The Hebrew term משא can mean any of the following:
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carrying (a load) as in 2 Chron. 20:25
a load or a burden for an animal to haul as in Ex. 23:5; Isa. 46:2 or for a person in charge of transport as in 1 Chron. 15:27
a metaphorical burden or load on someone or on someone’s soul as in Num. 11:11–17; Deut. 1:6–17, or a person who has become a burden (for various reasons) to another person as in 2 Sam. 15:33; 19:36; Job 7:20
a double meaning with the idea of “pronouncement” combined with the previous meaning as in Jer. 23:33–38
a pronouncement, or an oracle as in Mal. 1:1; Zech. 9:1; 2 Kings 9:25
In the following posts, we’ll begin to take a look at the Greek terms that were employed to translate this term massa.
