The First Creation account as allegorical prose based on the number seven
Summary: The first creation story in the Torah is not a scientific account but a poetic narrative emphasizing the order, purpose, and divine design of the universe, centered around the symbolic use of numbers—especially six and seven, which represented natural and divine perfection in the ancient world. Each day of creation follows a deliberate structure showing how domains (like land, sea, and sky) were formed and then filled with life, culminating in the creation of humans, who, while biologically close to animals, are uniquely made in the "image of God" with moral and spiritual faculties. The Sabbath is portrayed as an integral and sanctified part of creation itself, embedded within a poetic structure marked by repeated sevens to emphasize its holiness and divine origin. Ultimately, the chapter communicates that creation was not random but a divinely orchestrated process aimed at preparing the world for human life and spiritual purpose. The universal and particularistic aspects of the Sabbath are also discussed.
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Counterintuitive as it may seem, the first creation story is not primarily about the details of how the universe was created. Rather, it is an exquisitely constructed poem constructed around numbers six and seven and which illustrates the principles by which Elohim created the world and His ceasing from creative activity on the seventh day.
In the ancient world, meaning was assigned to certain numbers. Number seven represented the perfection of the Divine. Although used extensively in the Torah, this number was not a Jewish concept. The ziggurat in Babylon on which the biblical tower of Babylon story is likely based had seven stories. On the seventh story, closest to the heavens, was the temple of Marduk, the chief god of Babylon. The Armana letters discovered in an archive in Egypt were written on clay tablets between about 1360 to 1332 BCE and consist primarily of 382 diplomatic correspondences between the Egyptian administration in the New Kingdom and its representatives in Canaan and Amurua and between neighboring kingdom leaders. Two of the letters specifically mention the writer falling before the Egyptian Pharaoh seven times seven i.e., 49 times, thereby acknowledging the divinity of the Pharaoh.1 The Gilgamesh myth, soon to be discussed, mentions the number seven a number of times. Some may be indicative of a week, but others have religious significance in that the hero of the myth, Utnapishtim, offers sacrifices with the contents of jars in groups of seven after his delivery from the flood.
The focus of this creation account on number seven begins with its opening sentence which contains seven Hebrew words:
Bereishis boro Elohim et hashomayim ve’et ha’aretz — In the beginning, Elohim created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).
Its second sentence contains 14 words, which is a multiple of seven (2 x 7):
Veha’aretz hayeto tohu vovohu vechoshech al pnei tehom veru’ach Elokim merachefet al pnei hamayim — And the earth was without form (tohu), and void (vohu); and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters (ibid 1:2).
In this way, the text is subtly emphasizing that every aspect of the universe was created by the One God Who is represented in a literary form by the number seven. Similarly, the second sentence tells us that the disorder and chaos characterizing the beginning of the earth was also a creation of Elohim. These two sentences are also indicative of creatio ex nihilo, the concept that matter is not eternal without beginning or end but was formed by a Divine creative act.
It is worth noting parenthetically that the opening sentence of the Bible has unusual wording, in that its first word bereishit is in the construct form, meaning “in the beginning of . . . ” However, the subject of the “of” is missing! The usual way of saying “in the beginning” in Hebrew is not bereishit but barishona, meaning first of all.
Many Jewish commentators consider this first sentence a general introduction to the creation story with an implied subject — i.e., “In the beginning of [everything].” Another way of looking at it is as a wake-up word: “In the beginning of, God created the heaven and the earth.” What do you mean “in the beginning of”? In the beginning of what? In the beginning [of everything] of course!
Just as the presence of the Divine was conceptualized in the ancient world by the number seven, so the natural world was represented by numbers six and 60. Six is a perfect number in that the addition or multiplication of its integers is equal to 6 (i.e., 1+2+3=6 and 1x2x3=6).
We have a vestige of this system today in our 24-hour day (6 x 4). There is no scientific reason that the number of hours in a day should be a multiple of six. It is a made-up construct based on an ancient convention.
