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# מַשָּׂא

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H4853

**load** — used 44 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

load [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4853/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

מַשָּׂא³: n.m. load, burden, lifting, bearing, tribute Qal [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4853/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. ψ 38:5 load, burden, lifting, bearing, tribute;—מ׳ abs. Ne 13:19 +; cstr. 2 K 5:17 +; sf. מַשָּׂאוֹ Ex 23:5 + 2 times; מַשַּׂאֲכֶם Dt 1:12; מַשָּׂאָם Nu 4:27 + 2 times;— load, burden of ass Ex 23:5 (E), mules 2 K 5:17, camels 8:9, cf. Is 46:1, 2; hanging on a peg Is 22:25 (fig.); forbidden on Sabbath Je 17:21, 22, 24, 27 Ne 13:15, 19; fig. of people as burden Nu 11:11, 17 (JE), Dt 1:12, cf. הָיָה לְמ׳ עַל־ 2 S 15:33; 19:36 (אֶל־), also וָאֶהְיֶה עָלַי לְמַשָּׂא Jb 7:20; of iniquities ψ 38:5.—Ho 8:10 read מְשֹׁהַ, so 𝔊 We Now GASm. n. verb., lifting, uplifting, only מ׳ נַפְשָׁם Ez 24:25 the uplifting of their soul, i.e. that to which they lift up their soul, their heart’s desire. n. verb., bearing, carrying, Nu 4:24 (+ לַעֲבֹד) 2 Ch 20:25; 35:3 (בַּכָּתֵף), so prob. 1 Ch 15:22(×2), 27 (cf. Be Kau; \> singing, uplifting of voice, e.g. Öt); especially of responsibility and duty of bearing sacred vessels (often ‖ עֲבֹדָה, פְּקֻדָּה) Nu 4:15, 19, 27(×2), 49, עֲבֹדַת מ׳ v 47, מִשְׁמֶרֶת מ׳ v 31, 32. perhaps what is carried, brought, i.e. tribute כֶּסֶף מ׳ 2 Ch 17:11 silver as tribute (+ מִנְחָה; cf. נשׂא Qal; others, silver by the load, i.e. in great quantity).—i. מַשָּׂא v. supr. p. 601 b.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 34 of its verses cited, 3 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (9 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (7 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: burden (10); a burden (7); the burden (7).

## In the verses

[Numbers 4:24](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/NUM.4.24/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/NUM.4.24/#tree)

זֹ֣את עֲבֹדַ֔ת מִשְׁפְּחֹ֖ת הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּ֑י לַעֲבֹ֖ד וּלְמַשָּֽׂא׃

*Word for word:* this \[is\].the.service of.the.clans of the.Gershonite\[s\] for serving and for carrying

*JPS 1917:* This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:

[Psalms 38:5](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.38.5/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.38.5/#tree)

כִּ֣י עֲ֭וֺנֹתַי עָבְר֣וּ רֹאשִׁ֑י כְּמַשָּׂ֥א כָ֝בֵ֗ד יִכְבְּד֥וּ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃

*Word for word:* (dm) iniquities my they.have.passed.over head my like a.burden heavy they.are.\[too\].heavy for me

*JPS 1917:* For mine iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/4853.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4853/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).