Σάββατον

σάββατον (sabbaton, σάββατον, -ου, τό)

Gloss: sabbath, week

Strong's 4521

GK 4879

Frequency in New Testament 68

Plural vs Singular

 * Although we translate it into singular, many of the occurrences in the Greek NT and LXX are in the plural form even in contexts like "Is it lawful to do ... on the Sabbath?" or "first day of the week" or "he was teaching them on the Sabbath". All plural.
 * Similarly, usage in LXX is skewed towards the plural, e.g. in contexts like "Keep the sabbath".
 * One explanation given on internet resources is that the word was Aramaic shabta. This was transliterated into Greek as σάββατα which has the appearance of plural. When a singular was needed, the singular ending was tacked on.
 * It is hard to discern a pattern in the plural v singular use in the NT. An eyeball pattern (which has exceptions!) is the plural is used in referring events happening on a Sabbath, or in normal discource, where it could be translated as "times of the Sabbath" -- is it lawful to do.... during the times of the Sabbath?
 * By this observation, the singular is used to denote Sabbath as an institution--hence "Lord of the Sabbath is in the singular. But there are exceptions where the singular is used in ordinary descriptions!

First of the week?

 * Ἐν δὲ τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων συνηγμένων ἡμῶν κλάσαι ἄρτον (Acts 20:7) "And on the first (day) of the week when we had gathered to break bread....
 * Can μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων be translated as "the first of the Sabbaths"? So did they meet on a Saturday or a Sunday?
 * According to one discussion on stackexchange, it cannot be "one of the Sabbaths". μιᾷ is feminine while σάββατον is neuter. For the adjective "one of the", this should be in neuter to agree with the noun if σάββατον is intended as the reference. Instead, it is more likely that μιᾷ is feminine here to agree with an elided word, ἡμέρα, day. In English we also elide "day" like when we say "first" of the month.
 * Moreover, note in both Mark 16:2 and Luke 24:1, the same phrase occurs (and the passage in Luke is by the same author as Acts). Here the passages are about the women coming to be tomb after the crucifixion. The context makes it very clear the phrase is referring to the first day of the week.
 * The text in Acts 20:7 thus provides an indication that believers were gathering on Sundays as early as the time of Paul.