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week that YEHOVAH implemented, and the Sabbath day can fall on any day of the week -- includ-
ing, occasionally, Saturday. According to all authorities the present seven day cycle is artificial --
having NO relationship to any natural phenomena. Yet, back in early times, the Babylonians and
the Hebrews had rest days or Sabbaths that coincided with the phases of the moon, and appear to
have derived this understanding from a common Semitic antiquity.

Author Eviatar Zerubavel, in his book The Seven Day Circle, states that "a continuous
seven-day cycle that runs throughout history paying no attention whatsoever to the moon and its
phases is a distinctly Jewish invention. Moreover, the DISSOCIATION of the seven-day week
from nature [i.e. from the phases of the moon] has been one of the most significant contributions of
Judaism to civilization" (p. 11). While we disagree with this being a "most significant
contribution...to civilization," this quote shows that the present weekly cycle was changed by the
Jewish authorities from a cycle anchored to the moon's phases to one that is completely dissoci-
ated from the moon and its phases.

Zerubavel goes on to say
that "the Jewish and astrological
weeks evolved quite independ-
ently of one another. However,
given the coincidence of their
identical length, it was only a
matter of time before some per-
manent correspondence between
particular Jewish days and par-
ticular planetary days would be
made. A permanent correspon-
dence between the Sabbath and
"the day of Saturn" [Saturday] was
thus established no later than the
first century of the common era,
and Jews even came to name the planet Saturn Shabtai, after the original Hebrew name of the Sab-
bath, Shabbath. Moreover, as they came into closer contact with Hellenism, their conception of
their holy day was evidently affected by the astrological conception of Saturn as a planet that has
an overwhelming negative influence...There are traditional Jewish superstitious beliefs about de-
mons and evil spirits that hold full sway on the Sabbath, and an old Jewish legend even links the
choice of "the day of Saturn" as the official Jewish rest day with the superstition that it would be
an inauspicious day for doing any work anyway!" (p. 17).

While the Jewish sabbath day was indeed influenced by pagan astrological lore, Sabbath
observance had been established by YEHOVAH long before at Creation -- and long before the as-
trological week even came into existence. YEHOVAH's true weekly cycle and Sabbath day obvi-
ously preceded both the making of the calendrical association between "the day of Saturn"
(Saturday) and the Sabbath and the naming of the planet after the latter. Whereas astrology named
the day of Saturn after the planet, Judaism did that the other way around!

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