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Bible Dictionaries
Burden
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or BURDEN.—Both in Christ’s discourse against the Pharisees (Matthew 23:4, Luke 11:46) and in His saying, ‘Come unto me,’ etc. (Matthew 11:28; Matthew 11:30), the ‘burden’ (φορτἰον) is that of the legal and Pharisaic ordinances of such a minute and exacting kind that they became intolerable and crushed out real heart-religion. ‘My burden,’ Christ says, ‘is light’ in comparison with these; for I put men under the law of love, which is a law of liberty. With loving, gracious hearts, My disciples become a law unto themselves. The new law is written on the fleshy I tables of the heart. St. Peter, in Acts 15:10, speaks of the traditional legal observances as a yoke which ‘neither ye nor your fathers were able to bear,’ while faith in Christ can purify the heart and make strict rules for outward conduct unnecessary. In Matthew 11:30 Jesus gives utterance to the germ at least of the Pauline idea of a new spirit of life in Christ Jesus, setting free from condemnation. While, in the first instance, Christ meant by ‘burden’ the Pharisaic ordinances, the truth would become ever deeper to His disciples, till they understood the full contrast between the fulfilment of legal precepts through painful effort, and the joyous service of a living God and Father, growing into pervading holiness of character.
The ‘burden (βάρος)* [Note: In Galatians 6:2; Galatians 6:5 Lightfoot contends that βάρο; and φορτἱον mean, respectively, a burden that may and ought to be got rid of, and one that must be borne.] of the day and the heat,’ in the parable of the Labourers (Matthew 20:12) is a description of toil which strains and wearies. In the interpretation of the parable, if any stress were laid on this detail, it might be the long and conscientious fulfilment of duty in the Christian life, which, though it must receive recognition in the end, gives no claim on God as one who rewards of debt, nor allows the worker to glory over another who has been less richly furnished with opportunity.
Literature.—On the ‘burden’ of Matthew 11:28-30 ref. may be made to Expos. Times, iii. [1892) 512 ff.; Expositor, 1st ser. vii. [1878] p. 348 ff., xi. [1880]. p. 101 ff.
David M. W. Laird.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Burden'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/b/burden.html. 1906-1918.
