So you have no chapter and verse to prove that the New Testament church met on the Sabbath, not Sunday? Are you SDA?
Admittedly, a form of the Greek word for sabbath (
sabbaton or
sabbatou) does appear in each of the eight passages translated “first day of the week.” For example, in Acts 20:7 this phrase is translated from the Greek
mia ton sabbaton.
However, sabbaton (or sabbatou) is never translated as “the Sabbath day” in these passages. Why? Because the word is used in these contexts (as Greek scholars overwhelmingly agree) to denote a “week” (Perschbacher, 1990, p. 364), “a period of seven days” (Danker, et al., 2000, p. 910; cf. Thayer, 1962, p. 566). Jesus once used the term “Sabbath” in this sense while teaching about the sinfulness of self-righteousness (Luke 18:9). He told a parable of the sanctimonious Pharisee who prayed: “God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast
twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess” (18:11-12, emp. added). The phrase “twice a week” comes from the Greek
dis tou sabbatou. Obviously Jesus was
not saying that the Pharisee boasted of fasting twice on the Sabbath day, but twice (
dis)
a week (
tou sabbatou).
According to R.C.H. Lenski, since “[t]he Jews had no names for the weekdays,” they “designated them with reference to their Sabbath” (1943, p. 1148). Thus,
mia ton sabbatonmeans “the first (day) with reference to the Sabbath,” i.e., the first (day) following the Sabbath (Lenski, p. 1148), or, as we would say in 21st century English,
“the first day of the week.”
After spending years examining Jewish writings in the Babylonian Talmud, Hebraist John Lightfoot wrote
A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica, in which he expounded upon the Hebrew method of counting the days of the week. He noted: “The Jews reckon the days of the week thus;
One day (or
the first day)
of the sabbath:
two (or
the second day)
of the sabbath;” etc. (1859, 2:375, emp. in orig.). Lightfoot then quoted from two different Talmud tractates.
Maccoth alludes to those who testify on “
the first of the sabbath” about an individual who stole an ox. Judgment was then passed the following day—“
on the second day of the sabbath” (Lightfoot, 2:375, emp. in orig.;
Maccoth, Chapter 1).
Bava Kama describes ten enactments ordained by a man named Ezra, including the public reading of the law “on the second and fifth days of the sabbath,” and the washing of clothes “on the fifth day of the sabbath” (Lightfoot, 2:375;
Bava Kama, Chapter 7). In Michael Rodkinson’s 1918 translation of
Maccoth and
Bava Kama, he accurately translated “the second day of the sabbath” as Monday, “the fifth day of the sabbath” as Thursday, and
“the first of the sabbath” as Sunday.
If the word
sabbaton in passages such as Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, and Acts 20:7 actually denoted “the Sabbath day,” rather than “a period of seven days,” one would expect some of the foremost Bible translations to translate it thusly.
Every major English translation of the Bible, however, translates mia ton sabbaton as “the first day of the week.” Why? Because scholars are aware of the Jewish method of counting the days of the week by using the Sabbath as a reference point.
Apologetics Press - “The First Day of the Week”
Matthew 28:1 - Now
after the Sabbath, as the
first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Now when
the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on
the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
Christians met on the first day of the week and not on the Sabbath.
Acts 20:7 - Now on the
first day of the week, when
the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
1 Corinthians 16:1 - Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have
given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2
On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.