universe and the earth, personally. The Sabbath and the division into weeks is thus a divine institution. The Sabbath is the first and thus the oldest holiday in the history of mankind. The Sabbath is the only day of the week that has ever been sanctified and blessed by God (Gen 2:3; Ex 20:11). But people disagreed with this and designated other "unblessed" and "unsanctified" days as their weekly rest days. A desacralization of the Sabbath and an alleged sanctification of Sunday by God never happened. Only theologians who did not care about the Word of God made this up in order to celebrate the ancient pagan Sunday together with the pagan peoples. The plan of the worldly rulers and theologians was: Christians should rest on the same holidays as the Gentiles, so some statements of the Bible were simply reinterpreted to come to the alleged resurrection Sunday.

The Sabbath, as the seventh day of the week, was the orientation for all time indications of Israel. It was the only biblical day that had a name. Later, the day before the Sabbath also received a name with reference to it, namely "pre-Sabbath" or "preparation day". All other days of the week were less important and were only marked by a number ("first day" or "day one" etc...). This is still the case in Israel today.

Once again, the Sabbath is a clearly defined term, not only since the Law of Moses, but already since the creation of the earth. And in all the languages of the world, the Sabbath still today only means the period from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. For the Jews, the Sabbath lasts until it is dark enough to see at least three stars with the naked eye. By the term "Erev Shabbat" the Jews mean the Friday evening, because the Sabbath begins on the evening (erev) of the Friday after sunset, and by Motza'ei-Shabbat (literally: going out of the Sabbath) they mean the time immediately following the end of the Sabbath (after sunset), i.e. the Saturday night.   

The Sabbath is always the 7th day of the week. In addition, there is a special „Great Sabbath“ (Shabbat ha-Gadol) only once a year, which falls on the 10th of Nisan. This is the only WEEKLY Sabbath that is referred to as the „Great Sabbath“ and should not be confused with the 7 ANNUAL „Great Sabbaths“ (=High Sabbats, feasts). Hebrew tradition confirms several times that in the year of the Exodus, the Passover lamb was set apart on the 10th of Nisan, and this day fell on a Sabbath (Saturday) in that year. Christians speak inaccurately of the Palm Sabbath, which can be found approximately every third year in God's calendar, including in 2020 and 2023. However, as the 10th of Nisan does not fall on a Sabbath (Saturday) every year, but also on other days of the week, Israelis still always refer to the Sabbath before Passover as the „Great Sabbath“, even if it does not fall on the 10th of Nisan. This can be found in every Jewish calendar. The Hebrews always wanted to commemorate the year in which the first Passover lamb was set apart on a weekly Sabbath (10th of Nisan) and slaughtered on the 14th of Nisan (Wednesday), whose blood made the exodus on the 15th Nisan (Thursday) possible.

See Shabbat ha-Gadol on Nisan 10  and  Palm Sabbath.

The Sabbath is mentioned in the Old Testament (OT) more than 100 times (111). We find the first mention of the "seventh day of rest" already in the first two chapters of the Bible. The actual word "Sabbath" (=day of stop/rest) appears first in Ex 16:23, i.e. before the proclamation of the Ten Commandments of God in Ex 20. The first mentioned passage literally translates as: "a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath, holy to Yahweh [JHWH, Lord] is tomorrow". In the much shorter NT, the "Sabbath" appears exactly 70 times. The 70 (10x7=70) is the number of the perfect conclusion. It is 68 times the Greek word οσαββατον (sabbaton, Sabbath) with its grammatical forms and once each time προσαββατον (prosabbaton, pre-sabbath) and σαββατισμος (sabbatismos, Sabbath rest):  

The 70 Sabbaths of the NT are: Matthew 12:1,2,5a,5b,8,10,11,12; 24:20; 28:1a,1b - Mark 1:21; 2:23,24,27a,27b,28; 3:2,4; 6:2; 16:1,2,9 - Luke 4:16,31; 6:1,2,5,6,7,9; 13:10,14a,14b,15,16; 14:1,3,5; 18:12; 23:54,56; 24:1 - John 5:9,10,16,18; 7:22,23a,23 b; 9:14,16; 19:31a,31b; 20:1,19 - Acts 1:12; 13:14,27,42,44; 15:21; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4; 20:7 - 1Cor 16:2 - Col 2:16 and additionally: Mk 15:42 (pre-Sabbath), Hebr 4:9 (Sabbath rest). See also the overview in the chapter Interlinear Text.

