[B-Greek] ZUGOS in Matt 11:29?

Carlton Winbery winberycl at earthlink.net
Tue Jul 15 09:57:46 EDT 2008


>Hi.
>
>I was just wondering about the ZUGOS ('yoke') of Matt 11:29. In the 1st
>Century was this word used only of the yoke between two animals, or also of
>the yoke a person uses on their shoulder to make it easier to carry things?
>The English 'yoke' can mean various things, but I'm wondering what the 1st
>century user of ZUGOS would understand.
>
>Thanks,
>
>--
>Craig Johnson

Paragraph 6.8 in Nida & Louw captures the essence of the figurative use.

6.8 zugos a, ouv m: a bar or frame of wood by which two draft animals 
are joined at the head or neck in order to work together effectively 
in pulling a plow, harrow, or wagon - 'yoke.' e™piqeiˆnai zugo\n 
e™pi« to\n tra¿chlon tw×n maqhtw×n EIPQEINAI ZUGON EPI TON TRACHLON 
TWN MAQHTWN 'to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples' Ac 15:10. 
zugo/ßa ZUGOS occurs in the NT only in figurative contexts. In a 
sense, this means that zugo/ß ZYGIS is itself figurative in meaning, 
but the figure of speech is an extended figure in which case 
individual components are normally regarded as having a literal 
meaning.

The figurative use would not be limited to yoking together two animals.

Carlton Winbery
-- 
Carlton L. Winbery
Retired Professor of Religion
Louisiana College
318-448-6103
winberycl at earthlink.net



More information about the B-Greek mailing list