ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Matthew 11.28-30

Book: Matthew · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

26. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. 27. All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knows the Son, save the Father; neither does any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomever the Son willeth to reveal him.

28. 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. 30. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:26-30, ASV)

WEB

26. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. 27. All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.

28. “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 29. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 30. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:26-30, WEB)

KJV

26. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

28. Come unto me, all ye that labour 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. 30. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:26-30, KJV)

YLT

26. Yes, Father, because so it was good pleasure before Thee. 27. 'All things were delivered to me by my Father, and none doth know the Son, except the Father, nor doth any know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son may wish to reveal [Him].

28. 'Come unto me, all ye labouring and burdened ones, and I will give you rest, 29. take up my yoke upon you, and learn from me, because I am meek and humble in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls, 30. for my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.' (Matthew 11:26-30, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Jesus
  • Audience: the Galilean crowds, immediately after the woes on Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum and the prayer of thanksgiving in verses 25 to 27
  • Location: Galilee
  • Time period: c. AD 28-30

Theological reading

The invitation is one of the most quoted passages in the Gospels and one of the most often detached from its context. Verses 20 to 24 are a pronouncement of judgment on unrepentant towns; verses 25 to 27 are a claim of exclusive mutual knowledge between the Father and the Son. Only then comes Come unto me. The tenderness is issued by the same speaker, in the same breath, as the severity and the claim to unique authority.

The yoke image is the key to the whole saying. A rabbi's yoke was his interpretation of Torah, the way of obedience he taught, and to take a rabbi's yoke was to become his disciple. Jesus does not offer freedom from all yokes; he offers the exchange of one for another. The burden is not removed, it is replaced, which is why the invitation is addressed to those that labour and are heavy laden, most plausibly under the accumulated legal demands the same Gospel criticises at 23:4, where the scribes bind heavy burdens on others' shoulders.

Easy in verse 30 renders chrestos, which means kindly, serviceable, well-fitting rather than undemanding. A well-fitted yoke does not chafe. The claim is not that discipleship is light work but that it is properly fitted work, and the contrast is with a yoke that injures the animal wearing it.

The self-description in verse 29 is the only place in the Gospels where Jesus characterises his own inner disposition: meek and lowly in heart. It is the ground of the invitation rather than an aside. The rest that is promised is anapausis, the Septuagint's word for the sabbath rest and for the rest God gives his people in the land, so the offer is being made in covenant vocabulary and not merely in the language of relief from fatigue.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

Quoted in

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Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.