The New Testament "sabbaton" is strictly speaking not a Greek word, but a foreign word taken from Hebrew or Aramaic, which is clearly and unambiguously defined and cannot be confused with any other day or time. Therefore, of the 70 occurrences in the NT, it always means only the Sabbath (singular) or the Sabbaths or the Sabbath days in the plural, but never the week, Sunday or Lord's Day, because for this each language (including Hebrew and Greek) has its own words, which have never been used in the entire NT. We are talking about the Word of God and every single word has its meaning and must never be replaced by another.

To understand the Bible, it is very important to put yourself in the minds of the Hebrews and to distinguish between the Sabbaths mentioned in the Bible. Besides the weekly Sabbaths, God also determined seven (7) annual Sabbaths, which fall on different days of the week (see the High Sabbath). These were „highly holy Sabbaths“ and were therefore also called „great Sabbaths“, „high Sabbaths“, „feast Sabbaths“ or „annual Sabbaths“. On these 7 festive Sabbaths, special attention was paid to the observance of Sabbath rest. Therefore, the much more frequent weekly Sabbaths were also called "normal" or „ordinary / customary Sabbaths“. Thus the verses are easy to understand in relation to the calculation of the feast of weeks (Pentecost):

Lev 23:15-16: „You shall count seven full weeks [literally: „7 whole / usual / ordinary / complete / regular Sabbaths“] from the day after the Sabbath [this meant the first High Sabbath of the year, Passover on the 15th Nisan; see Omer], from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord.“

Most Bibles are somewhat inaccurate here, because the basic Hebrew text does not speak of „7 weeks“ but of „7 Sabbaths“. This can be verified word for word in the Hebrew text on the website www.biblehub.com, for example. "Whole Sabbaths" means that both the night and day phases were included and the Sabbaths should not be divided for the calculation of the holiday. 

Which „7 Sabbaths“ until the 50th day (Pentecost) are meant in Lev 23? From the 16th Nisan, the day after the first High Sabbath (15th Nisan, Passover) until the third annual Sabbath (Feast of Weeks = Pentecost, Shavuot) exactly 7 Sabbaths (7 weeks, 49=7x7 days) were counted (Lev 23:15-16) and the 50th day was the High Sabbath which we call "Pentecost" today. It is derived from the Greek πεντηκοστὴ ἡμέρα (pentēkostē hēméra), English „fiftieth day“ (see the calculation of the Omer with the 7 Sabbaths of the past years in the calendar of Israel).

All 7 weekly Sabbaths had and still have a specific name. The first weekly Sabbath after the Passover (15th Nisan) was and is still called „first Sabbath". As it was related to the series of the 7 Sabbaths until Pentecost, the name „first of the Sabbaths“ was also known to all people, as it was actually the first of the 7 Sabbaths until Pentecost. The „second Sabbath" was accordingly the „second of the Sabbaths“ and the „seventh Sabbath“ was consequently the „seventh of the Sabbaths“ or „the last of the Sabbaths" until Pentecost. So when a Hebrew said that he wanted to meet „on the first Sabbath" or „on the first of the Sabbaths“, everyone knew that this could only mean the first weekly Sabbath after Passover (15th Nisan). Nobody ever connected this expression with the „first day of the week“, but only the first (1st Sabbath) of the 7 weekly Sabbaths until Pentecost was meant. In this context, only people who are not familiar with God's calendar and do not understand the Jewish way of thinking at the time of Jesus and until today speak of the „first day of the week“, because the „first Sabbath“ still exists every year until today. This can be found very quickly in every Jewish calendar and can be named with the Gregorian date. Just as anyone can say „on one of the Sundays“ or „on the first of Sundays until Pentecost“ (or on the first Sunday in Advent until Christmas), so too anyone can say „on one of the Sabbaths“ or „on the first of the Sabbaths“ until Pentecost. Every child understands this, because it is a series of 7 Sabbaths until the annual Sabbath Pentecost. And all 7 Sabbaths have a numerical name. This is already clear at the beginning of the Bible:

