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Numbers 10:1–10 — The Two Silver Trumpets. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Although God Himself appointed the time for removal and encampment by the movement of the cloud of His presence, signals were also requisite for ordering and conducting the march of so numerous a body, by means of which Moses, as commander-in-chief, might make known his commands to the different divisions of the camp.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

When the following directions concerning the trumpets were given is not certain; it may he at the time when the order of the camps of Israel was fixed, and is here recorded before the journeying of them

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The command to make the silver trumpets is introduced here, because one principal use of them was connected with the order of march. It does not necessarily, follow that the command was actually given exactly at this time

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Then the LORD said to Moses,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

Yah·weh way·ḏab·bêr ’el- mō·šeh lê·mōr

Word by word5 · parsed

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehThen the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

Yahweh (H3068), the covenant name, stands first in the Hebrew clause — the Speaker is named before the speech. Every regulation that follows about silver trumpets is anchored, from word one, in divine authorship rather than human ingenuity.

וַיְדַבֵּ֥רway·ḏab·bêrsaidH1696

√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

The Piel dibbēr ("spoke") is the standard verb of revelation in the Torah; it frames even so practical a matter as signal-instruments as direct address from God.

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

Preposition ’el (H413), "to / unto" — the word is sent to a particular man.

מֹשֶׁ֥הmō·šehMosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

Moses (H4872) is the sole human addressee; the trumpets are God's design, mediated through the one lawgiver.

לֵּאמֹֽר׃lê·mōrH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

lēmōr, the quotation-opener; what follows in vv. 2–10 is the verbatim divine speech it introduces.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The trumpets here spoken of are supposed to have been straight, like that on the triumphal arch of Titus at Rome and on the old Egyptian monuments. In this respect the hazozerah is supposed to have differed from the cornet or horn, keren or shophar (which is interchanged with keren ) , which was crooked.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Two trumpets, for Aaron’s two sons; though afterwards the number of trumpets was much increased, as the number of the priests also was. See 2 Chronicles 5:12 These trumpets were ordained, both for signification of the great duty of ministers, to wit, to preach the word; and for use, as here follows. Silver is a metal pure and precious, and giving a clear sound.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

trumpets ] or Clarions ( ḥaẓôẓerôth ). This rendering serves to distinguish the word from ( a ) the ‘ram’s horn’ ( yôbhçl ), used at Sinai ( Exodus 19:13 ), at Jericho ( Joshua 6:5 )

The Cambridge editors propose "Clarion" precisely to keep the silver hazozerah distinct from the ram's-horn shophar — a verbal distinction the Verifier confirms (the two words never overlap in the Strong's index).

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

of one solid mass of silver, beaten with an hammer, as Jarchi, such a piece as the candlestick was made of in Exodus 25:31 , where the same word is used as here, and rendered "beaten work"

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“Make two trumpets of hammered silver to be used for calling the congregation and for having the camps set out.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

‘ă·śêh lə·ḵā šə·tê ḥă·ṣō·wṣ·rōṯ miq·šāh ke·sep̄ ta·‘ă·śeh ’ō·ṯām wə·hā·yū lə·ḵā lə·miq·rā hā·‘ê·ḏāh ham·ma·ḥă·nō·wṯ ū·lə·mas·sa‘ ’eṯ-

Word by word15 · parsed

עֲשֵׂ֣ה‘ă·śêhMakeH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperativemasculine singular

‘ăśêh (H6213), "make," a singular imperative laid on Moses.

לְךָ֗lə·ḵā

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

שְׁתֵּי֙šə·têtwoH8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoNumberfeminine dual construct

"Two" (šətê, H8147) — a fixed, deliberately small number. Benson and Poole tie it to Aaron's two sons, the only priests then living to blow them (cf. v. 8).

