Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 20:10

"but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:" — Exodus 20:10 (ASV)

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God. —The Hebrew is, But the seventh day (shall be) a sabbath to the Lord your God — that is, it shall be a day of holy rest from worldly things and of devotion to heavenly things. (See Note 2 on Exodus 20:8.)

In it you shall not do any work. —This negative aspect of the Sabbath is further emphasized by particular prohibitions:

1. The prohibition against gathering the manna on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:26);
2. The prohibition against lighting a fire (Exodus 35:3);
3. Against gathering sticks (Numbers 15:35).

Some exceptions were allowed, such as the work of the Priests and Levites in the Temple on the Sabbath, attendance on and care of the sick, and the rescue of a beast that was in peril of its life, etc. (Matthew 12:11.) However, the tendency was to press the negative aspect to an extreme and to ignore the positive one.

By the time of the Maccabees, it had come to be considered unlawful to defend oneself against an enemy's attack on the Sabbath . And, though this extravagant view did not maintain its ground, yet at the time of our Lord’s ministry, a rigor of observance was in vogue on other points which exceeded the limits of reasonable exegesis.

Our Lord’s practice was pointedly directed against the overstrained theory of Sabbath observance which was current in His day, and was clearly intended to vindicate for His disciples a liberty which ecclesiastical authority was disposed to deny them. There are parts of Christendom in which, even at the present day, a similar spirit prevails, and a similar vindication is needed.

Nor your son, nor your daughter. —The whole family was to partake in the Sabbatical rest. Labour was to cease, not to be devolved by the stronger members onto weaker ones.

Your manservant, nor your maidservant. —The rest was to extend also to the domestics, who especially required it, since the heavier labours of the household had to be performed by them.

Your cattle. —Labour can scarcely be exacted from cattle without humans also being called upon to work. God, however, “cares for cattle,” even for their own sakes, and wills that the Sabbath rest be extended to them. His mercy is over all His works, and embraces the mute, unreasoning animals no less than His human creatures. (Genesis 9:9–11; Exodus 9:19; Deuteronomy 25:4; Jonah 4:11.)