Translation
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
Go to footnote numberthen you will find rest for your souls because
Go to footnote numberI am gentle and humble in heart.
Paraphrase
Take upon yourselves my purpose and my way of living and then you will truly be my disciples and the result will be that
your soul will be refreshed and revived. This is because I am different from the religious leaders you are accustomed to with their heavy burdens of legalism; no, I will be gentle with you in the learning process and I will be an example of humility because I have a humble heart; I don’t make it about me (unlike the religious leaders you know).
Footnotes
1
The verb “to learn” is the root word for “disciple.”
2
“Because” is an important word in this sentence. It shows that the gentleness and humility of Jesus were first of all motivators that caused Him to treat His followers differently. The idea that we learn humility from Him is secondary, it does not come from the specific wording of the verse but from the fact that humility is emphasized so much in the verse, and since we are His disciples we should follow His example. In the end it is both the motivation of Jesus and something we learn from Him, but the emphasis is on the former.