A sexagesimal system, i.e., a number system based on 60 (which is also 6 x 10), was also used in the ancient world. Vestiges of this are our 60-minute hour, 360-degree circle (60 x 6), and 180-degree triangle (60 x 3). Again, there is no scientific reason that any of these should be integers of 60.
We are now aware, of course, that the universe was created in billions of years and not in six days. Nor is there any scientific significance that the creation of the universe should be subdivided into six phases. Rather, this chapter is describing in poetic form the order and design that typified the creation of the natural world and the creation of man. It is also directing us to the seventh day of creation using a numerical system whose meaning would have been familiar to people living at the time the Torah was given.
The days of creation
The Bible’s description of each day of creation has a consistent format. Day 3 is a fairly typical example:
Elohim said, "Let the waters beneath the heavens be gathered to one place, that the dry land may appear"; and it was so. Elohim called the dry land "earth", and to the gathering of waters He called "seas." And Elohim saw that it was good. And Elohim said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation (desheh), herbage (eysev) yielding seed, and fruit trees producing fruit each according to its kind, containing its own seed on the earth;" and it was so. And the earth sprouted vegetation (desheh), herbage (eysev) yielding seed according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit, each containing its seed after its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day (Genesis 1:9-13).
First Elohim speaks. But who is He speaking to? There is no one to listen to Him! The presumption must be that this soliloquy is more in the way of God planning than talking. Many of the classic Jewish commentators interpret it as an expression of God’s purposeful will.2
There then follows the details of God’s will — let the waters beneath the heavens be gathered and let the dry land appear. There is also within the third day of creation the notion that the earth does its own creating — “And Elohim said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation (desheh), herbage (eysev) yielding seed. . . .” (Ibid 1:24) This is also apparent on the fifth day of creation with the seas and firmament when God said: “Let the waters teem with creeping living creatures. . . .” (ibid 1:20), and the sixth day when Elohim said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind” (ibid 1:24).
These verses are quite compatible with evolution. Nevertheless, the description of day 6 clarifies that this is not random Darwinian evolution but a God-directed one. Hence, after Elohim said: “let the earth bring forth living creatures (ibid 1:24), the text follows with:
And Elohim made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and all the creeping things of the ground according to their kind; and Elohim saw that it was good (ibid 1:28).
Most days of the week terminate with the expression that Elohim saw that it was good, or that “it was so (vayehi chen),” namely that it fulfilled the function to which it had been designated. Each day also ends with the expression "it was evening and it was morning one day, a second day, a third day" etc.
This format emphasizes the design, order and purpose pervading the universe. Nothing in existence occurred randomly, but only by the will of God. And the purpose of all creation was to provide a planet suitable for the habitation of man.
Cassuto points out that the purpose manifested throughout creation is emphasized by a specific stylistic form which is summarized in table 1.3 From days 1 to 3, Elohim created stationary domains, while on days 4 to 6 their purpose becomes established when they are filled with moving entities.
Day 4 is linked to day 1 when Elohim formed heavenly luminaries from the light created on day 1 and these were placed within a firmament created on day 2. The reasons for the creation of these heavenly bodies are described as: (i). To separate day from night; (ii). For signs, seasons, days, and years; and (iii). To provide light to the earth. As will be explained in the next chapter, two of these reasons are mentioned in the Enuma Elish myth and all may have been mentioned in the original version as the fragment containing the description of the sun has been damaged. Animals and man were created on day 6 on a land containing vegetation that had been previously prepared for them on day 3.
