Found just six times in the New Testament (Mt. 20:12; Acts 15:28; 2 Cor. 4:17; Gal. 6:2; 1 Thess. 2:6; Rev. 2:24), the Greek noun “baros” meant “burden,” “weight,” “burdensome.”
In Mt. 20:12 this word describes the “burden of daily toil” (Brown, 1:261). In Acts 15:28 this term describes “the burden of legal requirements” (Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 1:199). In 2 Cor. 4:17 this noun is used to help form a contrast involving suffering.
Thayer (p. 96) said Paul used this term in Gal. 6:2 to describe “troublesome moral faults.” In 1 Thess. 2:6 the thought is: “to have authority and influence” (ibid).