Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(join). This well-known means of coupling oxen for agricultural purposes was primitively laid upon the necks of the cattle, and held there by thongs which passed around their necks. A thong served also as an attachment to the cart-tongue or plow-beam. A pair of oxen yoked together were called a yoke, as today (1 Sam. 11:7; 1 Kings 19:21). It would seem as if asses and mules went by pairs like oxen (Judg. 19:10; 2 Kings 5:17), and even horses, camels, and chariots (Isa. 21:7). The word, like the Latin jugum, gave rise to a measurement of land (1 Sam. 14:14), the amount a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. Yoke is used metaphorically for subjection (1 Kings 12:4,9-11; Isa. 9:4; Jer. 5:5). An unusually heavy bondage was typed by “iron yoke” (Deut. 28:48; Jer. 28:13). Removal of the yoke implied deliverance (Gen. 27:40; Jer. 2:20; Matt. 11:29-30). Breaking of the yoke meant repudiation of authority (Nah. 1:13).
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Concise Bible Dictionary:
Women plowing near Hebron. Dec. 8, 1937
The harness that secures an animal to a cart or plow; and the beam to which two animals are fastened for any purpose of labor; it is also used to denote the number two, as “a yoke of oxen” (1 Sam. 11:7). It is employed as a symbol of servitude and slavery (Jer. 28:2-14; 1 Tim. 6:1). Also of the grievous bondage of being under the law (Acts 15:10; Gal. 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 (Matt. 11:29-30).
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From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Hosea 11:4. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
This is an agricultural simile, and refers to the custom of raising the yoke from the neck and cheeks of the oxen so that they can more readily eat their food. Henderson says: “The ol, yoke, not only included the piece of wood on the neck by which the animal was fastened to the pole, but also the whole of the harness about the head which was connected with it. The yokes used in the East are very heavy, and press so much upon the animals that they are unable to bend their necks.” (Commentary in loco).
Compare this statement with what Jesus says about his yoke in Matthew 11:29-30.
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