When Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you” (Matt 11:29), he utilized a metaphor that resonated with his first-century audience, but one that might puzzle contemporary readers. In our knowledge economy (and even in its technologically advanced agricultural sector), few of us have ever seen a wooden yoke used to bind animals together. Yet, this agricultural tool becomes an important symbol in the Bible, simultaneously representing oppression and liberation, burden and rest. 

The biblical authors employ the image of a yoke to convey the story of sin and oppression, God’s righteous judgment, and ultimately, Christ’s offer of true freedom. By understanding this metaphor, we will gain insight into Jesus’ baffling invitation to exchange our heavy burdens for his easy yoke (Matt 11:28-30).

What Is a Yoke? Literal Uses of Yoke in the Bible

A yoke is a (typically) wooden device that is placed on the necks of work animals to attach them to the burdens they would pull. The Hebrew word עֹל (ol) and the Greek words ζυγὸς (zugos) and κλοιὸς (kloios) are generally translated yoke, though there is some flexibility (especially with the Greek term κλοιός (kloios). For example, κλοιός (kloios) can be rendered shields (1 Chr 18:7) or pendant/chain (Prov 1:9). In Leviticus 19:35-36, ζυγός (zugos) can be rendered balances. The Hebrew word מוֹט (môṭ) can also be rendered yoke (Nah 1:13). Yet, the majority of usage refers either literally or metaphorically to the device rigged to an animal for labor.

In the Bible, no animals are explicitly described as yoked—this information is probably assumed. However, when animals were utilized for specific religious purposes in the Bible, it was sometimes required that they had never been under a yoke (Num 19:2; Deut 21:3; 1 Sam 6:7), likely designating their special liturgical purpose. 

While the literal uses of the term in the Bible are relatively sparing, metaphorical uses dominate the biblical landscape.

The Yoke as a Metaphor in the Old Testament: Dominion and Judgment

The dominant use of words designating yoke in a metaphorical way refers to some kind of domination over a person or group. In this sense, yoke as an agricultural device designates bondage or enslavement of some sort. For example, the very first instance of yoke in the Bible is in Isaac’s anti-blessing to Esau. Isaac explains that Esau will serve his brother, but will eventually rebel and break Jacob’s yoke from his neck (Gen 27:39).

Ironically, the nation of Israel (the family line of Jacob/Israel) becomes enslaved, or yoked, to Egypt. Yahweh utilizes the yoke metaphor to describetheir redemption from Egypt: “I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high” (Lev 26:13). Later, in Jeremiah, Yahweh recounts that he broke Israel’s yoke and tore off their chains (Jer 2:20). Hosea similarly describes the Exodus (Hos 11:1-4).

The image of Israel’s slavery to Egypt as a yoke is recast in the Old Testament in three significant contexts: warnings of God’s judgment on Israel, forced labor imposed by Israel’s own kings, and God’s authority (esp. the Torah) over Israel and the nations. 

Warnings of God’s Judgment

First, warnings and descriptions of God’s judgment on Israel regularly employ yoke imagery, connecting God’s judgment and Israel’s exile to their pre-redemption situation in Egypt. Moses warned the Israelites that when (not if) they violate the covenant, Yahweh would put an iron yoke on Israel’s neck, forcing the nation to serve their enemies (Deut 28:48).

Later in Israel’s history, yoke terminology is frequently employed in a fascinating clash between the prophet Jeremiah and the false prophet Hananiah (Jer 27-28). In this context, God intends to raise up King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and place nations under his yoke as an act of judgment (Jer 27:8; see Isa 47:6). God instructs Jeremiah to wear a yoke to illustrate the prophetic word (Jer 27:2). He warns that any false prophet who urges resistance against Babylon should not be listened to—listening to this kind of false prophet will result in even greater judgment. In other words, God calls on his people to submit to his discipline. Jeremiah spoke these words to King Zedekiah of Judah, the priests, and all the people in the hopes of mitigating God’s judgment against the Judahites (Jer 27:12-22). 

