Sabbath-Day's Journey

Concise Bible Dictionary:

This is mentioned as the greatest distance a Jew was allowed to travel on the Sabbath. There is no injunction as to this in the law, but when some of the people went out to gather manna on the Sabbath, Moses enjoined, “Abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day” (Ex. 16:2929See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. (Exodus 16:29)). In New Testament times it was understood that a person might travel two thousand cubits (about five furlongs); this extent had been fixed on because when the Israelites were marching they were commanded to keep the above named distance from the ark, and it was concluded that when they were encamped, there was the same distance between the tabernacle and the tents, and that this space was constantly traveled for worship. When they were in the land the distance was reckoned from the gate of the city from which the traveler started (Acts 1:1212Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. (Acts 1:12)). The Lord perhaps referred to this custom when He bade the disciples pray that, in the judgment of Jerusalem, their flight should not be “on the Sabbath-day” (Matt. 24:2020But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: (Matthew 24:20)).

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

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 16:2929See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. (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 24:2020But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: (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.

Related Books and Articles:

824. A Sabbath Day's Journey