set free and all hereditary possessions of land were returned to their original owners.—Lev. 25:10-41.

Method of counting rule of kings

In historical records it was the practice in Babylon to count the reigning or regnal years of a king as full years, beginning on Nisan 1. The months during which the king might have actually started to rule prior to Nisan 1 were considered as forming his accession year, but were historically credited or counted as belonging to the full regnal years of the king who had preceded him. If, as Jewish tradition indicates, this system was followed in Judah, then, when the Bible speaks of Kings David and Solomon as each reigning for “forty years,” the reigns cover full forty-year periods.—1 Ki. 1:39; 2:1, 10, 11; 11:42.

IN PROPHECY

In prophecy the word “year” is often used in a special sense as the equivalent of 360 days (twelve months of thirty days each). (Rev. 11:2, 3) It is also called a “time” and is occasionally represented by a “day.”—Rev. 12:6, 14; Ezek. 4:5, 6.

YEAST

See LEAVEN.

YIRON

(Yiʹron).

One of the fortified cities in the territory of Naphtali. (Josh. 19:32, 35, 38) Its location is uncertain, but possibly it was situated at present-day Yarun, ten miles (c. 16 kilometers) W of the Huleh basin, in Galilee.

YOHDH

or, as commonly anglicized, yodh [י]. The tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, later also used, outside the Hebrew Scriptures, to represent the number ten.

Yohdh is equivalent to the English “y,” at the beginning of a syllable. Otherwise, it usually corresponds to the English letter “i.” It is the smallest of the Hebrew letters. The name of the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, i·oʹta, evidently is akin to the Hebrew yohdh. Since the law of Moses was originally written and subsequently preserved in Hebrew, it is likely that Jesus was referring back to the Hebrew yohdh when he said that “the smallest letter [Gr., i·oʹta]” would not pass away without its due fulfillment. (Matt. 5:18) This letter occurs as the initial letter in the Tetragrammaton or sacred name Jehovah (reading from right to left: יהוה)and as such was carried over into the earliest copies of the Greek Septuagint Version. A papyrus fragment of the third century C.E. (P. Oxyrhynchus vii. 1007) containing a portion of the Septuagint translation of Genesis abbreviates the Tetragrammaton by having its first letter doubled, a doubled yohdh.

Due to the similarity between the letters yohdh (י) and waw (ו), they were sometimes confused by copyists. In the Hebrew, at Psalm 119:73-80 each verse begins with the letter yohdh.

YOKE

A bar borne upon a person’s shoulders, from each side of which loads were suspended (compare Isaiah 9:4), or a wooden bar or frame placed over the necks of two draught animals (usually cattle) when drawing a farm implement or a wagon. (Num. 19:2; Deut. 21:3; 1 Sam. 6:7) The latter crossbeam was generally held in position by two bands, each encircling the neck of one animal. Some yokes, instead of having bands, had straight bars that projected down along each side of the animals’ necks and were secured by thongs tied across their throats. Yokes were also fastened to the animals’ foreheads at the base of their horns. Those borne by persons in ancient Egypt to carry water and other burdens were about three and a half feet (c. 1 meter) long and were equipped with straps at the ends for attaching loads.

ORIGINAL-LANGUAGE TERMS

The Greek terms (zy·gosʹ, zeuʹgos) that convey the idea of a yoke are drawn from the word zeuʹgny·mi, which means ‘to yoke, couple, join, bind or unite together.’ Usually two animals were yoked together, so the Greek word zeuʹgos can denote a “pair” or “yoke” of animals, such as a “pair of turtledoves.” (Luke 2:24; 14:19) The Hebrew term tseʹmedh somewhat corresponds to the Greek word zeuʹgos and can designate a “couple” (Judg. 19:3, 10), a “pair” (1 Sam. 11:7), a “span” (1 Ki. 19:19, 21) or an “acre,” the measure of land that a span of bulls can plow in a day. (1 Sam. 14:14; Isa. 5:10) An entirely different Hebrew word (ʽol), however, refers to the instrument used for yoking or uniting things together. (Num. 19:2) Another Hebrew term (moh·tahʹ) is associated with yokes (Lev. 26:13; Isa. 58:6, 9; Jer. 27:2; 28:10, 12, 13; Ezek. 30:18; 34:27) but basically means a “rod” or “pole,” as at 1 Chronicles 15:15, where the reference is to the poles by means of which the Ark was carried. The Greek word zy·gosʹ, besides designating a yoke, can apply to various objects that unite two or more things. For example, the beam of a pair of scales ‘yokes’ two pans together; thus, by extension, zy·gosʹ can mean the “scales” themselves, as at Revelation 6:5. Like the Hebrew ʽol (Gen. 27:40; Isa. 9:4), zy·gosʹ could also describe the yoke bar used by an individual for carrying loads, equally distributed on either side of the bar.

FIGURATIVE USE

Slaves often had to carry burdens (compare Joshua 9:23; 1 Timothy 6:1) and for this reason the yoke appropriately represented enslavement or subjection to another person, as Esau’s subjection to Jacob (Gen. 27:40), or to a ruler or nation (1 Ki. 12:4-14; 2 Chron. 10:4-14; Ezek. 34:27), as well as oppression and suffering. (Isa. 58:6-9) An iron yoke denoted severer bondage than a wooden yoke. (Deut. 28:48; Jer. 28:10-14) And removing or breaking the yoke signified liberation from bondage, oppression and exploitation.—Lev. 26:13; Isa. 10:27; 14:25; Jer. 2:20; 28:2, 4; 30:8; Ezek. 30:18.

When the city of Jerusalem fell to King Nebuchadnezzar, the inhabitants came under the heavy yoke of submission to Babylon. This yoke was especially hard on the old men, who had not endured such a thing earlier in life. (Compare Isaiah 47:6.) Evidently alluding to this in his lamentation over the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah said: “Good it is for an able-bodied man that he should carry the yoke during his youth.” By learning to bear a yoke of suffering while young, an individual will find it much easier to bear a yoke in later life, and that without losing hope.—Lam. 3:25-30.

Whereas individuals and nations have dealt oppressively with others, Jehovah God has never placed an oppressive, hurtful yoke upon his faithful servants. Through the prophet Hosea, Jehovah reminded Israel of his merciful treatment: “With the ropes of earthling man I kept drawing them, with the cords of love, so that I became to them as those lifting off a yoke on their jaws, and gently I brought food to each one.” (Hos. 11:4) So Jehovah treated the Israelites as one who lifted off or pushed back a yoke far enough to enable an animal to eat comfortably. It was only when they broke their yoke of submission to God (Jer. 5:5) that they came under the oppressive yoke of enemy nations.—Compare Deuteronomy 28:48; Jeremiah 5:6-19; 28:14.

The Law given to the nation of Israel was a yoke, for it placed them under obligations and responsibilities to Jehovah God. Being holy, righteous and good, what the Law prescribed did not work injury to the Israelites. (Rom. 7:12) Because of their sinfulness and imperfection, however, they were unable to keep it perfectly and therefore it proved to be a yoke that ‘neither they nor their forefathers were able to bear’ (for it resulted in condemnation to them for breaking