2. What division of time is marked off by the Sabbath?
The week.
Notes.—“One of the most striking collateral confirmations of the Mosaic history of the creation is the general adoption of the division of time into weeks, which extends from the Christian states of Europe to the remote shores of Hindustan, and has equally prevailed among the Hebrews, the Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans, and northern barbarians,—nations some of whom had little or no intercourse with others, and were not even known by name to the Hebrews.”—Horne's “Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures,” Vol. I, page 69, edition 1841.
“Seven has been the ancient and honored number among the nations of the earth. They have measured their time by weeks from the beginning. The original of this was the Sabbath of God, as Moses has given the reasons for it in his writings.”—“Brief Dissertation on the First Three Chapters of Genesis,” by Dr. Lyman Coleman, page 26.
Gen. 7:4, 10; 8:10, 12, show that the week was known at the time of the flood.
3. How widely recognized is the seventh-day Sabbath in the different languages of the world today?
It is very generally so recognized.
Note.—Some years ago the late Dr. William Mead Jones, of London, published a “Chart of the Week,” showing the style of the weekly cycle and the designations of the different days of the week in one hundred and sixty different languages. This chart shows very vividly that the seven-day period, or week, was known from the most ancient times, and that in no fewer than one hundred and eight of these languages the seventh day is designated as the Sabbath, or holy day. The following is from this chart:—
| English | The seventh day | The Sabbath |
| Hebrew | Shabbath | Sabbath |
| Greek | Sabbaton | Sabbath |
| Latin | Sabbatum | Sabbath |
| Arabic | Assabt | The Sabbath |
| Persian | Shambin | Sabbath |
| Armenian | Shapat | Sabbath |
| Turkish | Yomessabt | Day the Sabbath |
| Abyssinian | Sanbat | Sabbath |
| Russian | Subbota | Sabbath |
| Polish | Sobota | Sabbath |
| Hindustani | Shamba | Sabbath |
| Malay | Ari-Sabtu | Day Sabbath |
| Afghan | Shamba | Sabbath |
| German | Samstag | Sabbath |
| Prussian | Sabatico | Sabbath |
| French | Samedi | Sabbath day |
| Italian | Sabbato | Sabbath |
| Spanish | Sabado | Sabbath |
| Portuguese | Sabbado | Sabbath |
4. What reason did God assign at Sinai for having blessed and set apart the seventh day as a day of holy rest?