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English translation and notes by John Barach
Chapter 15
Lessons about the sabbath
15:1 Ἔτι οὖν καὶ περὶ τοῦ σαββάτου γέγραπται ἐν τοῖς δέκα λόγοις, ἐν οἷς ἐλάλησεν ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σινᾶ πρὸς Μωϋσῆν κατὰ πρόσωπον·
Καὶ ἁγιάσατε τὸ σάββατον κυρίου χερσὶν καθαραῖς καὶ καρδίᾳ καθαρᾷ.
 Furthermore, concerning the Sabbath it is also written in the Ten Words, in which He spoke on Mount Sinai face to face to Moses:
“And sanctify the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a clean heart.”
15:2 καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ λέγει·
ἐὰν φυλάξωσιν οἱ υἱοί μου τὸ σάββατον, τότε ἐπιθήσω τὸ ἔλεός μου ἐπ' αὐτούς.
 And in another place He says: “If my sons keep the Sabbath, then I will place My mercy upon them.”
15:3 τὸ σάββατον λέγει ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς κτίσεως·
Καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ συνετέλεσεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ καὶ κατέπαυσεν ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτήν.
 He speaks of the Sabbath at the beginning of creation: “And God made in six days the works of His hands, and completed them on the seventh day, and rested on it and sanctified it.”
15:4 προσέχετε, τέκνα, τί λέγει τὸ συνετέλεσεν ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις.
τοῦτο λέγει, ὅτι ἐν ἑξακισχιλίοις ἔτεσιν συντελέσει κύριος τὰ σύμπαντα·
ἡ γὰρ ἡμέρα παρ' αὐτῷ σημαίνει χίλια ἔτη.
αὐτὸς δέ μοι μαρτυρεῖ λέγων·
ἰδού, ἡμέρα κυρίου ἔσται ὡς χίλια ἔτη.
οὐκοῦν, τέκνα, ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις, ἐν τοῖς ἑξακισχιλίοις ἔτεσιν συντελεσθήσεται τὰ σύμπαντα.
 Pay attention, children, to what “He completed in six days” means.
It means this: that in six thousand years the Lord will complete all things, for a day with Him signifies a thousand years.
And He Himself testifies to me, saying: “Look, a day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years.” Therefore, children, in six days—that is, in six thousand years—all things will be completed.
15:5 Καὶ κατέπαυσεν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ.
τοῦτο λέγει·
ὅταν ἐλθὼν ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ καταργήσει τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ ἀνόμου καὶ κρινεῖ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ἀλλάξει τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας, τότε καλῶς καταπαύσεται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ.
 “And He rested on the seventh day.” This means: when His Son comes, He will abolish the time of the Lawless One and judge the ungodly and change the sun and the moon and the stars; then He will truly rest on the seventh day.
15:6 πέρας γέ τοι λέγει·
Ἁγιάσεις αὐτὴν χερσὶν καθαραῖς καὶ καρδίᾳ καθαρᾷ.
εἰ οὖν ἣν ὁ θεὸς ἡμέραν ἡγίασεν νῦν τις δύναται ἁγιάσαι καθαρὸς ὢν τῇ καρδίᾳ, ἐν πᾶσιν πεπλανήμεθα.
 Furthermore He says: “You shall sanctify it with clean hands and a clean heart.” If, therefore, anyone can now sanctify the day which God sanctified, unless he is pure in heart, we are deceived in all things.
15:7 ἴδε ὅτι ἄρα τότε καλῶς καταπαυόμενοι ἁγιάσομεν αὐτήν, ὅτε δυνησόμεθα αὐτοὶ δικαιωθέντες καὶ ἀπολαβόντες τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν, μηκέτι οὔσης τῆς ἀνομίας, καινῶν δὲ γεγονότων πάντων ὑπὸ κυρίου·
τότε δυνησόμεθα αὐτὴν ἁγιάσαι, αὐτοὶ ἁγιασθέντες πρῶτον.
 See, then, that we will truly sanctify it resting well at that time, when we ourselves are able to do so—having been justified and having received the promise, lawlessness being no more, but all things having been made new by the Lord.
Then we shall be able to sanctify it, having first been sanctified ourselves.
15:8 πέρας γέ τοι λέγει αὐτοῖς·
τὰς νεομηνίας ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ σάββατα οὐκ ἀνέχομαι.
ὁρᾶτε, πῶς λέγει;
οὐ τὰ σάββατα ἐμοὶ δεκτά, ἀλλὰ ὃ πεποίηκα, ἐν ᾧ καταπαύσας τὰ πάντα ἀρχὴν ἡμέρας ὀγδόης ποιήσω, ὅ ἐστιν ἄλλου κόσμου ἀρχήν.
 Finally, He says to them: “Your new moons and your sabbaths I cannot endure.” See how He speaks: it is not the present sabbaths that are acceptable to Me, but the one which I have made, in which, having given rest to all things, I will make the beginning of an eighth day, which is the beginning of another world.
15:9 διὸ καὶ ἄγομεν τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ὀγδόην εἰς εὐφροσύνην, ἐν ᾗ καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν καὶ φανερωθεὶς ἀνέβη εἰς οὐρανούς.
 Therefore also we observe the eighth day with gladness, on which also Jesus rose from the dead, and having been manifested, ascended into heaven.
Summary
In Chapter 15 of the Epistle of Barnabas, the author offers an eschatological and typological reinterpretation of the Sabbath command.

Drawing on the creation account in Genesis and the principle that "a day with the Lord is a thousand years" (cf. Psalm 90:4 / 2 Peter 3:8), he presents a chiliastic (millennial) framework: the six creation days represent a 6,000-year history of the world, followed by a 7th millennium of rest when Christ returns, destroys the Lawless One, and renovates creation.

The author argues that true observance of the Sabbath is impossible in the present, sinful age because human hearts are not yet fully pure.

Instead, God rejects literal Jewish Sabbath observances ("present sabbaths") in favor of the "eighth day"—the day of Christ’s resurrection and ascension—which marks the beginning of the new creation and another world.

Consequently, Christians celebrate the eighth day (Sunday) with joy.
Significant Greek Expressions
ἐν ἑξακισχιλίοις ἔτεσιν συντελέσει κύριος τὰ σύμπαντα (in six thousand years the Lord will complete all things): A foundational passage for early Christian millenarianism (chiliasm), mapping the six days of creation directly onto 6,000 years of human history.

τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ ἀνόμου (the time of the Lawless One): Refers to the end-time reign of the Antichrist/Adversary prior to the return of Christ and the establishment of the messianic Sabbath rest.

οὐ τὰ νῦν σάββατα ἐμοὶ δεκτά (not the present sabbaths are acceptable to Me): A explicit rejection of literal weekly Sabbath keeping as inadequate and temporary compared to the true, spiritual rest of the age to come.

ἀρχὴν ἡμέρας ὀγδόης ... ἄλλου κόσμου ἀρχήν (beginning of an eighth day ... beginning of another world): Defines the "eighth day" as transcending the weekly 7-day creation cycle, signifying the inauguration of the new creation (kainē ktisis) ushered in by Jesus.

ἄγομεν τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ὀγδόην εἰς εὐφροσύνην (we observe the eighth day with gladness): One of the earliest post-New Testament explicit attestations of Christian Sunday worship, celebrating the Lord’s Day on the day of Jesus’s resurrection and ascension.
Epistle of Barnabas