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: God's yoke Jeremiah 2:20 See also Jeremiah 5:5 The yoke as a symbol of partnership Partnership in Jesus Christ's service Unsuitable partnerships 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 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
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