824. A Sabbath Day's Journey

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 11
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Acts 1:12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s journey.
This was the distance beyond which it was considered unlawful for a Jew to travel on the Sabbath day. Its limitation is supposed to have originated in the rabbinical comment on Exodus 16:29, where every man is commanded to abide in his place on the Sabbath. Our Lord is thought to have in mind the customary limit of a Sabbath day’s journey when he directs his disciples to pray that their flight be not on the Sabbath day. See Matthew 24:20.
The distance to be understood by this limited Sabbath travel is variously estimated at three quarters of a mile, one mile, one mile and three quarters, and two miles. The best authorities represent it as three quarters of a mile.