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Why do modern translations of the Hebrew Bible translate the plural Sabbaths in Leviticus 23:15 with a singular Sabbath? All English translations of this verse on Bible Gateway translate it as singular, yet it is in the plural in the Hebrew scriptures. Am I right?

טווּסְפַרְתֶּ֤ם לָכֶם֙ מִמָּֽחֳרַ֣ת הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת מִיּוֹם֙ הֲבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם אֶת־עֹ֖מֶר הַתְּנוּפָ֑ה שֶׁ֥בַע שַׁבָּת֖וֹת תְּמִימֹ֥ת תִּֽהְיֶֽינָה

In the Bible Hub website, a respected website for Christian Bible Study, they translate the word Sabbath in Leviticus 23:15 with a plural rendering in the interlinear. The word is שַׁבָּת֖וֹת

Is that word really a plural, or did Bible Hub make a mistake?

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  • 3
    This isn’t really a matter of linguistics as such – indeed, questions about specific translations are specifically off-topic, so it will likely be closed here. I think it would be perfectly on-topic at Biblical Hermeneutics, however, and have flagged moderators to transfer it there, where you’re more likely to get knowledgeable answers that take the full Biblical context into perspective.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Nov 17 at 19:56
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    הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת is singular, שֶׁ֥בַע שַׁבָּת֖וֹת is seven Sabbaths, plural. Everything is quite ordinary.
    – Vladimir F Героям слава
    Commented Nov 17 at 20:07

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The word appears twice in Leviticus 23:15:

  • The first instance is הַשַּׁבָּת (ha-shabat, the sabbath, singular).
  • The second is שַׁבָּתוֹת (shabatoth, sabbaths, plural).

What is an example of an incorrect translation of the verse, which instance are you asking about, and why do you think it is incorrect?

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  • I have had discussions with a fellow from this forum and another that we are in and he believes that Sabbath is plural in the Hebrew in this verse. It CAN be because at the Bible Hub website they have an interlinear and in Leviticus 23:15 it identifies the word Sabbath as plural. In the NASB 1995 edition the expression "the Sabbath" appears 51 times in the Old Testament. 48 of them are singular, twice it is not found in the interlinear, and once as a Sabbath and that is -- you guessed it--Leviticus 23:15.
    – Saber Truth Tiger
    Commented Nov 18 at 2:30
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    +1 As you can see here hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/62640/… my understanding of the Hebrew is exactly as this answer states. Not only is it singular, but the article makes it emphatically so, the Sabbath. I suspect the OP is confusing how the LXX translates the Hebrew, τῆς ἐπαύριον τῶν σαββάτων, the next day of the Sabbaths.
    – Revelation Lad
    Commented Nov 18 at 13:59
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    @SaberTruthTiger says "the Hebrew word in the Bible Hub interlinear in Leviticus 23:15 is שַׁבָּת֖וֹת". Right, but that's the word that's part of "seven sabbaths", so why would you think it shouldn't be plural?
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Nov 18 at 21:32
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    @SaberTruthTiger. — Leviticus 23:15 Interlinear says: "7676 [e] // haš·šab·bāṯ, // הַשַּבָּת // the after Sabbath // Art | N‑cs", with the last line meaning "Article:: Noun - common singular". Why do you say it is plural?
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Nov 18 at 21:49
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    @RevelationLad, Right at the bottom of the linked page, it really does have the singular (the sabbath) and plural (sabbaths or weeks) instances switched.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Nov 19 at 15:21

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