חֲצֽוֹצְרֹ֣תḥă·ṣō·wṣ·rōṯtrumpetsH2689

√ chătsôtsᵉrâh — a trumpet (from its sundered or quavering note)Nounfeminine plural construct

The chătsôtsᵉrâh is the unit's keystone word, recurring in vv. 8, 9, 10; the whole passage is the law of this single instrument. Ellicott notes the word "occurs in this place for the first time" in Scripture.

מִקְשָׁ֖הmiq·šāhof hammeredH4749

√ miqshâh — rounded work, iNounfeminine singular

כֶּ֔סֶףke·sep̄silverH3701

√ keçeph — silver (from its pale color)Nounmasculine singular

keseph (H3701), "silver," named from its pale color — a pure, precious, sonorous metal. The commentators read significance in the material: durable, clear-toned, of value.

תַּעֲשֶׂ֣הta·‘ă·śeh. . .H6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

אֹתָ֑ם’ō·ṯāmH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine plural

וְהָי֤וּwə·hā·yūto be usedH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person common plural

לְךָ֙lə·ḵā

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

לְמִקְרָ֣אlə·miq·rāfor callingH4744

√ miqrâʼ — something called out, iPreposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

lə·miq·rā (H4744), "for the calling-out" — the noun is literally "something called out," a convocation; the trumpet does not merely make noise, it summons.

הָֽעֵדָ֔הhā·‘ê·ḏāhthe congregationH5712

√ ʻêdâh — a stated assemblage (specifically, a concourse, or generally, a family or crowd)ArticleNounfeminine singular

hā·‘ê·ḏāh (H5712), "the congregation / assembly," the standing word for Israel gathered as a covenant body — the same term that travels with this people through the wilderness narratives.

הַֽמַּחֲנֽוֹת׃ham·ma·ḥă·nō·wṯand for having the campsH4264

√ machăneh — an encampment (of travellers or troops)ArticleNouncommon plural

וּלְמַסַּ֖עū·lə·mas·sa‘set outH4550

√ maççaʻ — a departure (from striking the tents), iConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine singular

massaʻ recurs: the camps' setting-out, the breaking of camp for the march. The trumpet governs both gathering and going.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

Literal — word-for-word from the original

Make for-yourself two trumpets of-silver; of-hammered-work you-shall-make them; and-they-shall-be for-you for-the-calling-of the-congregation and-for-the-setting-out of the-camps.

Where the English smooths the original

חֲצֽוֹצְרֹ֣ת ḥă·ṣō·wṣ·rōṯ (H2689, chătsôtsᵉrâh) is the long, straight metal clarion — a different instrument from the curved shôphâr (ram's-horn) of Leviticus 25:9 and Jericho. "Trumpets" flattens a word that elsewhere always names the priestly silver tube; the name itself is heard to imitate its quavering note.
מִקְשָׁ֖ה miq·šāh (H4749) means "of beaten / turned work" — a single mass of silver hammered into shape, the same word used of the lampstand (Exodus 25:18). The BSB's "hammered" is good, but the term insists on one undivided piece, not assembled parts.
לְךָ֗ lə·ḵā, "for yourself / for thee" (untranslated in the BSB), is an ethical dative addressed to Moses — "make thee." Gill and Poole note it does not mean for his own use, but at his direction; the BSB drops the personal charge entirely.
וּלְמַסַּ֖ע ū·lə·mas·sa‘ (H4550, maççaʻ) is from "to pull up the tent-pins" — the technical noun for a breaking-camp / journeying. "Having the camps set out" is accurate but loses the concrete image of tents struck and stakes drawn for the next stage of the march.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

blowing both the trumpets together was a token that the whole congregation was called to meet together at the tabernacle, the door of which was the usual place of assembling, especially on religious counts, for there also the Lord met them, Exodus 29:42 .

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

When they shall blow with them (i.e., with both), the whole congregation (in all its representatives) shall assemble at the door of the tabernacle; if they blow with only one, the princes or heads of the families of Israel shall assemble together.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

When they shall blow with them, i.e. , with both of them. All the assembly, i.e. , by their natural or customary representatives.

