4696 yoke
Dictionary of Bible Themes

Dictionary of Bible Themes  »  4000 Creation  »  4600 Living beings  »  4696 yoke

The wooden collar which joins two animals, usually oxen, to enable them to pull together. Used metaphorically the term may denote the partnership of those who share a yoke or, more usually, the subjection of those under a yoke. As his covenant partners God's people are yoked to him and he will break the oppressive yoke of their enemies.

Literal references to yokes

1 Samuel 6:7; 1 Kings 19:19 See also Job 1:3; Job 42:12; Luke 14:19

Cows that have never been yoked are offered as sacrifices:

Numbers 19:2; Deuteronomy 21:3

Ox yokes are used to burn slaughtered animals:

2 Samuel 24:22; 1 Kings 19:21

God's yoke

Jeremiah 2:20 See also Jeremiah 5:5

Matthew 11:29-30

The yoke as a symbol of partnership

Partnership in Jesus Christ's service

Philippians 4:3

Unsuitable partnerships

2 Corinthians 6:14-16

Marriage to unbelievers:

Genesis 24:3-4; 1 Kings 11:4; 1 Corinthians 7:39

Involvement with pagan gods:

Numbers 25:2-3; Psalm 106:28; 1 Corinthians 10:18-21 1 Corinthians 5:9-10 too close association with the immoral

The yoke as a symbol of subjection

The yoke of the law

Acts 15:10 See also Matthew 23:4; Galatians 5:1

Israel under the yoke of enemies

Deuteronomy 28:47-48; Jeremiah 27:2 Jeremiah symbolically portrays the coming Babylonian exile. See also Isaiah 47:6; Jeremiah 27:8,11-13

Hananiah's prophecy of an early end to Babylonian oppression will be proved false:

Jeremiah 28:2-4,10-14 Lamentations 1:14; Lamentations 3:27; Hosea 10:11

The yoke of other masters

Genesis 27:40 Esau will throw off the yoke of Jacob.

The people's complaint about harsh servitude under Solomon is ignored by Rehoboam:

1 Kings 12:4 pp 2 Chronicles 10:4; 1 Kings 12:9-11 pp 2 Chronicles 10:9-11; 1 Kings 12:14 pp 2 Chronicles 10:14

God's people are urged to lift the yoke of injustice and oppression from their fellows:

Isaiah 58:6,9 1 Timothy 6:1 Slaves are to respect their masters.

God breaks the yoke of oppression

Ezekiel 34:27; Hosea 11:4

Egypt's yoke broken:

Exodus 6:6-7; Leviticus 26:13; Ezekiel 30:18

Assyria's yoke broken:

Isaiah 9:4; Isaiah 10:27; Isaiah 14:25; Nahum 1:13 Jeremiah 30:8 Babylon's yoke broken

See also

4406  agriculture
4498  ploughing
4603  animals
4624  cow
5205  alliance
5246  captivity
5347  injustice
6634  deliverance
6658  freedom
7140  people of God
7446  slavery
8790  oppression



Top of Page
Top of Page




Bible Apps.com