Despite this warning, the prophet Hananiah promised that God had already broken the yoke of the king of Babylon and within two years the southern kingdom would be restored (Jer 28:1-4). Hananiah even illustrated his prophecy by breaking the yoke that Jeremiah wore to symbolize God’s judgment (Jer 28:10-13). As a result, however, Yahweh responded that Hananiah’s breaking of the wooden yoke would result in even greater judgment with an iron yoke (Jer 28:13-14)—recalling the iron yoke of judgment in Moses’ sermon (Deut 28:48), representing the curses for violating the covenant.

In at least one instance in the Old Testament, the yoke symbolizes the heavy burden of sin (Lam 1:14). Sin is like a heavy, captivating yoke that is its own punishment. But later, hope for salvation and God’s kindness come into view. Rather than resisting the yoke of God’s discipline, Jeremiah points out that it is good to wait quietly for salvation. He even asserts that it is good for a man to bear the yoke of God’s discipline while he is still young (Lam 3:27). Perhaps this passage is inspired by the conflict with Hananiah, where yoke terminology is frequently employed. It may even be an allusion to the example of David, who willingly submitted to the consequences of his sin, though he did so in his old age (2 Sam 24:1-17). 

The metaphor of a yoke as judgment or exile is frequently employed to describe God’s redemptive action in restoring Israel and Judah. The exile that was linked to Israel’s slavery in Egypt is paired with restoration that is linked to the original redemption of Israel from slavery in Egypt (Isa 9:4; 10:27; 14:25; Jer 30:8; Ezek 30:18; 34:27; Nah 1:13). In these texts, the removal of the yoke becomes a significant image for salvation, redemption, and the experience of God’s favor.

Similar to the picture of Yahweh breaking the yoke of judgment as he restores his people, they are called on to imitate his redemptive action. When they encounter injustice, they are to correct it by setting the captive free, tearing off the yoke of oppression and injustice. These righteous actions are the kind of worship that God desires from his people (Isaiah 58:6, 9).

Forced Labor by Israel’s Kings

Second, yoke imagery is used to describe Israel’s forced labor, this time not by foreign nations, but by their own kings. After Solomon’s death, both Israel and Judah were willing to acknowledge Rehoboam as their king. However, the northern tribes asked Rehoboam to lighten their yoke, because Solomon’s yoke was already intolerably heavy (in keeping with the warning regarding kingship in 1 Sam 8:10-18). Rehoboam didn’t listen to the elders who advised lightening the yoke, but instead listened to his friends, and he pledged to make the yoke even heavier (1 Kgs 12:14). As a result, the 10 northern tribes refused to acknowledge Rehoboam’s kingship. The parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 10 makes the same point. Israel wanted a king like the other nations. As a result, they experienced the yoke of kingship prior to the yoke of exile.

God’s Requirements and Rules

Third, God’s kingly authority and requirements over Israel and the nations can also be described as a yoke. In Psalm 2, Yahweh’s yoke is enforced through his anointed king. The nations resist God’s authority and conspire to throw off his yoke (Ps 2:3, LXX). In their depravity, Jerusalem’s rich and powerful resisted the way of Yahweh—breaking the yoke and tearing off the chains (both of which seem to be an allusion to the way of Yahweh and God’s justice or more generally to Torah; Jer 5:5), linking Israel’s actions with the nations of Psalm 2.

Yoke as a Metaphor in the New Testament: Christ and the Law

The New Testament authors also use the term yoke in three key metaphorical ways, referring to partnership, Christ’s offer of respite, and Torah. 

Yoke as Partnership

In one instance, the metaphorical usage closely parallels a literal yoke, but in a different way than Old Testament usage. Paul uses yoke terminology in 2 Corinthians 6:14 when he warns against being unequally yoked (ἑτεροζυγέω; heterozygeō) together with unbelievers. Here, the yoke image depicts partnership and suggests that it is not fitting for the Church to share partnership with non-believers, particularly in the pagan context (see Paul’s polemic against idols in 2 Cor 6:15-16). Unbelievers and Christians cannot share a yoke any more than the light and darkness, divided at creation, can partner together (2 Cor 5:14b). 

