Exodus 35: Please Don't Start a Fire

Chapter 35 begins with yet another commandment to keep Shabbat. The text includes a specific law this time:“You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the sabbath day.” (Exodus 35:3)לֹא־תְבַעֲרוּ אֵשׁ בְּכֹל מֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת׃Why is this law singled out? The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat explains that the verse comes to teach that kindling fire was not permitted “throughout your settlements” but it was permitted in the Temple. This meant that the burning of the fats and other sacrificial rites that included fire were allowed. Later on, the Gemara connects this verse to the previous one:“On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a sabbath of complete rest, holy to God; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.” (Exodus 35:2)שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי יִהְיֶה לָכֶם קֹדֶשׁ שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן לַה׳ כָּל־הָעֹשֶׂה בוֹ מְלָאכָה יוּמָת׃If this verse lays out the prohibition against doing any work on Shabbat, why does the next verse mention lighting fire, only one of the 39 prohibited actions? The Gemara answers that the Torah is explaining that one who performs each of the 39 prohibited actions is liable for each individual one.The Gemara in Masechet Sanhedrin learns something else entirely. The verse includes the word “settlements” (מֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם). Obviously one could not light a fire anywhere they live. The laws of Shabbat are on the individual, not the location. The use of the word “settlements” is meant to connect with the same word in the verse:“Such shall be your law of procedure throughout the ages in all your settlements.” (Numbers 35:24)וְשַׁפְטוּ הָעֵדָה בֵּין הַמַּכֶּה וּבֵין גֹּאֵל הַדָּם עַל־הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה׃The Gemara connects the two uses of this word to explain that the court cannot administer capital punishment on Shabbat.Ibn Ezra explains that because earlier in Exodus 12:16 the Israelites were permitted to cook on Yom Tov, the Torah needed to come back now and explain that Shabbat is different. Cooking, i.e., lighting a fire, is prohibited on Shabbat.During the Second Temple period, the Karaites, a sect of the Jewish people who rejected the oral law, would take this verse literally and would make sure to not have any lights on Shabbat. Even a plain reading of the text counters this reading. The verse prohibits the act of lighting a fire—“You shall kindle no fire”—and not having a fire that is burning. Had that been the meaning of the text, the verse would have read “You shall not have a fire burning in your settlements.” This is why things like Shabbat lights and hot plates are all allowed on Shabbat as long as they were lit before Shabbat.Similarly, the Essenes—another sect during the Second Temple period—held views akin to the Karaites, insisting on complete darkness on Shabbat as part of their strict interpretation. In contrast, the Rabbis composed the Mishnah’s chapter Bameh Madlikin (“With what may we light?”) as a direct response to these literalist claims, emphasizing that Shabbat lights are not only permitted but encouraged to honor Shabbat. This rabbinic stance reframed the verse as a prohibition on the act of kindling, not on enjoying light, reinforcing the oral tradition against sectarian extremes.