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When both are sounded, the whole congregation is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ṯā·qə·‘ū bā·hên kāl- hā·‘ê·ḏāh wə·nō·w·‘ă·ḏū ’ê·le·ḵā ’el- pe·ṯaḥ ’ō·hel mō·w·‘êḏ

Word by word10 · parsed

וְתָקְע֖וּwə·ṯā·qə·‘ūWhen both are soundedH8628

√ tâqaʻ — to clatter, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person common plural

wə·ṯā·qə·‘ū (H8628, tâqaʻ), "and-they-blow" — the root for the steady, sustained note; the same verb dominates the unit (vv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10). This is the key signal-verb of the passage.

בָּהֵ֑ןbā·hên

Prepositionthird person feminine plural

bā·hên, "with them" — feminine plural, agreeing with the two (feminine) trumpets; the grammar quietly says both instruments, the point Poole and Cambridge draw out in contrast to v. 4's single trumpet.

כָּל־kāl-the wholeH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

הָ֣עֵדָ֔הhā·‘ê·ḏāhcongregationH5712

√ ʻêdâh — a stated assemblage (specifically, a concourse, or generally, a family or crowd)ArticleNounfeminine singular

hā·‘ê·ḏāh, the whole congregation — but, the commentators add, "in all its representatives" (Keil) or "by their natural or customary representatives" (Pulpit), since 600,000 men could not stand at one doorway.

וְנֽוֹעֲד֤וּwə·nō·w·‘ă·ḏūis to assembleH3259

√ yâʻad — to fix upon (by agreement or appointment)Conjunctive wawVerbNifalConjunctive perfectthird person common plural

אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙’ê·le·ḵābeforeH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

אֶל־’el-you atH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

פֶּ֖תַחpe·ṯaḥthe entranceH6607

√ pethach — an opening (literally), iNounmasculine singular construct

אֹ֥הֶל’ō·helto the TentH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Nounmasculine singular

מוֹעֵֽד׃mō·w·‘êḏof MeetingH4150

√ môwʻêd — properly, an appointment, iNounmasculine singular

mô‘ēd closes the verse, sealing the pun with nō‘ăḏū: the appointed gather at the appointed place.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-when-they-blow with-them, all the-congregation shall-gather-by-appointment unto-you, unto the-entrance-of the-Tent-of-Meeting.

Where the English smooths the original

וְנֽוֹעֲד֤וּ wə·nō·w·‘ă·ḏū (H3259, yâʻad, Nifal) is not a generic "assemble" but "to gather by appointment / by fixed agreement" — the same root behind mô‘ēd, "appointed meeting," two words later. The BSB's "assemble" misses the wordplay: they are appointed to the tent of appointment.
מוֹעֵֽד׃ mō·w·‘êḏ (H4150) means "appointed time / appointed place of meeting," not merely "meeting." The "Tent of Meeting" is the place of the divine rendezvous; the trumpet calls Israel to a meeting God Himself has set.
פֶּ֖תַח pe·ṯaḥ (H6607), "opening / doorway," is the threshold of the sanctuary — the point of access, no farther. The congregation is summoned to the door, the boundary of approach, which "entrance" renders well but without the spatial precision of a single opening.

But if only one is sounded, then the leaders, the heads of the clans of Israel, are to gather before you.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’im- bə·’a·ḥaṯ yiṯ·qā·‘ū han·nə·śî·’îm rā·šê ’al·p̄ê yiś·rā·’êl wə·nō·w·‘ă·ḏū ’ê·le·ḵā

Word by word9 · parsed

וְאִם־wə·’im-But ifH518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

בְּאַחַ֖תbə·’a·ḥaṯ[only] oneH259

√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iPreposition-bNumberfeminine singular

’echâd, "one" — the single trumpet is the signal for the lesser convocation; the number of instruments encodes the rank summoned.

