burden
mas.sa denotes a load carried or assigned, and can describe an imposed responsibility or a heading for an utterance.
The term most often marks a tangible load to be carried, moved, or assigned in service, whether on an animal, through a city gate, or among tent furnishings. It also describes responsibility laid on people and appears in two Proverbs headings for an utterance.
Senses in use
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Tangible load or assigned carrying duty · dominant
Both absolute and construct noun forms occur where something is borne or moved: in Exodus 23:5 a donkey lies under its load, while Numbers 4:31 assigns boards, bars, pillars, and sockets as the duty of carrying. In Jeremiah 17:21 and Nehemiah 13:15 the APB renders loads being brought through Jerusalem on the Sabbath, and Isaiah 46:1 depicts items carried for animals.
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Imposed responsibility or personal encumbrance · common
In Deuteronomy 1:12 the construct form occurs with the people's load and disputes that one person must bear, and Numbers 11:11 and Numbers 11:17 place the people's load on Moses and then on others with him. The APB also portrays a person becoming an encumbrance in 2 Samuel 15:33 and Job 7:20, and Hosea 8:10 speaks of suffering under the king and rulers.
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Heading for an utterance · rare
In the absolute form, the word stands in the opening headings of Proverbs 30:1 and Proverbs 31:1. The APB renders the first heading with “The burden” and presents the second as “an oracle,” so the heading function is clear while its precise English rendering varies in the translation.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously presents the term with “burden,” “load,” and language of carrying or assigned duty; in the Proverbs headings it uses “The burden” and “an oracle.” These renderings confirm the clauses' overall presentation rather than fixing a separate English equivalent in every verse.