PROPHET SCHOLAR

Oracle: From the Hebrew word messa (pronounced mas-saw'). It originally meant "burden," as in something heavy that is carried. But it came to mean the words of God given to a prophet to speak to the people, the prophet's "burden," as it were. An oracle typically contained a condemnation of sin and call to repentance. Examples include:

​

"So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, “What is the oracle [messa] of the LORD?" Jeremiah 23:33

​

"The burden [messa] of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi." Malachi 1:1