Trumpet-and-the-Shofar
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Remember the following truth from our beloved Torah!
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which
I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM
IT, that ye may keep the commandments of אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloleichem,
which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).
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With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
Please Note: All verses are from the JPS-1917 version of the Tanakh. Other versions may differ in verse numbers. Remember this JPS-1917 version is available free of charge online.
Introduction:
What is the
meaning of trumpets and Shofars in our blessed
Scriptures?
‘Trumpets’ and ‘Shofars’ were used all
throughout our beloved Tanakh for various reasons. It might immediately come to mind the blowing of
the Shofar to announce the coronation of a new king, the shouts and trumpet
blowing of Joshua and Gideon before battle, or the trumpets played during the
High Holidays. However, are these the only times when trumpets were mentioned
in the Tanakh? Or are there so many more examples and reasons for sounding this
instrument?
As we draw closer
to ‘Yom Teruah’ or the ‘Feast of Trumpets’, it is important to understand
the meaning of trumpets in the Torah. Why were they important? And
what were they used for?
Sometimes you might see the word ‘horn’ used for a ‘shofar’, or a ‘ram’s horn’, and ‘trumpets’ or ‘silver trumpets’ that were made by an artisan in the Tanakh. At this time I will not get into the differences between ‘shofars’ and ‘trumpets’ and who used what because English translations generally translate trumpet for both. ‘Shofars’ and ‘trumpets’ were used pretty much in the same way in our Scriptures, and I want to focus on them collectively as trumpets and how we see them mentioned in our scripture.
The Tanakh details
the main purposes of trumpets, and what they are for:
1. Calling the assembly.
2. Gathering the congregation together at the door of the tabernacle of witness.
3. Moving the camps.
4. Going to war.
5. Celebrations and sacrifices.
Let us now read Numbers chapter 10, verses 1 to 10:
“1 And יְהוָה - the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 ‘Make
thee two trumpets of silver; of beaten work shalt thou make them; and they
shall be unto thee for the calling of the congregation, and for causing the
camps to set forward. 3 And when they shall blow with
them, all the congregation shall gather themselves
unto thee at the door of the tent of meeting. 4 And if
they blow but with one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of
The
first purpose of the trumpets was to ‘call the assembly of
Oftentimes the Torah
refers to Moses calling for the gathering of the assembly for instruction,
teaching, reprimand, etc. The way it is written you almost get the picture that
Moses yelled really loud and everyone came running towards him, but this would
have been done by a trumpet sounding.
Someone could also blow a
trumpet to gather the Hebrews away from someone or for celebration.
Examples of this are:
A wicked man,
“1 Now there happened to be there a base
fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the horn, and said: ‘We have no
portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to
his tents, O Israel’. 2 So all the men of
King Saul blew a trumpet to call all the Hebrews together following Jonathan’s attack and victory over the Philistines’ garrison in Geba. 1 Samuel 13: 3-4.
“3 And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the horn throughout all the land, saying: ‘Let the Hebrews hear’”.
Gathering of the Hebrews back to יְהוָה - the LORD by sounding the trumpet (Hosea 5).
“‘8 Blow ye the horn in
Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah; sound an alarm at Bethaven: ‘Behind thee, O Benjamin!’”
Moving Camps:
Let us look at Numbers 10:5-8, and please
read Numbers 2:1-34, when mentioned further below.
Another purpose of trumpets was to move the
camps of
“5 And when ye blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall take their journey. 6 And when ye blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall set forward; they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. 7 But when the assembly is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. 8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for a statute for ever throughout your generations”.
Numbers 2:1-34
details the order of the encampment of the tribes in the wilderness. I
suggest that you will read this chapter now from the JPS-1917 version.
Going to War:
The next reason for trumpets was to announce
to
The proclamation of war is one of the most frequently mentioned ways that trumpets were used in the Torah.
“And when ye go to war in your land against the adversary that oppresseth you, then ye shall sound an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - the LORD your Eloheichem, and ye shall be saved from your enemies”.
All throughout the Tanakh, we see someone blowing the trumpet to call ‘us the Hebrews’ to war against enemy nations. Watchmen would sit in high towers and watch for anything suspicious, it was his job to sound a trumpet to warn the Hebrews of impending danger. Then it was up to the king or the people to decide if they would heed the warning or not.
Examples of this are:
Joshua and the children of
Ehud, a judge in
Gideon and his men sounded trumpets before they went to war against the Midianites (Judges 7:14-22).
The prophet Jeremiah mourns over the sound of the trumpets which signals that war is coming (Jeremiah 4:19-21).
The watchmen would signal war or danger to the
congregation of
War or impending destruction was signalled by the sound of a trumpet (Joel 2:1; Amos 2:1-3).
Celebrations and sacrifices:
Trumpets played an important part in the
celebrations and sacrifices of us the Hebrews. Trumpets were blown on ‘feast
days’, during the ‘sacrifices’, on ‘New Moon days’, ‘Sabbath days’, and anytime
there was a ‘celebration’.
We also see at
Examples of this are:
Trumpets were blown on Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement during the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25:9).
Trumpets are blown on the feast of Yom Teruah or The feast of trumpets (Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1).
During all the sacrifices, feasts, and Holy days trumpets were blown (Numbers 10:10; Psalms 81:1-3; Psalms 98:4-6).
Trumpets were blown to announce the coronation of a new king (2 Samuel 15:10; 2 Kings 9:13; 1 Kings 1:33-40).
The voice of יְהוָה - the LORD when He
spoke to us, the Children of
Processions, Music, and Worship:
The last way we see trumpets used in our
Tanakh is for ‘processions’, ‘music’, and ‘worship’. During the procession of ‘bringing
the Ark of Covenant into the city of
Examples of this are:
David brought the Ark of the Covenant into the
city of
King Solomon dedicated the Temple to אֱלֹהִים - Elohim with ‘music’, ‘singing’, ‘gladness’, and of course trumpets (2 Chronicles 5: 2-14).
Make a joyful noise before יְהוָה - the LORD with trumpets (Psalms 47:5; 98:6; 150:3).
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