The imagery and associations of ζυγός in Matthew 11:30

[Stephen Hughes]

Is the imagery of Matthew 11:30 taken from the vocabulary of animals or slaves?

Ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστός, καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν ἐστιν.

In our language / culture "yoke" is most readily associated with beasts of burden. Was it that way with ζυγός in NT times?

[cwconrad]

Is the imagery of Matthew 11:30 taken from the vocabulary of animals or slaves?

Ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστός, καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν ἐστιν.

In our language / culture "yoke" is most readily associated with beasts of burden. Was it that way with ζυγός in NT times?

It's difficult to be confident in any effort to come to terms with these cultural valuations; that's what makes similes and metaphors often rather difficult to carry over into the language of another culture. Here we are trying to estimate the sensibility of an essentially rural and agrarian society from which all of us today are surely far removed.
A couple thoughts come to my mind in response to this question:
1) Book 3 of Vergil's Georgica, a didactic poem ostensibly explaining the economy of a farm to urbanites, the poet is actually endeavoring to set forth a vision of human existence in community. Cattle and horses, and also sheep and goats to a lesser measure-- are the centerpiece of Book 3 and both animals are highly esteemed but envisioned as emblems of a laboring class and of a leisure class, each with its own measures of utility and beauty and importance to the community as a whole. Power, strength, reliability, utility are the esteemed qualities of the beast of burden; on the other hand, the leisure class has time to play and time to waste and pursuit of beauty and games and values associated with those things. The beasts of burden are the backbone of the economy in an era that never dreamed of machines and technology. To some extent, I think that the yoke represents the bond that sustains the workload that upholds the existence of the community, perhaps like the flow of oil and the electric power lines and internet today, the yoke symbolizes what sustains the ancient economic community.
2) In Israel's traditions ebhed/abhodah are the source of the NT δοῦλος/δουλεία complex of notions symbolizing the relationship between Israel and Israelites to Yahweh and of Paul's conception of the δοῦλος ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Think of the Prayer Book's phrase, "whose service is perfect freedom."

I'm not sure that it's possible for us to form an honest evaluation of slavery and physical labor in OT or NT society.

[Stephen Hughes]

In the back of this picture of model workers making bread, the is a man carrying two burdens with a stick across his shoulders.


This scene from the tomb of Horemheb at Saqqara shows somebody on the left hand side carrying vessels.


This scene of builders also show a similar type of carrying.


More of that same scene. That guy bending forward to pick up the "yoke" is quite un ergonomical.


Admittedly these are Egyptian, and not Roman pictures, but they show the image of the verse may possibly be a reference to the language of slaves. Single heavier loads could be carried between two people at either end of the stick.

[Stephen Hughes]

What makes a ζυγός a χρηστός one? Presumably it means "easy or comfortable to use". Perhaps shaped to the shoulders.

[cwconrad]

What makes a ζυγός a χρηστός one? Presumably it means "easy or comfortable to use". Perhaps shaped to the shoulders.

I think perhaps the nearest equivalent today might be "user-friendly."

[Barry Hofstetter]

ζυγός, οῦ, ὁ (Hom. Hymns, Cer. 217 and prose since Pla., Tim. 63b; Polyb., Epict.; PFay 121, 4 εἰς τὸν ζ.; PStras 32, 12; LXX [Thackeray p. 154]; En 103:11; PsSol 7:9 [acc. without art.]; 17:30; TestAbr A 12f [Stone p. 30, 6 al.]; Just., D. 53, 1; Ath., R. 58, 22 [? acc. without art.]) for Attic τὸ ζυγόν (Hom. et al.; pap; Gignac II 97; Jos., Ant. 12, 194; Just., D. 88, 8 [but ζυγούς GThGk A 13, 1: Ea 152]).
① a frame used to control working animals or, in the case of humans, to expedite the bearing of burdens, yoke in our lit. only fig. of any burden: ζ. δουλείας yoke of slavery (Soph., Aj. 944; cp. Hdt. 7, 8, γ3; Pla., Leg. 6, 770e; Demosth. 18, 289; Gen 27:40) Gal 5:1. ὑπὸ ζυγὸν δοῦλοι slaves under the yoke (i.e. under the y. of sl.) 1 Ti 6:1. ζυγὸς ἀνάγκης yoke of necessity (Eur., Or. 1330) B 2:6. Of the teaching of Jesus Mt 11:29f (cp. Sir 51:26, also 6:24–28; THaering, Mt 11:28–30: ASchlatter Festschr. 1922, 3–15; TArvedson, D. Mysterium Christi ’37, 174–200; HBetz, JBL 86, ’67, 10–24); D 6:2. ὑπὸ τὸν ζυγὸν τῆς χάριτος ἔρχεσθαι come under the yoke of grace 1 Cl 16:17 (opp. ViDa 7 [p. 77, 12 Sch.] ὑπὸ ζ. γίνονται τοῦ Βελίαρ). ἐπιθεῖναι ζυγὸν ἐπὶ τ. τράχηλόν τινος put a yoke on the neck of someone Ac 15:10 (sim. expr. have become formal since Hes., Op. 815; Orph. Hymns 59, 5; Zosimus, Hist. 2, 37, 8; SibOr 3, 448). From this mng. it is a short step to application of such a balancing structure to
② an instrument for determining weight, scale. The context of Rv 6:5 requires this mng., even though the gender of ζ. cannot be definitely determined. In older Gk. the neuter and apparently preferred form τὸ ζυγόν refers to the ‘lever of a balance’ (Aeschyl., Suppl. 822), then ‘balance, pair of scales’ (Pla. et al.; s. LXX in Thackeray, loc. cit.; Michel 1222, 4 [II B.C.]; but masc. TestAbr A).—B. 726. DELG s.v. ζεύγνυμι III. Frisk s.v. ζυγόν. M-M. TW.


Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 429). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

[Stephen Hughes]

There is a certain tension between the meaning of τράχηλος in BDAG and LSJ, and the practife of a slave using a ζυγός. The wood would rest on the shoulders where the strength is rather than on the neck.

Take this verse for example:

ἐπιθεῖναι ζυγὸν ἐπὶ τὸν τράχηλον τῶν μαθητῶν,

The BDAG entry is full of information, but doesn't address the issue of where the imagery and associations of the figurative usage are based.

[Barry Hofstetter]

There is a certain tension between the meaning of τράχηλος in BDAG and LSJ, and the practife of a slave using a ζυγός. The wood would rest on the shoulders where the strength is rather than on the neck.

Take this verse for example:

ἐπιθεῖναι ζυγὸν ἐπὶ τὸν τράχηλον τῶν μαθητῶν,

The BDAG entry is full of information, but doesn't address the issue of where the imagery and associations of the figurative usage are based.

I think Acts 15:10 is a bit of hyperbole -- it's meant to create a particular image for rhetorical effect. Your recourse at this point is to look up every usage of ζυγός that you can and see how it's used in each context.