Day 6 is of particular interest, since this is when man, the ultimate purpose of creation, was created. As the Talmud states:
Man was created last so he should find all things ready for him. If he is worthy, he is told: “All things were created in your behalf.” At the same time his late appearance on earth conveys an admonition of humility. If man becomes too proud, he is reminded: Even gnats proceeded you in the order of creation.4
Given the importance of man in the overall scheme of creation, one might have thought that he would warrant his own day of creation. That he is created on the same day as the animals presents a powerful message, namely that as organic material having a limited lifespan the dividing line between him and animals is not that great:
And Elohim said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind: cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kind": And it was so. And Elohim made the beasts of the earth according to its own kind, and the cattle according to its own kind, and every creeping thing of the ground according to their kind: And Elohim saw that it was good. And Elohim said, "Let us make man in Our image (bezalmeinu), after Our likeness (kidmuteinu), and they shall rule over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the heaven, and over the cattle, the entire earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." And Elohim created man in His image (bezalmo), in the image (bezelem) of Elohim He created him; male and female He created them. And Elohim blessed them and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and every living thing that moves upon the earth." And Elohim said: "Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing herb which is upon the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; it shall be yours for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to all the fowl of the heavens, and to everything that moves upon the earth in which there is a living spirit, every green herb is for food:” And it was so. And Elohim saw all that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day (ibid 1:24-31).
Nevertheless, although man and animals were created on the same day, the text makes many distinctions between them in terms of their creation. Rather than the earth being the source of creation for animals and the oceans for creeping creatures and fish on day 5, man is created independent of the earth: “And Elohim said: “Let us make man in Our image . . . “ (ibid 1:26).
There is much discussion among Jewish commentators as why God suddenly uses the plural — “Let us make man. . . .” Some commentators suggest He was addressing the angels, even though they would have been no more than yes-men.5 Nachmanides suggests that the use of the plural denotes the involvement of God together with the earth.6 The Abarbanel also views man as being made from both heavenly and earthly components — a soul from above and a body from below. Others suggest this expression as a pluralis majestis (the royal “we”). This is not the only time in the Torah that a plural form of the verb is used for God. We will meet it again in the Tower of Bavel story when YHWH says “Come, let us go down . . .” (Genesis 11:7). Both verses could support this last explanation.
There is also much discussion among commentators as to what is meant by the expression the “in our image (bezelem) after our likeness [of Elohim].” The simplest explanation is that it refers to all the faculties that man possesses that animals do not, and in particular those necessary to rule the earth to “subdue it [the earth], and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and to everything that moves that moves upon the earth."7
Another aspect of the image of God is the sense of right or wrong, or what is commonly called conscience.8 There were individuals between the generation of Seth and Noah, including Noah himself, who are described as having “walked” (hithale’ach) with Elohim, even though they never received a moral code. Nevertheless, what is often called “natural law” is not a particularly strong moral force, in that a sense of right and wrong can easily be rationalized in the direction one wishes. This is why the world eventually needed to be destroyed by a flood and why an individual, Abraham, was chosen to promulgate God’s morality to the world.
This topic of the God-like attributes of man is discussed further in the next chapter.
The sanctification of the Sabbath
The aspect of creation bringing spirituality to our world was the institution of the Sabbath. It is deeply embedded within creation and is as much a part of creation as the forming of the waters and the dry land. Its institution begins at the beginning of time on the seventh day of creation and its recognition will continue into eternity.
The paragraph describing the institution of the Sabbath has a wonderful lilt to it because of its poetic form. This is best appreciated in the Hebrew, although it is noticeable to an extent in English. The passage reads as follows:
(Sentence #1): Thus, the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their hosts.
(Sentence #2): And Elohim finished on the seventh day
His work (melachto) which He had made (asa);
(Sentence #3): And He rested (vayishbot) on the seventh day
from all His work (melachto) which He had made (asa).
(Sentence #4): And Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it;
because in it He had rested (shovat) from all his work (melachto) which Elohim created and made (la’asot). (Genesis 2:1-3).
The poetic nature of this passage is fashioned in a number of ways. First, the middle of each of the three sentences which I have labeled #2, #3 and #4 contain the words “bayom hashevi’i” or “yom hashevi.” This means “on the seventh day” or just “the seventh day,” and this phrase acts as a refrain for these sentences. The end of sentence #4 also constitutes a summary of the ends of sentences #2 and #3.