Lev 23:15-16: „You shall count seven full weeks [literally: „7 whole / usual / ordinary / complete / regular Sabbaths“] from the day after the Sabbath [this meant the first High Sabbath of the year, Passover on the 15th Nisan; see Omer], from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord.“

So if there is a „seventh Sabbath“, there must of course also be a „first Sabbath“ and a „second Sabbath“ and so on. Now the statements of the apostle Mark become understandable, who spoke of Jesus being raised „early on the first Sabbath“ (genitive singular) and then appearing to Mary. Martin Luther correctly translated this verse (Mark 16:9) in his 1522 and 1545 translations:

Literally basic Greek text: „πρωι (early) πρωτη (first) σαββατου (Sabbath)... = „early of the first Sabbath“

Vulgate: „mane (early) prima (first) sabbati (Sabbath) apparuit (he appeared) primo (first) Mariae (Mary).“

Luther: „But Jesus, when he was risen early on the first day of the Sabbaths, appeared he first to Mary.“

German: „Jesus aber, als er auferstanden war früh am ersten Tag der Sabbate, erschien er zuerst Maria.“

Luther had added the word "day" for better understanding. This is not wrong, but it is not necessary because the Sabbath is also a day anyway and according to the biblical calendar it could only mean the first of the 7 weekly Sabbath days until Pentecost. Today we also speak of the "first/second... Advent Sunday“ and in the same way the Jews at the time of Jesus always spoke of "the first/second/third... Sabbath" after the High Sabbath (15th Nisan, Passover) until Pentecost. Jerome (Hieronymus) translated even more precisely than Luther in his Latin (Catholic) Vulgate.

So Mark named the resurrection day of Jesus very precisely and with a clearly defined name. He could not have expressed himself more precisely. This expression was understood by every child in Israel at the time of Jesus and the first Christian church. The other verses in the chapter on the resurrection (Mt 28:1; Mk 16:2; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1; Jn 20:19) generally speak of the coming of women to the tomb „on a Sabbath“ or „on the one of the Sabbaths“, which could only mean a very ordinary weekly Sabbath after the High Sabbath (15th Nisan). Since there are actually 3 Sabbaths within the Passover week in only 7 days and even 7 Sabbaths until Pentecost, the expression „on the one of the Sabbaths“ is justified and very easy to understand. But if you do not know these basics, you will never be able to translate the NT correctly. So at the Passover there are always the two High feast Sabbaths (= annual Sabbaths) on the 15th and 21st Nisan with the one small or ordinary Sabbath in between. There are 3 Sabbaths in one week, so within only 7 days.

The Jewish calendar is available for free on many websites. These many websites show how the Jews have been counting the „7 Sabbaths" for centuries. As every Jewish (Hebrew) calendar proves, the 14th Nisan statically falls on a Wednesday about every 3rd year. This was the case with the introduction of the first Passover at the time of Moses and also in the year when Jesus was crucified. Since that day another slaughtering of the lambs is completely pointless, because through Jesus' death the symbolism was fulfilled. The resurrection of Jesus took place after „3 days and 3 nights“„ (see the Sign of the Messiah) on the morning of the „first Sabbath“. Here are examples from the years 2000 to 2026. Between the High Sabbaths on the 15th Nisan (Passover) and Pentecost (50th day) are always the 7 weekly Sabbaths and during the Passover week there are always three Sabbaths:

The first 3 annual High Sabbaths and the 7 weekly Sabbaths until Pentecost according to the Jewish calendar:

According to the Jewish calendar, the 50th day (Pentecost) always falls on the 6th Siwan, because the first (Nisan 30 days) and the second month (Iyar or Ijjar 29 days) always have the same number of weekdays. But the biblical calendar is a purely astronomical calendar in which the first day of the month is always determined by the first visible crescent of the moon and can therefore have a different number of days. Pentecost therefore does not always fall on the 6th Siwan. Therefore, the counting of the 50 days until Pentecost, which is ordered by God, is necessary. Otherwise God could have simply said „on the 6th day of the 3rd month (Siwan) is Pentecost“, which he did not do (see calendar and feasts and conting of the Omer). 

The following are two examples from the years 2000 and 2020, in which the 14th Nisan fell on a Wednesday, the 15th Nisan on a Thursday and the „first Sabbath“ or „first of the Sabbaths“ on a 17th Nisan. The dark blue fields show the three annual Sabbaths, the light blue fields the 7 weekly Sabbaths until Pentecost. The numbers marked in green show the Omer counting, i.e. how the 49+1=50 days are calculated: 

The same sequence of days at Passover as at the time of Jesus existed in the years 2000 and 2020. This sequence of days appears very frequently in the Jewish calendar (more info), statistically seen in about every third year (examples). Consequently, there is often an ordinary calendar day between the High Festival Sabbath (15th Nisan) and the weekly Sabbath (17th Nisan). Everyone who is reading this text has often unconsciously experienced this same sequence of days as at the time when Jesus was crucified. It is all so simple; why don't pastors want to understand what the "first Sabbath" or the "first of the Sabbaths" is? Is it because they would rather have Sunday as the day of resurrection and want to change the Word of God accordingly? If God had meant Sunday and not the "first Sabbath", he would have said it in the ancient Greek language of the New Testament, and he would have had many options for this (see examples). 

It is very interesting to look at the literal translation of some key verses:

Gen 2:2-3: „And on the seventh day God finished his work that He had done, and He rested [Hebrew: wayyi-shabot] on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. 3 So God blessed [sanctified] the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested [Hebrew: shabaṯ] from all His work that he had done in creation.“

Note: Here alone, God has emphasized three times that only the 7th day is His day, yet people just don't want to understand it and try to convince us that the 1st day of the week (Sunday) should supposedly be His day. In that „He rested“ (wayyishabot and shabaṯ) the word "Sabbath" is included. Nowhere in the entire Bible do we see that sanctification was suspended or transferred to another day of the week, and certainly not to Sunday, which was not mentioned once in the entire Bible (OT+NT). If there is a holy and blessed day, it is only the seventh day of the week, but never the first.

Ex 20:8-11: „Remember the Sabbath day [Hebrew: yom-ha-shabbat; singular], to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath [shabbat; singular] to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day [yom ha-shabbat; signular] and made it holy [blessed].“

When the Hebrews translated the entire Old Testament into the Greek language as early as the 3rd century B.C. (Septuagint, LXX), they often described the individual Sabbath day (singular) in the plural sense because of the grammatical rules in the Greek language (cf. Chap. 6.2 and Chap. 6.5), although only a single Sabbath day (singular) was meant. So the Greek plural "sabbata" always stood for the single Sabbath in the singular and never for the "week" or "Sunday". The LXX translates literally:

Ex 20:8-11: „Remember the day of the Sabbaths [ημεραν των σαββατων = hemera ton sabbaton; plural], to sanctify it. Six days you shall work, and shall do all your works, but the day seventh [ημερα τη εβδόμη = hemera te ebdome] is a Sabbath [σαββατα = sabbata; plural], to the LORD your God... 11 For in six days the LORD made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all the things in them. And He rested on the day seventh [ημερα τη εβδόμη = hemera te ebdome]. Because of this the LORD blessed the day seventh [ημεραν την εβδόμην = hemeran ten ebdomen] and sanctified it.“

Here it is necessary and very important to note: the corresponding Greek word for "the seventh" is "τη εβδόμη" (te ebome), which directly refers to the Greek word "week" (εβδομαδα = ebdomada, see week). How then can some theologians spread the flat assertion that the evangelists allegedly did not know the word "week", and therefore had to speak of a Sabbath to describe a seven-day "week"? No, the truth is: the corresponding Greek word for "week" existed centuries before Jesus and the apostles were even born, and it is not only found in the Greek Bible (Septuagint, LXX), but also in numerous extra-biblical literature (e.g. Flavius Josephus). God has always meant only the "Sabbath" in the chapter on resurrection in the New Testament and never "week" or "Sunday".

