[Meaning] holiday, rest. But "second-first sabbath" [sc. is a phrase used] because it was the second [day] of the Passover and first [day] of the feast of unleavened cakes.[1] So if it is called sabbath, do not be surprised; for they call every holiday sabbath, and that is why they say "sabbath of sabbaths."[2]
The evangelist says "late in the sabbaths,"[3] not "in the sabbath," to indicate clearly the evening of that day; because they used to call the entire week sabbath. We too have the custom of saying, "he came late in the day," "late in time."[4] From this is made clear the lateness and earliness of the week that is ending. Each week is completed at the setting of the sun after the sabbath.[5]