Hebrew word · H4133

מוֹטָה

motah

yoke

ʿOl is the yoke laid on a draft animal's neck. Motah is a bar or pole: the crossbar or pegs of the yoke, and also a carrying pole (Num 13:23; 1 Chr 15:15). Together, 'the bars of the yoke' are the hardware that kept the animal harnessed.

Appears 12 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) pole, bar of yoke

1a) pole

1b) bar of yoke

1b1) of oppression (fig.)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezekiel 34:27

Range of meaning

ʿOl is the yoke laid on a draft animal's neck. Motah is a bar or pole: the crossbar or pegs of the yoke, and also a carrying pole (Num 13:23; 1 Chr 15:15). Together, 'the bars of the yoke' are the hardware that kept the animal harnessed.

Against the English

'Bars of their yoke' (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV, NASB) is exact. KJV/YLT 'bands' suggests straps or cords. Those were also part of a yoke (Isa 58:6 pairs them with motah), but the word here means wooden bars.

How it drifted

KJV 'bands' follows older English Bibles. The Latin Vulgate also turns the bars into fastenings or chains.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 26:13: 'I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright'. This is the same phrase, used there of the Exodus. Jer 27:2 and 28:10-13: Jeremiah wears yoke-bars to show Babylon's rule, Hananiah breaks them, and God answers with 'bars of iron'. Assyrian and Babylonian kings regularly boast of laying 'the yoke of my lordship' on conquered peoples.

From the study of Jeremiah 27:2

Range of meaning

Feminine form of mot, 'pole, bar' (H4132), from a root meaning 'to totter, sway'. It means a carrying pole (the poles used to carry the ark, 1 Chr 15:15) and, with yokes, the wooden crossbar laid on the neck, possibly with its vertical pegs. Figuratively, it stands for the yoke of oppression or of foreign rule.

Against the English

KJV and NASB have 'yokes', which can suggest several separate yokes. WEB has 'bars', ESV 'yoke-bars', NIV 'crossbars'. BSB leaves the word out as a separate item and combines both nouns into 'a yoke'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 26:13 ('I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright'), Isa 58:6 ('loose the cords of the yoke-bar'), Ezek 30:18 and 34:27. The word comes back in Jer 28:10, 12–13: Hananiah breaks 'the yoke-bar' (singular) from Jeremiah's neck, and God replies, 'You have broken bars of wood, but you will make in their place bars of iron.'

From the study of Isaiah 58:6

Range of meaning

A bar or pole. In particular, the wooden crossbar of a yoke, which was lashed onto the necks of oxen with cords or straps. Used as a picture of subjugation and forced labour.

Against the English

KJV renders ’aguddot motah as 'heavy burdens', which loses the yoke and its straps. Most modern versions bring the yoke back ('cords/straps of the yoke').

How it drifted

The KJV's 'heavy burdens' encourages readers to hear emotional or general life burdens rather than a picture of forced labour.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 26:13: 'I broke the bars (motot) of your yoke and made you walk upright', said of the Exodus. Jeremiah wore yoke-bars as a sign (Jer 27:2; 28:10–13). Nah 1:13: 'I will break his yoke-bar off you'.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 26:13 מֹטֹ֣ת [the] bars of

    I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk in uprightness.

    Here: The wooden bars of an animal yoke, the pieces that held the neck in place. Jeremiah later wore such bars as a sign of Babylonian rule (Jer 27:2; 28:10–13).

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 15:15 בַּמֹּט֖וֹת with <the> poles

    And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 58:6 מוֹטָ֑ה מוֹטָ֖ה [the] yoke-bar, yoke-bar

    Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?

    Here: The wooden crossbar of a yoke. It is the picture of forced labour and subjection. Leviticus 26:13 uses it for Egypt: God 'broke the bars of your yoke'.

  2. Isaiah 58:9 מוֹטָ֔ה [the] yoke-bar

    Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,

    Here: The wooden crossbar of a yoke, tied onto a draft animal. It echoes verse 6, 'untie the cords of the yoke-bar'. It pictures one person harnessing another for forced labour or debt servitude.

Jeremiah · 5

  1. Jeremiah 27:2 וּמֹט֑וֹת and yoke-bars

    This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck.

    Here: 'And yoke-bars': the wooden beam, and possibly the pegs, of the yoke. This exact word comes back in 28:10–13, where Hananiah breaks the wooden bar and God answers with bars of iron.

  2. Jeremiah 28:10 הַמּוֹטָ֔ה the yoke-bar

    Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it.

  3. Jeremiah 28:12 הַמּוֹטָ֔ה the yoke-bar

    But shortly after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke off his neck, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

  4. Jeremiah 28:13 מוֹטֹ֥ת מֹט֥וֹת yoke-bars of

    “Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the LORD says: ‘You have broken a yoke of wood, but in its place you have fashioned a yoke of iron.’

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 30:18 מֹט֣וֹת [the] yoke-bars of

    The day will be darkened in Tahpanhes when I break the yoke of Egypt and her proud strength comes to an end. A cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity.

  2. Ezekiel 34:27 מֹט֣וֹת [the] bars of

    The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hands that enslaved them.

    Here: The wooden crossbars or pegs that held the yoke on the neck. Jeremiah wore such bars as a sign of Babylon's rule (Jer 27-28).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.