Exactly the same plural "σαββατων" (sabbaton) we find in the Resurrection chapter of the NT (see Interlinear), it is 100% the same word as in the Septuagint (proclamation of the Ten Commandments) and in other passages of the New Testament and has always meant only the "Sabbath/s". In Mk 16:9 there is the singular "σαββατου" (sabbatou), which has always served to describe a single Sabbath day (Singular) for thousands of years. Strictly speaking, it was the "first Sabbath" of the seven Sabbaths until Pentecost. Where is the problem in understanding this?

Modern ecumenical theologians translate today Ex 20:8 and other verses on the Sabbath generally with "keep the holiday", so that all religions can choose any day of the week and thus all can accept the Ten Commandments. But this is clearly a falsification of the Bible, for God speaks only of a particular day, namely the seventh, that is, the last day of the biblical week week (not pagan week), and not the penultimate (Friday) or first (Sunday) or second (Monday) day of the week. And God calls this day of rest by name, namely: "Shabbat" (Hebrew: day of cessation/rest). No other day of the week (not even Sunday) was ever a biblical day of cessation, because Friday was the preparation day for the Sabbath and Sunday was always a normal working day for God and Jesus, on which there was no rest, but rather work. But people wanted to keep all kinds of days, but not the Sabbath. A postponement of the Sabbath to another day was never ordered biblically. God never ordered another day of rest either. We cannot choose any day of rest we would like just because the theologians and worldly rulers do not accept the order of God and His calendar. The unbiblical and demonic teaching "keep the holiday", with the aim of abolishing the days of God and introducing other new religious and unbiblical holidays, is directly directed against God and this will not remain without consequences.

Besides the Sabbath on the 7th day of the week and the 7 annual Sabbaths, the Bible also knows the 7th Sabbatical year as every 7th year when the land could not be tilled. This fallow land benefited the poor and nature. After 7x7=49 Sabbatical years, the 50th year was followed by the Jubilee Year. The Bible also knows the World Sabbath, namely the 7th Sabbatical millennium of human history. The seven-day Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is a foreshadow and reminds us of this time every year. After 6,000 years of human rule, God is now taking control of the earth and showing the difference. But before this kingdom of peace can come, first comes the Rapture and the 7-year tribulation. Only then will Jesus visibly return to earth and put an end to the rule of man and all wars and all need and set up his kingdom, which will correspond to paradise before the fall of man.  

Some world rulers have already wanted to establish this millennial empire. But only God is able to build such a kingdom, in which there will be no wars and no suffering and man will live in harmony with nature. Perfect love is the center of this way of life. The prophets (e.g. Isaiah 11:6-10; 65:17-25) have described this precisely. 

Those who do not know the difference between "Sabbath", "week", "Lord's Day" and "Sunday", and have not studied the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint, LXX), should not even try to translate the Greek New Testament into another language. Otherwise he would do great spiritual harm if he did not know the differences between the biblical calendar of God and the pagan calendar (Roman and Gregorian calendars). He will never understand the statements of the evangelists, will be confused and think that the phrase „on the one/first of the Sabbaths“ (Mk 16:2; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1) and „early on the first Sabbath“ (Mk 16:9) could supposedly mean „early on the first day of the week“ or „early on a Sunday“, or „early after the Sabbath.“

But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.

Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increas 

 (Daniel 12:4)

 "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil"

(1Thess 5:21-22)

"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them"

(Epheser 5:11)