Maśśâ' (מַשָּׂא, Strong's #4853), “load; burden; tribute; delight.” The 43 occurrences of this word are scattered throughout the periods of biblical Hebrew.
The word means that which is borne by a man, an ass, a mule, or a camel: “If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him …” (Exod. 23:5—the first occurrence). A “load” may be hung on a peg (Isa. 22:25). This word is used figuratively of spiritual “loads” one is carrying: “For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Ps. 38:4).
Maśśâ' means “burden” in the sense of something burdensome, a hardship. Moses asked God: “… Wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?” (Num. 11:11).
Once the word represents that which is borne to a lord, a “tribute”: “Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and tribute silver …” (2 Chron. 17:11).
In Ezek. 24:25 maśśâ' bears a unique meaning: “Will it not be on the day when I take from them their stronghold, the joy of their pride, the desire of their eyes, and their heart’s delight [or, the longing of their soul], their sons and their daughters … (NASB).
Maśśâ' (מַשָּׂא, Strong's #4853), “utterance; oracle.” This noun, closely related to the above noun, is used 21 times. Maśśâ' means “utterance” or “oracle”: “For remember, when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how the Lord uttered this oracle against him” (2 Kings 9:25, RSV). In Jer. 23:33-38 the word appears to connote both a burden and an oracle.