Aside from the image of a yoke as an instrument of partnership, the metaphor appears in New Testament contexts that are more closely related to the use of this metaphor in the Old Testament. It is not clear whether these uses are intentionally patterned on yoke terminology in the Old Testament. However, as indicated below, the New Testament usage of yoke is consistent, even if transformative, of Old Testament yoke terminology. While the yoke image in the Hebrew Bible is primarily negative, connoting slavery, domination, and judgment. The removal of the yoke depicts salvation, redemption, and freedom.

The Yoke of the Law

Significantly, two other references to yoke in the New Testament present the old covenant stipulations as a yoke of bondage. The Apostle Peter made clear that the Gentiles should not be placed under the old covenant law—it is a yoke that the ancient Israelites and that he and his Jewish contemporaries had been unable to bear (Acts 15:10). The apostle Paul makes a similar point when he emphasizes the freedom secured by Christ, encouraging the Galatians to refuse to be burdened again by the yoke of slavery to the Law (Gal 5:10). 

In light of the new covenant in Christ, the old covenant stipulations become burdensome, similar to the forced labor of Solomon’s day that built the temple and to the Egyptian bondage/Babylonian exile experienced by ancient Israel. It is possible that Peter and Paul both pick up on Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 11:25-30, which references his yoke, creating a contrast with the yoke of the Torah. 

Christ’s Liberating Burden

In Matthew 11:25-30, Jesus draws on the extensive yoke imagery in the Old Testament, communicating that he has come to bring ultimate salvation, redemption, and freedom by offering a different kind of yoke—his yoke, one that is easy and brings rest for their souls (possibly quoting from Jeremiah 6:16). With this terminology, Matthew presents Jesus as the ultimate deliverer, the one who removes yokes of sin (as in Lamentations) and the yoke of God’s judgment. 

What is more, the burden that is yoked to Jesus is light—perhaps an allusion to Isaiah 46:1-13 that contrasts the heavy idols that weigh people down with the strength of Yahweh, who would rescue his servants. Unlike the idols, Jesus (as Yahweh’s servant) brings real deliverance instead of becoming a heavy burden to the people. 

With this language, Jesus provides a better answer to Israel than Rehoboam’s. Jesus is unlike Solomon and Rehoboam—he is the Davidic king who does not put a heavy yoke on his people. Furthermore, Jesus fulfills the prophecies that Yahweh would break the yoke of exile on his people. 

Furthermore, whenever Jesus encounters the oppressed and the hungry, the recipients of injustice, he goes about setting things right—the kind of action encouraged in Isaiah 58:6, 9. In the passage immediately after Jesus’ invitation (Matt 12:15-21), he identifies himself as the servant of Yahweh by quoting directly from Isaiah 42:1-4, in which the servant embodies what God desired for Israel all along. As a result, his yoke brings about rest—the posture associated with God’s blessing and life in the promised land.

Going for Yoke: Bound to be Free

By attending to the use of yoke terminology in the Old Testament, we come to associate this metaphor with slavery and God’s judgment. At the same time, God utilizes this imagery to depict his salvation and redemption of his people. In the New Testament, salvation and redemption are realized in Jesus Christ, who paradoxically yokes us to himself so that we can be free. 

The paradox is striking: we are bound to be free. Unlike the harsh yoke of oppressive kings like Rehoboam or the crushing burden of the law, Jesus offers a yoke that liberates us as we identify with him. This is the mystery at the heart of discipleship—that captivity to Christ brings true freedom.

In our modern context, we may not pull plows, but we carry different yokes: the exhausting pursuit of success, the weight of digital distraction, the burden of comparison in our social-media age—not to mention the yoke of our everyday sins and their ensuing guilt and shame. Jesus's words echo across the centuries with renewed relevance:

Come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matt 11:28-30, CSB). 

The invitation remains open. Will we, like those in Psalm 2:3, resist the yoke of God’s Anointed One? Or will we embrace the paradoxical truth that freedom comes through captivity to Christ? The yoke of Christ—unlike the yokes of Egypt, Babylon, legalism, or our modern idols—doesn't restrict our flourishing but enables it. When we are bound to Christ, we find that we are finally free.