Another look at the function of מַשָּׂא in prophetic literature

Abstract: A number of investigative studies have been conducted on the meaning and function of מַשָּׂא in the prophetic literature of the Hebrew Scriptures, some of which include comprehensive reviews of previous attempts to explain the use of this term either lexically (cf. Sellin 1930; Procksch 1930; de Boer 1948; Lambert 1955; Tsevat 1958; Naudé 1969; Calvin & Owen 1989) or as a form-critical tag (cf. Weis 1992; Melugin & Sweeney 1994; Sweeney 1996; Floyd 2002) with the latest study conducted by M.J. Boda (2006: 338-357), which classifies מַשָּׂא as an editorial marker. This article seeks to expand on previous attempts to explain the purpose of מַשָּׂא by categorizing the occurrence of מַשָּׂא in line with its various semantic domains. In the approach, a summative overview of the key suggestions of the term מַשָּׂא will provide a conceptual background for the investigation. Following this, the use of מַשָּׂא is systematically analysed in its various textual contexts throughout the Hebrew Scriptures to identify how this term was applied in popular speech, literature and translation. From this analysis, an attempt will be made to categorize מַשָּׂא into specific semantic domains and to determine how the sense in which מַשָּׂא is used in prophetic literature compares. The study concludes with a proposition that מַשָּׂא functions as a literary device to bind maśśā’-prophesies together intertextually into a virtual corpus