Significantly, each of sentences #2, #3 and #4 contain seven Hebrew words, and the entire paragraph contains 35 Hebrew words (5 x 7) 9:
וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ הַשָּׁמַ֥יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ וְכׇל־צְבָאָֽם׃
(ב) וַיְכַ֤ל אֱלֹקים֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה
וַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃
(ג) וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱלֹקים֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱלֹקים לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃
Thirty-five is also the number of times that the word Elohim is mentioned in this chapter (assuming that verses one to three of chapter 2 really belong to this first chapter). This is not a coincidence. It signifies that the institution and sanctification of the Sabbath is an integral part of Elohim’s universe.
The universal and particularistic aspects of the Sabbath
Was the Sabbath intended to have universal significance, or was it intended to be entirely a Jewish institution? It is, after all, located in the same chapter as the creation of the universe, which was created for all humanity. It was also created by Elohim, a name which has universal connotations. To answer this question, we will need to delve into further mentions of the Sabbath in the Torah.
The Sabbath is never called this by name in Genesis, only “the seventh day.” Nevertheless, the three-letter root of the noun Shabbat (שבת) is used as a verb for God’s resting in sentence #4 above.10 The passage also calls God’s creative work “melacha.” This noun is not used elsewhere in the First Creation story but is used in the Book of Exodus. This leads to an important point. This passage in Genesis about the Sabbath was never intended to stand alone in the Bible but to be an introduction to a concept that will be developed further in the Torah, up to and including the Book of Deuteronomy. One may go further than this and state that all subsequent chapters in Genesis were not intended to stand in isolation. All are leading somewhere.
God’s sanctification of the Sabbath at the time of Creation implies that at some time in the future there will be a people who will be designated to sanctify this day throughout time. It is no exaggeration to say that the establishment of an eternal Jewish people is already written into the very first chapter of Genesis and the time of creation.
The sages express this notion in the midrashic literature by a beautiful exchange between the Sabbath and God Himself:
The Shabbat said: “Master of the universe, everyone has a partner except for me. The six days of creation pair off: Only I have no partner.” God replied: “The people of Israel are your partner.” When Israel stood before Sinai, God said to them: “Remember what I told Shabbat: “The people of Israel are your partner.” This is the meaning of the commandment “Commemorate (or remember) the day of Shabbat to sanctify it (Exodus 20:8).11
The next mention of the Sabbath in any detail after the Book of Genesis is the fourth of the Ten Commandments in the Book of Exodus.12 This is an Elohim-passage — “Elohim spoke all these words [of the Ten Commandments] saying” (Exodus 20:1), although the name YHWH appears several times. In that Elohim and YHWH are both mentioned, the Sabbath can be said to have both universal and particularistic implications.
This passage takes the form of a chiasmus:
A1. Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it.
B1. Six days shall you labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is Sabbath to YHWH, your God.
C. You shall not do any work — you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your maidservant and your animal, and the stranger within your gates —
B2. for in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day
A2. Therefore, YHWH blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it (Exodus 20:8-11).
Chiastic structures are common in the Torah and it is helpful to recognize them since this format emphasizes ideas that are contained within them. They also help explain otherwise wordy passages.
A chiasmus typically consists of two parts, in which the second part mirrors the first — A2 and B2 mirroring A1 and B1. Its centerpiece is often the main point being made by the chiasmus, in this case in line C. There is nothing new in relation to the Creation story in lines A1, B1, A2 and B2, but line C emphasizes the total cessation of work that should take place within a household on the Sabbath. It is therefore emphasizing the notion of freedom for everyone in the household, including slaves, and a total reliance on God for sustenance on this day.
A passage which is nothing but particularistic is found in the Book of Exodus in relation to the building of the Sanctuary. The concept of the holiness of time within the Book of Exodus becomes a stepping stone for the concept of the holiness of place, in this instance the Sanctuary. Nevertheless, the construction of the Sanctuary never overrides the sanctity of the Sabbath. Furthermore, observing the Sabbath has now become a “sign” that is specific to the Jewish people.
Linguistically, this passage is very much a sequel to the last paragraph of the first Creation story, although it is completely a YHWH-passage. It uses the same verb for doing work as in Genesis (oseh) and the same noun for work (melacha). Nevertheless, the Sabbath is no longer just “the seventh day,” but has been given a name — Shabbat. The passage is also in the form of a chiasmus:13
A1. Nevertheless, you must keep my Sabbaths (shabtotei)
B1. for it is a sign between Me and you for your generations
C1. that you may know that I am YHWH Who sanctifies you.
