Reference: Yoke
American
A symbol of subjection and servitude, 1Ki 12:4; an iron yoke, of severe oppression, De 28:48. The ceremonial law was a yoke, a burden-some restriction, Ac 15:10; Ga 5:1. The withdrawing or breaking of a yoke denoted a temporary or an unlimited emancipation form bondage, Isa 58:6; Jer 2:20, and sometimes the disowning of rightful authority, Jer 5:5. The iron yoke imposed by our sins, none but God can remove, La 1:14; but the yoke of Christ's service is easy and light, Mt 11:29-30.
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therefore you shall serve your enemies which Jehovah shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in the lack of all things. And he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.
Your father made our yoke hard. And now lighten the hard service of your father, and the heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed ones go free, and that you break every yoke?
For long ago you broke your yoke and tore up your bonds; and you said, I will not transgress, when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down like a harlot.
I will go up for myself to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of Jehovah and the judgment of their God. But these have broken the yoke together and have torn off the bonds!
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by His hand; they intertwine; they rise on my neck. He has made my strength to falter; Jehovah has delivered me into their hands. I am not able to rise up.
Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
Now therefore why do you tempt God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, a yoke which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not again be held with the yoke of bondage.
Easton
(1.) Fitted on the neck of oxen for the purpose of binding to them the traces by which they might draw the plough, etc. (Nu 19:2; De 21:3). It was a curved piece of wood called 'ol.
(2.) In Jer 27:2; 28:10,12 the word in the Authorized Version rendered "yoke" is motah, which properly means a "staff," or as in the Revised Version, "bar."
These words in the Hebrew are both used figuratively of severe bondage, or affliction, or subjection (Le 26:13; 1Ki 12:4; Isa 47:6; La 1:14; 3:27). In the New Testament the word "yoke" is also used to denote servitude (Mt 11:29-30; Ac 15:10; Ga 5:1).
(3.) In 1Sa 11:7; 1Ki 19:21; Job 1:3 the word thus translated is tzemed, which signifies a pair, two oxen yoked or coupled together, and hence in 1Sa 14:14 it represents as much land as a yoke of oxen could plough in a day, like the Latin jugum. In Isa 5:10 this word in the plural is translated "acres."
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I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from being their bondmen. And I have broken the bonds of your yoke, and made you go upright.
This is the ordinance of the law which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no blemish, on which no yoke ever came.
And it shall be, the city nearest to the slain one, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which has not been worked with, which has not drawn in the yoke.
And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of Jehovah fell on the people, and they came out as one man.
And this was the first blow, when Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck about twenty men in about half of a furrow of an acre of a field.
And his possessions were seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.
I was angry with My people, I have polluted My inheritance, and given them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; you have very heavily laid your yoke on the aged.
So says Jehovah to me, Make bonds and yokes for yourself, and put them on your neck.
Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck and broke it.
Then the Word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by His hand; they intertwine; they rise on my neck. He has made my strength to falter; Jehovah has delivered me into their hands. I am not able to rise up.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
Now therefore why do you tempt God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, a yoke which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not again be held with the yoke of bondage.
Fausets
mot, the wooden bow (ol) bound to the ox's neck: the two are combined, "bands of the yoke" (Le 26:13; Eze 34:27; Jer 2:20, rather "thou hast broken the yoke and burst the bands which I laid on thee," i.e. My laws, setting them at defiance, Jer 5:5; Ps 2:3). Contrast the world's heavy yoke (1Ki 12:4,9,11; Isa 9:11) with Christ's "easy yoke" (Mt 11:29-30). Tsemed, a pair of oxen (1Sa 11:7), or donkeys (Jg 19:10); a couple of horsemen (Isa 21:7); also what land a pair of oxen could plow in a day (Isa 5:10, "ten acres," literally, ten yokes; Latin: jugum, jugerum; 1Sa 14:14).
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I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from being their bondmen. And I have broken the bonds of your yoke, and made you go upright.