יִתְקָ֑עוּyiṯ·qā·‘ūis soundedH8628

√ tâqaʻ — to clatter, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

הַנְּשִׂיאִ֔יםhan·nə·śî·’îmthen the leadersH5387

√ nâsîyʼ — properly, an exalted one, iArticleNounmasculine plural

רָאשֵׁ֖יrā·šêthe headsH7218

√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine plural construct

rā·šê (H7218, rôʼsh), "heads," the leaders as the "head" of the body — a metaphor of governance running through the Hebrew Bible.

אַלְפֵ֥י’al·p̄êof the clansH505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNounmasculine plural construct

יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃yiś·rā·’êlof IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וְנוֹעֲד֤וּwə·nō·w·‘ă·ḏūare to gatherH3259

√ yâʻad — to fix upon (by agreement or appointment)Conjunctive wawVerbNifalConjunctive perfectthird person common plural

wə·nō·w·‘ă·ḏū again (H3259), the appointment-verb of v. 3: the same fixed, summoned gathering, now of the princes alone.

אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙’ê·le·ḵābefore youH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-if with-one they-blow, then-gather unto-you the-leaders, the-heads-of the-thousands of-Israel.

Where the English smooths the original

הַנְּשִׂיאִ֔ים han·nə·śî·’îm (H5387, nâsîyʼ) is literally "the lifted-up / exalted ones" — those raised to office. "Leaders" is serviceable, but the word pictures rank conferred, men elevated to bear the tribes.
אַלְפֵ֥י ’al·p̄ê (H505, ’eleph) can mean "thousands" (so BSB "clans") but is the standard word for a tribal sub-division, a "thousand" as a clan-unit. The BSB's "clans" interprets a number-word; the Hebrew keeps the military-census ring of "heads over thousands."
בְּאַחַ֖ת bə·’a·ḥaṯ (H259, ’echâd), "with one" — feminine, agreeing with one trumpet; but Ellicott records an old debate whether it means "with one trumpet" or "but once / at the same time." The BSB's "only one" picks one reading of a genuinely ambiguous phrase.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

blow an alarm ] A signal quite different from the simple ‘blow’ in Numbers 10:3-4 . But it is not known in what the difference consisted. Some think that ‘to blow’ means to produce a single long blast, while ‘to blow an alarm’ was to produce several short sharp notes—a ‘fanfare’ (Heb. terû‛âh ). But the converse is equally likely.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

To give the signal for breaking up the camp, they were to blow תּרוּעה, i.e., a noise or alarm. At the first blast the tribes on the east, i.e., those who were encamped in the front of the tabernacle, were to break up

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the {b} east parts shall go forward. (b) That is, the host of Judah and they that are under his ensign.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

Blow an alarm - i. e. along continuous peal. Compare Numbers 10:7 , ye shall blow, but not sound an alarm: i. e. blow in short, sharp notes, not in a continuous peal.

Barnes makes the alarm (terûʻâh) the long peal and the plain blow the short notes — the exact reverse of Keil's ruling on v. 7. The flat contradiction between two careful expositors is itself the evidence that, as Cambridge concedes, "it is not known."

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When you sound short blasts, the camps that lie on the east side are to set out.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ṯə·qa‘·tem tə·rū·‘āh ham·ma·ḥă·nō·wṯ ha·ḥō·nîm qê·ḏə·māh wə·nā·sə·‘ū

Word by word6 · parsed

וּתְקַעְתֶּ֖םū·ṯə·qa‘·temWhen you soundH8628

√ tâqaʻ — to clatter, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

ū·ṯə·qa‘·tem (H8628) — the same root tâqaʻ, but here producing a tᵉrûwʻâh; the verb is the act, the noun the kind of note.

תְּרוּעָ֑הtə·rū·‘āhshort blastsH8643

√ tᵉrûwʻâh — clamor, iNounfeminine singular

tᵉrûwʻâh, the alarm/march-signal — the word for the battle-shout (Joshua 6:5, 20) and for the trumpet-festival (Leviticus 23:24). Its sound is one of urgency and movement.

