Aramaic  Word Study – Yoke – Nari  נירי Nun Yod Resh Yod

Matthew 11:28-29: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” 

In the very familiar passage Jesus is really making a reference to the Jewish prayer taken from Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD: (5) And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” This is known as the The Shema Yisrael which is recited twice every day at sunrise and again at sunset.  It encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism.  

You will not find this in most of your Hebrew Bibles but it is in the Sefer Torah or Torah Scrolls which reflects the inspired version of the Torah.  The first in Deuteronomy 6:4 is shema which means to hear, listen, obey and accept.  The last letter, Ayin, in the word shema is enlarged in the Sefer Torah.  The sages teach that God inspired the writer of the Torah to enlarge the Ayin so there would be no mistake.  You see in Hebrew the Ayin and the Aleph are considered silent according to you Biblical Hebrew grammar books. However, there is a very subtle tone for the Ayin and Aleph but unless Hebrew is your native language that you grow up with, you will likely not hear that subtle sound. So God instructed the writer of the Torah and this most important passage to enlarge the Ayin so there is no mistaking the word for another word that sounds identical to shema.  The word shema which ends in an Aleph means maybe.  Hence you could mistakenly read this as: “Maybe, O’Israel, the Lord your God is one.”   God wants to rally emphasize that He is just one God.  In fact, if you look at that word one which is the last word of this verse ‘echad, you will notice something else. The last letter of ‘echad is also enlarged, done under the inspiration of God.  The last letter is a Daleth which looks very much like a Resh.  If it were mistaken for a Resh the word would be ‘acher and would read: “The Lord your God is another (god).”  Why is this so important and why is this the centerpiece of Jewish prayers?  Because, if you take the enlarged Ayin and put it to the enlarged Daleth you spell the word witness.  This teaches that the purpose of the Jews as God’s chosen people is to be a witness to the world that there is only one God.  No maybe one God, not another god but just one God.

Throughout the ages, the Shema Yisrael has been the confession and declaration of the Jewish people  “Hear O’Israel the Lord our God is one God.”  They have been faithful to this calling for almost 4,000 years.  They fought the Maccabean war over the right to declare their Shema, they singlehandedly preserved monotheism throughout the ages. We owe them, big time, for our Christian faith today for our faith is also wrapped up in that Shema Yisrael for the Jews are declaring that God is not just their God but our God as well. Their Shema Yisrael lays the groundwork for all our evangelism today. We start with just one God and loving that one God with all our hearts, soul, and might. In fact, for almost 4,000 years the Jews teach that this first confession yokes us to heaven or God.

Actually, Jewish literature speaks of the Shema as a demonstration of three yokes. This was something very familiar in the first century. It is very likely that when Jesus said: “Take my yoke upon you” He was making a reference to the teachings of the Shema.  The three yokes of the Shema are first to be yoked to God. Then you are yoked to the Torah. The Torah teaches you to how you can be yoked to God. The Laws of the Torah are really guidelines.  As the Apostle Paul said the law is a schoolmaster. Galatians 3:24: “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” There was no redemption in keeping the law, the redemption was in Jesus Christ.  The law only told us how to have an appropriate relationship with God. As a bride lays down the law for her new husband.  You will not look at another woman, you will not confide with another woman, you will spend at least one full day a week with me so we can develop our relationship, etc. The bridegroom is only more than happy to comply with these “laws.”  Actually, this wife is not trying to be dictatorial, she is only revealing her heart to her husband and telling her husband those secrets of her heart’s desires, her fears, and the things her husband can do to please her.  

So too, the laws of God are not meant to be dictatorial, but to be a guide to the heart of God so we will know what to do that will please Him.

The third yoke is to be yoked to mitzvahs or good deeds.  As James said: James 2:26: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Good works are only a sign of your faith, it is not the end in itself.  The real endgame is your relationship with God and that is what Jesus was explaining to the Jews that of the three yokes in the Shema, you really only need to consider the first yoke, the yoke to heaven or God.  Jesus said that that is the easiest yoke of all for once you have yoke yourself to heaven,  the yoke to the Torah, and good works will follow.  

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