burden

Everyday

1. A heavy load that you carry. tree →
2. A difficult duty, worry or problem that is hard to deal with. tree →
3. (verb) To give someone a heavy load or a worry. tree →
4. (law) Burden of proof: the duty to show that something is true. tree →

In the lessons

Used in stories (a donkey carrying a burden), feelings (worries as a burden), adult life (money burdens, debts) and law (burden of proof). It tells the reader someone carries something heavy, in the body or the mind. Phrases: a burden to, ease the burden, burden of proof, a weight off my shoulders.

Examples

• The donkey carried a heavy burden up the hill. tree →
• She didn't want to be a burden to her family. tree →
• Sharing a worry with a friend eases the burden. tree →
• Homework felt like a burden this week. tree →
• Don't burden yourself with too many clubs. tree →
• In court, the burden of proof is on the person who accuses. tree →
• Debt can be a heavy burden for a family. tree →
• Here he rested his burden against the wall. tree →

Note

Countable: burdens. Adjective: burdensome. Similar: load, weight, strain. "Beast of burden" means an animal that carries loads, like a donkey or camel.

In Jewish tradition

It can mean a heavy load, the forced labor of the Israelites in Egypt, or a duty of carrying. The Levites had the burden of carrying the holy tent and its furnishings. In the prophets "burden" is also a heavy message from God about a place or people, such as "the burden of the wilderness of the sea".

Interpretation. The rabbis saw the burdens in Egypt as the start of Israel's suffering, and the Levite burden as a holy task. Moses' words about bearing the people alone are read as the reason he appointed judges to help him. A prophet's "burden" is read as a weighty word that the prophet must carry and deliver.

Examples

• Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. (Torah EXO.1.11, JPS 1917) tree →
• How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? (Torah DEU.1.12, JPS 1917) tree →
• These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting. (Torah NUM.4.15, JPS 1917) tree →
• The burden concerning the Valley of Vision. (Prophets ISA.22.1, JPS 1917) tree →
• The burden of the wilderness of the sea. (Prophets ISA.21.1, JPS 1917) tree →
• The burden of the beasts of the South. (Prophets ISA.30.6, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable: burdens. Adjective: burdensome. Similar: load, weight, strain. "Beast of burden" means an animal that carries loads, like a donkey or camel.