Massa mas'-a (massa', "burden"): Descendant of Abraham through Ishmael (Genesis 25:14, 1 Chronicles 1:30). His people may be the Masani of Ptolemy, having Eastern Arabia near Babylon as their habitat. The marginal reading of the heading to Proverbs 31:1 mentions Lemuel as king of Massa. If that reading is accepted, it would seem that a tribe and probably a place were named from Ishmael's descendant. The reading is doubtful, however, for where the phrase recurs in Proverbs 30:1 (Revised Version (British and American)) it appears to be a gloss.