But the man would not stay that night, but he rose up and left, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem. And there were with him two saddled asses. His concubine also was with him.
And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of Jehovah fell on the people, and they came out as one man.
And this was the first blow, when Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck about twenty men in about half of a furrow of an acre of a field.
Your father made our yoke hard. And now lighten the hard service of your father, and the heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.
And he said to them, What advice do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten the yoke which your father put on us?
And now my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, and I will add to your yoke. My father has whipped you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
Let us break their bands in two and cast away their cords from us.
Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.
And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen, a chariot of an ass, and a chariot of a camel. And let him listen, very attentively.
For long ago you broke your yoke and tore up your bonds; and you said, I will not transgress, when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down like a harlot.
I will go up for myself to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of Jehovah and the judgment of their God. But these have broken the yoke together and have torn off the bonds!
And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. And they shall be safe in their land, and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hands of those who enslaved them.
Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
Hastings
Morish
The harness that secures an animal to a cart or plough; and the beam to which two animals are fastened for any purpose of labour; it is also used to denote the number two, as 'a yoke of oxen.' 1Sa 11:7. It is employed as a symbol of servitude and slavery. Jer 28:2-14; 1Ti 6:1. Also of the grievous bondage of being under the law. Ac 15:10; Ga 5:1. The Lord Jesus invites the believer to take His yoke upon him, and to learn of Him; that is, giving up self-will, to be in submission to the will of God, content to be in the lowest place; and such will find rest to their souls. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Mt 11:29-30.
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And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of Jehovah fell on the people, and they came out as one man.
So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years I will again bring into this place all the vessels of Jehovah's house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon. read more. And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went into Babylon, says Jehovah. For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of Jehovah, even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen. May Jehovah do so. May Jehovah confirm your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Jehovah's house, and all that is exiled from Babylon into this place. But hear now this word that I speak in your ears and in the ears of all the people: The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of plague. As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then the prophet shall be known, that Jehovah has truly sent him. Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck and broke it. And Hananiah spoke for the eyes of all the people, saying, So says Jehovah, Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the time of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. Then the Word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Go and tell Hananiah, saying, So says Jehovah: You have broken the yokes of wood, but you shall make for them yokes of iron. For so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And they shall serve him. And I have given him the beasts of the field also.
Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
Now therefore why do you tempt God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, a yoke which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not again be held with the yoke of bondage.
Smith
Yoke.
1. A well-known implement of husbandry, frequently used metaphorically for subjection, e.g.
1Ki 12:4,9-11; Isa 9:4; Jer 5:5
hence an "iron yoke" represents an unusually galling bondage.
De 28:48; Jer 28:13
2. A pair of oxen, so termed as being yoked together.
The Hebrew term is also applied to asses,
and mules,
and even to a couple of riders.
3. The term is also applied to a certain amount of land,
equivalent to that which a couple of oxen could plough in a day,
(Authorized Version "acre"), corresponding to the Latin jugum.
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therefore you shall serve your enemies which Jehovah shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in the lack of all things. And he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.
But the man would not stay that night, but he rose up and left, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem. And there were with him two saddled asses. His concubine also was with him.
And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of Jehovah fell on the people, and they came out as one man.
And this was the first blow, when Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck about twenty men in about half of a furrow of an acre of a field.
Your father made our yoke hard. And now lighten the hard service of your father, and the heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.
And he said to them, What advice do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten the yoke which your father put on us? And the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, So shall you speak to this people who spoke to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us, so you shall say to them: My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. read more. And now my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, and I will add to your yoke. My father has whipped you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
And Naaman said, Please shall there not then be given to your servant two mules' burden of earth? For your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to Jehovah.
Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.
For You have broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his taskmaster, as in the day of Midian.
I will go up for myself to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of Jehovah and the judgment of their God. But these have broken the yoke together and have torn off the bonds!
Go and tell Hananiah, saying, So says Jehovah: You have broken the yokes of wood, but you shall make for them yokes of iron.