D1. You shall keep the Sabbath (hashabat), for it is holy to you;
E1. those who profane it shall be put to death, for whoever does (ha’oseh) work (melacha) on it, that person shall be cut off from among its people.
F. Six days may work be done (ye’oseh melacha), but on the seventh day there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest (shabat shabaton), holy to God;
E2. whoever does work (ha’oseh melacha) on the Sabbath day (b’yom hashabbat) shall be put to death.
D2. The Children of Israel shall observe the Sabbath (hashabbat)
C2. to make (la’asot) the Sabbath (hashabbat) an eternal covenant for their generations.
B2. It is a sign forever between Me and the Children of Israel
A2. for in six days YHWH made (asa) the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He ceased (shavat) from work (melacha) and was refreshed (Exodus 31:13-17).
Noteworthy is that the first half of the chiasmus is directed at the individual, being written in the second person singular, while the second part is directed to all the Children of Israel.13
Also, the apex of this chiasmus is at F and it summarizes the passage — “Six days may work be done (ye’oseh melacha), but on the seventh day there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest (shabbat shabaton), holy to God.”
But why is the Sabbath called a sign, and is not the punishment for transgressing it rather harsh? In fact, the two questions are related. The Sabbath is now considered a sign of the covenant, which would explain why the punishment is so severe.
All the covenants made by Elohim are associated with a sign. The covenant made by Elohim in the Noah story, in which He promises never again to obliterate mankind with a flood, is associated with the sign of a rainbow. The sign of the Covenant of Circumcision made by Elohim with Abraham is circumcision. So too, the Ten Commandments made by Elohim has the sign of the Sabbath. Anyone willfully breaking the Shabbat is breaking the covenant with God and is deserving of death.
The sign of the covenant of Shabbat is exclusively for the Jewish people. Which means that the Sabbath is to be observed only by the Jewish people.14 But does this not present a contradiction between the YHWH and Elohim passages in the Torah, in that the Sabbath seems to have universal implications in the first Creation story?
Rabbinic Judaism has been very adamant about the particularistic aspects of the Sabbath. Its observance is to be exclusively for the Jewish people. Even someone in the process of learning about Judaism for the purpose of conversion should not keep the Jewish Sabbath laws in their entirety.
On the other hand, the notion that the nations of the world will have a special day that is different from the other days of the week to commemorate God’s creation of the universe seems very appropriate. This has been the position of Christianity and to a degree Islam, although neither religion commemorates the seventh day from the time of creation.
Many early Christians met together on Sunday. The emperor Constantine made a significant step towards formalizing Sunday as a day of rest and worship when he issued an edict in 321 CE declaring Sunday (referred to as "the day of the sun") a day of rest for Roman citizens. The Council of Laodicea in 364 CE decreed that Christians should, if possible, honor Sunday as their primary day of worship and rest rather than observing the Jewish Sabbath on Saturday. This council's rulings reflected an effort by Christians to differentiate their practices from Jewish ones. Seventh-day Adventists are the only Christian church that observe Saturday as their day of rest, and they perform no secular work or business activities on this day.
In Islam, Friday is seen as a day for heightened spirituality, reflection and community bonding through congregational prayer. It is not a day for complete cessation from work or regular activities. Some Islamic scholars highlight that Friday commemorates the completion of creation, as the Quran mentions that the heavens and earth were created in six days.
On the other hand, the prophet Isaiah does foretell a day when there will be universal recognition of YHWH and His Sabbath:
And the foreigners who join themselves to YHWH to serve Him and to love the name of YHWH, to become servants unto Him, all who guard the Sabbath against desecration and grasp my covenant tightly — I will bring them to My holy mountain and I will gladden them in My house of prayer; their elevation -offerings and their feast offerings will find favor on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples (Isaiah 56:6-7).14
In sum, chapter 1 of Genesis contains a wealth of meaningful philosophical ideas. Nevertheless, we have not yet exhausted it. To be discussed in the next chapter is its mythological basis and the implications of this.
