mo.tah denotes a bar or wooden frame used for a neck-borne burden, and once the poles used to carry the ark.

The term most often identifies the bars or yokes associated with servitude, oppression, or a burden placed on the neck; the verses describe them as made, broken, removed, or replaced. In 1 Chronicles 15:15, its plural form instead occurs with the poles by which the ark is carried.

1. Bars or yokes of imposed burden · dominant

   Plural construct forms occur in clauses about making yokes and putting them on the neck in Jeremiah 27:2, breaking yokes of wood and replacing them with iron ones in Jeremiah 28:13, and breaking the bars of a yoke in Leviticus 26:13. Singular absolute forms occur where the yoke is untied and broken in Isaiah 58:6, removed in Isaiah 58:9, and broken from Jeremiah's neck in Jeremiah 28:10; in Ezekiel 34:27 the APB renders the clause "I break the bars of their yoke" in connection with rescue from enslavers.

   Jeremiah 27:2Jeremiah 28:10Jeremiah 28:13Leviticus 26:13Isaiah 58:6Ezekiel 34:27
2. Poles for carrying the ark · rare

   In 1 Chronicles 15:15, the plural absolute form appears in the clause describing the Levites carrying the ark on their shoulders; the APB renders the accompanying implement as "poles."

   1 Chronicles 15:15

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term through "yokes" and, in liberation clauses, "bars of their yoke" or "bars of your yoke." In 1 Chronicles 15:15 it instead renders the carrying context with "poles".