the Fourth Week of Advent
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Massa
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Heb. Massa', מִשָּׂא, a liftiing up, as often; Sept. Μασσῆ ), one of the sons of Ishmael (B.C. post 2061), who became the progenitor of an Arabian clan (Genesis 25:14; 1 Chronicles 1:30). The tribe is usually, and not improbably, compared with the Masani (Macavol, Ptol. v. 19, 2), inhabiting the Arabian desert towards Babylonia, doubtless the same as the lascei, a nomad tribe of Mesopotamia (Pliny, H. N. 6:30). This would confirm Forster's theory that the twelve sons of Ishmael peopled the whole of the Arabian peninsula (Geogr. of Arabia, 1:284). As Dumah is named in connection with Seir (Isaiah 21:11), there is some foundation for the opinion that Massa was a kingdom of considerable size, possibly reigned over by king Lemuel (Proverbs 30:1, הִמִּשָּׂא, "the prophecy"). (See LEMUEL). Hitzig arbitrarily locates Dumah in wady el-Kora, about fifty miles south-east of Akabah, and then places Massa between it and Mount Seir (Zeller's Johrbuch, 1844, p. 288). (See DUMAH).
These files are public domain.
McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Massa'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/m/massa.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
