Exercitations concerning the name, original, nature, use, and continuance of a day of sacred…

(1.) [Greek or Hebrew] he blessed it. Gods Blessing as the Jews say, and they say well therein, is [Greek or Hebrew] an Addition of Good. It relates to some thing that hath a real present Existence, to which it makes an Addition of some farther Good, than it was before partaker of. Hereof, as we said, the Day in this place was the Direct and immediate Object; God blessed it. Some peculiar Good was added unto it. Let this be inquired into what it was, and wherein it did consist, and the meaning of the words will be evident. It must be somewhat whereby it was preferred unto, or exalted above other days. When any thing of that nature is assigned, besides ⟨p. 61⟩a Relation given unto it to the Worship of God, it shall be considered. That this was it, is plain from the Nature of the thing it self, and from the actual separation and use of it to that purpose which did ensue.

(1.) 〈non-Latin alphabet〉 he blessed it. Gods Blessing as the Jews say, and they say well therein, is 〈non-Latin alphabet〉 an Addition of Good. It relates to some thing that hath a real present Existence, to which it makes an Addition of some farther Good, than it was before partaker of. Hereof, as we said, the Day in this place was the Direct and immediate Object; God blessed it. Some peculiar Good was added unto it. Let this be inquired into what it was, and wherein it did consist, and the meaning of the words will be evident. It must be somewhat whereby it was preferred unto, or exalted above other dayes. When any thing of that nature is assigned, besides ⟨p. 61⟩a Relation given unto it to the Worship of God, it shall be considered. That this was it, is plain from the Nature of the thing it self, and from the actual separation and use of it to that purpose which did ensue.

The other Word [Greek or Hebrew] and sanctified it, is farther instructive in the intention of God, and is also exegetical of the former. Suppose still, as the Text will not allow us to do otherwise, that the Day is the Object of this Sanctification, and it is not possible to assign any other sense of the Words, but that God t apart by his Institution that Day to be the Day of his Worship, to be spent in a Sacred Rest unto himself; And this is declared to be the intendment of the Word in the Decalogue, where it is used again to the same purpose: For none ever doubted but that the meaning of [Greek or Hebrew] and he sanctified it, therein, is any other, but that by his Institution and command he set it apart for a Day of holy Rest: And this signification of that Word is not only most common, but solely to be admitted in the Old Testament, if Cogent Reason be not given to the contrary; as where it denotes a Dedication and separation to Civil uses, and not to Sacred, as it sometimes doth, still retaining its general nature of separation: And therefore I will not deny but that these two words may signify the same thing, the one being merely exegetical of the other; He blessed it, by sanctifying of it: as