Abstract
In Gen 2:1-3 the Priestly writer has emphasised the sabbath of God at the end of the creation account. In exile, when Israel had been severed from land and temple, pastoral consideration was needed in the reshaping of the traditions. The temple no longer stood as a symbol of the sovereignty of Israel's God. In the creation account, the construction of the heavenly sanctuary, which usually concludes ancient Near Eastern creation myths, has been replaced by the motif of the divine rest. The Priestly writer connects God's sabbath rest at creation with the institutions of tabernacle and human sabbath observance and gives the people a means whereby the sovereignty of their God can be proclaimed
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