Burden
מַשָּׂאStrong’s H4853massa (mas-sa)
Appears in 60 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Massa is the Hebrew word usually translated “oracle of”, “burden” and “burden of”. It appears in 60 verses of the Old Testament.
“The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD.”
Meaning
- Load, bearing, tribute, burden, liftingload, burden · lifting, uplifting, that to which the soul lifts itself up · bearing, carrying · tribute, that which is carried or brought or borne
- Utterance, oracle, burden
How it's translated
- oracle of 13
- a burden 9
- burden of 7
- the oracle 6
- carrying their 4
- a load 3
- burden his 2
- carrying 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Isaiah 14
- Numbers 10
- Jeremiah 8
- 2 Chronicles 4
- 2 Kings 3
- 2 Samuel 2
20 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Zechariah 12:1In contextThe burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
- Exodus 23:5If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
- Numbers 4:15And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.
- Numbers 4:19But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:
- Numbers 4:24This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens:
- Numbers 4:27At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens.
All 60 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
מַשָּׂא massa · burden
1) load, bearing, tribute, burden, lifting 1a) load, burden 1b) lifting, uplifting, that to which the soul lifts itself up 1c) bearing, carrying 1d) tribute, that which is carried or brought or borne
מַשָּׂא massa · oracle
utterance, oracle, burden
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “burden” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
BURD'EN, noun
burd'n; written also burthen. [Latin fero, or porto.]
- That which is borne or carried; a load.
- That which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome or oppressive.
- A birth.
- The verse repeated in a song, or the return of the theme at the end of each verse; the chorus; so called from the application of this word to the drone or base, and the pipe or string which plays it, in an instrument.
All definitions and other forms of “burden”
- In common language, that which is often repeated; a subject on which one dwells.
- A fixed quantity of certain commodities; as a burden of gad steel, 120 pounds.
- The contents of a ship; the quantity or number of tons, a vessel will carry; as a ship of a hundred tons burden
- A club. [Not in use.]
BURD'EN, verb transitive
burd'n. To load; to lay on a heavy load; to incumber with weight. Hence,
- To oppress with any thing grievous; as, to burden a nation with taxes.
- To surcharge; as, to burden the memory.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.