The Yoke Is Easy, but What of Its Meaning?: A Methodological Reflection Masquerading as a Philological Discussion of Matthew 11:30

Numerous studies have appeared concerning the meaning, provenance, and transmission of the famous saying “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11:30). This paper argues that the standard English translation of chrēstos as “easy” is inaccurate. In order to open new interpretative avenues with other translation options, this argument illuminates a methodological aporia and well-known truism of reading. Scholarly understandings of the metaphor of the yoke are dependent not on the words in the passage but on interpretative decisions made by or for the reader concerning the nature of the text in which the metaphor stands.