Mannora Bible
Back to Bible dictionary

Measures & money

Sabbath day’s journey

A conventional limit for travel on the Sabbath in later Jewish practice.

Also called · Sabbath journey

What it means

The phrase reflects interpretation of Sabbath rest rather than a distance unit directly defined in the Torah.

It was commonly understood as about two thousand cubits, but application and measurement could vary.

How it appears in the Bible

Acts says the Mount of Olives was a Sabbath day’s journey from Jerusalem.

Translation note

About one kilometer is only a rough orientation, not an exact universal limit.