References:
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Armana letters in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarna_letters. The correspondence between the patriarch Jacob bowing down seven times to his brother Esau is very apparent (Genesis 33:3).
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This is the opinion of Rav Sadia Gaon, Maimonides, Nachmanides, and the Kuzari.
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Fourth Paragraph. The Story of the Fourth Day in A Commentary on the Book of Genesis. Part One. From Adam to Noah by U. Cassuto, p42. The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1998.
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TB Sanhedrin 38a.
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This is the view of Bereishit Raba 8:3-7, Targum Yonasan, Rashi, Maimonides, and Ibn Ezra. Rashi sees within this expression the notion of proper conduct and consulting even those low down in the totem pole, even though this leaves an opening for heretics to question the notion of One God. The verb creating returns to the singular with the creation of man in verse 1:27.
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Nachmanides to ibid 1:26. He explains that just as the earth brought forth the bodies of animals and beasts, so too did the earth provide the body of humans. Nevertheless, the spirit came “from the mouth of the Supreme One” (Lamentations 3:38). Moreover, the spirit of man comes directly from God, as this verse in Lamentations continues “and He blew into his nostrils the soul of life.” Nevertheless, this explanation provides no general principle for use of the plural elsewhere in the Torah.
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This explanation follows the Medieval commentator Radak who wrote: In our image, after our likeness’ – “This refers to the intellectual soul (nefesh hasikhlit) which is unique to the human species. With this soul, a person knows and understands ideas and abstract concepts; he rules over animals and controls his actions with will and reason. This is what is meant by the ‘image’ and ‘likeness’ of God — not a physical form, since God has no body or image. Rather, it refers to the faculties of understanding and choice, which are divine qualities given to man.” R’ Hirsch explains that humans possess creativity in art, ideas and procreation. Onkelos emphasizes the divine gift of language. TB Sanhedrin 37a writes about the uniqueness of each individual, unlike coins that are stamped from the same mold. Mishnah Avot 3:14 discusses that since people are made in God’s image, every life is sacred and inviolable.
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Bereishit Rabbah 8:11 and Nachmanides explain that human beings, like God, possess free choice enabling moral responsibility and autonomy. Abarbanel emphasizes man's intellectual and moral capacity as a reflection of divine likeness. See also the summary in Commentary to ibid 1:26 in Bereishis. Genesis. A New Translation with a Commentary Anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources. Volume Ia. P71. Mesorah Publications 1977, Brooklyn, NY., United States.
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Seventh Paragraph. Introduction in A Commentary on the Book of Genesis. Part One. From Adam to Noah by U. Cassuto, p 15. The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1998.
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Chapter 1. The First Story of Creation (P) in In the Beginnings. Discovering the Two Worldviews Hidden within Genesis 1-11 by David Harbater, p30, Gefen, Jerusalem.2023.
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Bereishit Rabba 11:8.
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The Sabbath is also discussed briefly in relation to collecting the manna (Exodus 16:23).
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“Shabbat of Sinai, Shabbat of the Mishkan” by Rav Yonatan Grossman in Torah Mietzion. New Readings in Tanach. Shemot. Eds: Ezra Bick and Yaakov Beasley. Maggid Books. Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd, p489, 2012.
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The Talmud says: "Rabbi Yohanan said: A gentile who observes Shabbat is liable to receive the death penalty, as it is stated: 'And day and night shall not cease' (Genesis 8:22)” (Sanhedrin 58b). This is an exaggeration, but nevertheless expresses strongly the Rabbinic sentiment that the Sabbath is only for Jews. It may also reflect the historical situation that the Rabbis felt a distinction had to be made between Jews and non-Jews who were Sabbath-observing, particularly Sabbath-observing Christians. This antipathy was reciprocated when Christianity changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday.
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Rashi assumes that these verses are discussing a convert to Judaism. It is not out of the question, though, that Isaiah is talking about a universal recognition of God.