yoke

The Greek and Hebrew term that is translated into English as “yoke,” the Afar translation uses koyta (poles of camel pack) which refers to two poles in front of the hump and two behind; elsewhere in agricultural Ethiopia the yoke is only in front of the hump.

In Chol it is translated with tajbal, a term for “headband” (for carrying) (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.). Likewise, in Kele, it is translated with njɛmbɛ, “a carrying strap worn around the head and across the chest or shoulders to support a burden of firewood, garden produce or even a child carried by this on the back or hip” (source: William Ford in The Bible Translator 1957, p. 203ff. ).

In Kwasio it is translated with a term that refers to a “bulky piece of wood attached to the neck of a goat, preventing it from roaming freely in the brushy undergrowth.”

Joshua Ham explains: “When checking this verse in Kwasio, I was surprised to find that the Kwasio had a word for yoke. You see, none of the language groups we have worked with have a tradition of using animals to pull carts or plows. Since yokes don’t exist in the culture, there’s no need for a word for that concept in these languages.

“When I asked the Kwasio team about their word for yoke, they said that they don’t use yokes to help animals pull plows; rather, their word for yoke refers to a bulky piece of wood attached to the neck of a goat, preventing it from roaming freely in the brushy undergrowth. So while the exact use of a Kwasio yoke is not the same as a biblical yoke, there are a lot of similarities: in both cases, it’s a piece of wood around an animal’s neck that serves to keep the animal under control. While the overlap isn’t perfect, it’s pretty good — and almost certainly better than trying to squeeze in a distracting explanation of how yokes function in the biblical cultures.”

Adam Boyd (in The PNG Experience) tells this story about finding the right term in Enga: “Jesus’s words in Matthew 11:29-30 are some of the most difficult to translate into the Enga language. From the time that I became a Christian, I was taught that a yoke is a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the neck of two animals and attached to a plough or cart that they are to pull. This is an easy enough concept to understand for people who come from societies that make use of beasts of burden, but in Papua New Guinea, there are no beasts of burden. Consequently the concept of a yoke placed on animals is completely foreign. Thus, we have struggled greatly in our attempt to translate Matthew 11:29-30.

“Recently, however, I came to learn that a yoke can also refer to a wooden frame that a person places on his neck or shoulders to make it easier to carry a heavy load. Indeed, the Bible often makes figurative use of the word ‘yoke’ as it refers to people and not to beasts of burden (see 1 Kings 12:4-14). As I was pondering that idea, I began to notice that when Engan men carry heavy logs on one shoulder, they often balance the load by supporting it with a small stick placed across the other shoulder. A few weeks ago, it clicked in my mind that the small stick they use to make it easier to carry a heavy log is like a yoke.

“Excited by this realization, I quickly asked my friend Benjamin if the stick that men use to make it easier to carry a heavy log has a name in Enga. Sure enough it does. It is called a pyakende. With great anticipation, I asked the translation team if we could use the word pyakende to translate the word ‘yoke’. After wrestling with the phrasing for a little while, we came up with the following translation: ‘In order to remove the heaviness from your shoulders, take my pyakende. When you have taken it, you will receive rest. As my pyakende helps you, what I give you to carry is not heavy and you will carry it without struggling.’”

“Yoke” is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing how yokes were used in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 14:25

This is the actual content of Yahweh’s oath. A connector such as “namely” helps to introduce the oath. However, many modern versions render this verse without an introductory particle (so Good News Translation).

In Hebrew the first two lines of this verse form the following chiasmus: I will break the Assyrian > in my land > < upon my mountains < [I will] trample him under foot.

That I will break the Assyrian in my land: Yahweh will smash Assyrian power. Instead of break, Good News Translation uses “destroy” and Contemporary English Version “wipe out.” The Assyrian is literally “Assyria” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Jerusalem Bible). It refers to the Assyrian army occupying the LORD’s land. My land refers to Judah. The Assyrian occupation in view here is probably the one during the time of King Hezekiah in 701 B.C. (see the introductory comments on this section [14.24-27]).

And upon my mountains trample him under foot is parallel to the previous line. Both lines use metaphors. My mountains is parallel to my land and refers also to the land of Judah. Trample him under foot is a typical way of speaking about victory over an enemy in the Old Testament (see Psa 68.30; 91.13). Contemporary English Version uses “crush.” The pronoun him refers back to Assyria. Translators should use an appropriate pronoun (also for his in the next two lines). If the Assyrian is rendered “the Assyrians” in the previous line, then the pronoun should be “them” (Good News Translation). If it is “the Assyrian army,” a good pronoun is “it.”

After the first two lines of this verse New American Bible inserts 8.21-22. However, translators should not do this since there is no textual support for it.

And his yoke shall depart from them: The connector and introduces the result of Yahweh’s actions, so New Jerusalem Bible begins this line with “Then.” Another possible connector is “As a result.” The yoke is a metaphor for oppression (see 9.4; 10.27). His yoke refers to the Assyrian oppression of Judah. The pronoun them points to the people of Judah. This pronoun may be rendered “my people.” His yoke shall depart from them means that Yahweh will actually remove it, not that it will somehow remove itself. Good News Translation makes this clear, as does Bible en français courant with “They [the Assyrians] imposed on my people the yoke of their domination, I will make it disappear.”

And his burden from their shoulder: This line is parallel to the previous one. It also uses metaphorical language to describe the removal of oppression. The Assyrian occupation of Judah is likened to a burden or load that the people of Judah had to carry. Yahweh promises that he will free them from it. In languages where yoke or burden cannot be used as images of oppression, translators will need to find different idioms, or render it in nonfigurative language; for example, “I will stop the oppression imposed by the Assyrians on my people.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• … [namely] that I will smash the Assyrian army in my land, and on my mountains trample it under foot; then its oppressive yoke will no longer be upon the people of Judah nor its burden on their shoulder.”

• I will smash Assyrian power in my country and on my mountains tread it down; then the yoke of oppression will be lifted from my people and its burden removed.”

• I will smash the power of Assyria in my land
and on my mountains trample it under my feet;
that is how I will remove Assyria’s oppressive yoke from Judah,
the burden it has placed on her shoulders.”

• He will smash Assyrian power in my country and on my mountains he will trample it down. Then the yoke of oppression will be lifted from my people and its burden removed.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .