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 Matumbi it is translated as “rope” and “yoke is easy” is translated as “rope is slack/soft.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

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)

complete verse (Genesis 27:40)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 27:40:

  • Newari: “‘You will have to live by the power of your sword. You will have to serve your younger brother. At the time you become vexed by this, at that time you will remove his yoke from your neck and throw it away.'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (sing.) will just always be-fighting, and you (sing.) will-serve your younger-one. But if you (sing.) will-rebel-against him, you (sing.) will-be-free from his power.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You will rob and kill people in order to get what you need to live, and you will be as though you are your brother’s slave. But when you decide to rebel against him, you will free yourself from/no longer be under his control.'” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Genesis 27:40

By your sword you shall live: this reference is to Esau and to his descendants, the Edomites. To live By your sword means to live by war, plunder, robbery. In many languages the sword is unknown. Even where we may translate “You will live by means of your long knife,” the sense may be far from clear. Therefore, to make this figurative expression understandable, we may need to say, for example, “You will earn your living by making war,” “You will spend your life as one who kills and robs people,” or “You will live by taking plunder.”

And you shall serve your brother: the thought behind this line is that the Edomites were to be subjected to Israel. However, it is necessary to retain here the subjection of Esau to his brother Jacob. Serve translates the same word used in verse 29. See there for suggestions. Your brother refers to Jacob, who is the younger brother, or younger twin.

But when you break loose: the verb translated break loose has no accompanying footnote in Revised Standard Version. Good News Translation, however, has “rebel; or grow restless.” The sense of the Hebrew verb is uncertain. The meaning “restless” or “unsettled” comes from a similar verb in Arabic. Driver calls attention to Edom’s revolt from Judah in 2 Kgs 8.20-22. Isaac is speaking of Esau’s descendants. We may translate the verb by such expressions as “rebel,” “break away,” “revolt,” “show signs of revolting.”

You shall break his yoke from your neck: a yoke is a wooden bar or frame placed on the necks of work animals, either one animal alone or two joined together; ropes or chains were then connected from the yoke to whatever load the animal was to pull. Frequently a double yoke joined two animals together in order to pull more effectively. The yoke is a common symbol for being in subjection or under someone’s control, as in Lev 26.13; Num 19.2. To break his yoke is to be free from the brother’s power and authority. In languages in which the yoke is unknown or cannot be used in this figurative sense, it is best to switch to a nonfigurative expression; for example, “You shall be free from him,” “You shall not longer be under his control,” or “He will no longer be the boss over you.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .