THERE is an interesting distinction made by Paul in the sixth chapter of his epistle to the Galatians in the words which are there translated "burden." In the second verse the apostle recommends the merciful conduct, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." In the fifth verse he seems strangely to contradict this counsel when he remarks, "For every man shall bear his own burden." A study of the original phraseology, however, illuminates this apparent inconsistency, for there we find that the writer employs two distinct words, though the translator utilizes but one.
The word translated "burden" in the second verse is baros, a Greek word which means a weight, heavy encumbrance, oppression; while in the fifth verse the word used is phortion, a word that signifies whatever may be carried, hence a load or cargo,—often used in connection with shipping; it does not imply heaviness or oppression, for a load may be composed of very light materials, and we sometimes hear the expression "a precious cargo." This distinction may be observed also in the text of Matthew, where Jesus says, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Here the word for burden is the same one which Paul selected in the second quotation from Galatians,—phortion, that which may be carried. In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, found in the twentieth chapter of Matthew, where Jesus spoke of those "which have borne the burden and heat of the day," the word chosen for burden is baros, oppression, and is identical with the word employed by Paul in the first quotation from Galatians.
From this distinction we learn that there are two kinds of burdens,— one of which we are to consider it our own responsibility to bear, the other of such a character that we may with propriety seek the aid of some fellow worker in the carrying of it, or offer to him our assistance, as the case may be. What is this burden which we each are required to bear? Is it not the individual task of working out our own salvation— the problem which we are enjoined to solve "with fear and trembling"? Another may not carry this burden for us, since it is each one's duty to express the divine purpose in his own individual way, God having ordained a special work which he alone can accomplish and for which he is responsible. We can easily see that what might seem to one person an advisable course of conduct for another, may be inexpedient at the time for that one's spiritual advancement and welfare.