הַֽמַּחֲנ֔וֹתham·ma·ḥă·nō·wṯthe campsH4264

√ machăneh — an encampment (of travellers or troops)ArticleNouncommon plural

הַחֹנִ֖יםha·ḥō·nîmthat lieH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

קֵֽדְמָה׃qê·ḏə·māhon the east sideH6924

√ qedem — the front, of place (absolutely, the fore part, relatively the East) or time (antiquity)Adverbthird person feminine singular

qê·ḏə·māh (H6924, qedem), "eastward" — literally "to the front," since one orients facing east. The eastern camp (Judah's standard) marches first, as Numbers 2 prescribes.

וְנָֽסְעוּ֙wə·nā·sə·‘ūare to set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person common plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-when-you-blow a-blast-of-alarm, then-shall-set-out the-camps the-ones-encamping eastward.

Where the English smooths the original

תְּרוּעָ֑ה tə·rū·‘āh (H8643, tᵉrûwʻâh) is a distinct signal from the plain tâqaʻ of vv. 3–4: a "clamor / shout / war-cry-blast." The BSB's "short blasts" interprets it as broken staccato notes — but the commentators are openly divided whether the tᵉrûwʻâh was short and sharp or a long continuous peal. The translation hides a real uncertainty.
וְנָֽסְעוּ֙ wə·nā·sə·‘ū (H5265, nâçaʻ) is literally "to pull up the tent-pins" — to strike camp and decamp. "Set out" is correct but loses the concrete picture of stakes drawn up that the Hebrew verb (cognate with maççaʻ in v. 2) carries.
הַחֹנִ֖ים ha·ḥō·nîm (H2583, chânâh) is the participle "the ones encamping / inclining-down to rest" — those at rest are precisely the ones now told to move. "That lie" is flat; the Hebrew sets settled rest against the call to march.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

For their journeys — As a sign for them to march forward, and consequently for the rest to follow them.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

they shall blow an alarm for their journeys ] i.e. for their startings . This is apparently intended as a brief way of saying that for each of the four groups of tribes a separate alarm shall be blown as a signal to start.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

and, as Josephus (k) says, at the third sounding of the alarm, that part of the camp which lay to the west moved, which were the camps of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, Numbers 2:18 ; and at the fourth sounding, as he says, those which were at the north

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When you sound the short blasts a second time, the camps that lie on the south side are to set out. The blasts are to signal them to set out.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ṯə·qa‘·tem tə·rū·‘āh šê·nîṯ ham·ma·ḥă·nō·wṯ ha·ḥō·nîm tê·mā·nāh wə·nā·sə·‘ū tə·rū·‘āh yiṯ·qə·‘ū lə·mas·‘ê·hem

Word by word10 · parsed

וּתְקַעְתֶּ֤םū·ṯə·qa‘·temWhen you soundH8628

√ tâqaʻ — to clatter, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

תְּרוּעָה֙tə·rū·‘āhthe short blastsH8643

√ tᵉrûwʻâh — clamor, iNounfeminine singular

שֵׁנִ֔יתšê·nîṯa second timeH8145

√ shênîy — properly, double, iNumberordinal feminine singular

הַֽמַּחֲנ֔וֹתham·ma·ḥă·nō·wṯthe campsH4264

√ machăneh — an encampment (of travellers or troops)ArticleNouncommon plural

הַחֹנִ֖יםha·ḥō·nîmthat lieH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

תֵּימָ֑נָהtê·mā·nāhon the south sideH8486

√ têymân — the south (as being on the right hand of a person facing the east)Nounfeminine singularthird person feminine singular

têymân, the south — Reuben's standard, the second division to march (Numbers 2:10–16).

וְנָֽסְעוּ֙wə·nā·sə·‘ūare to set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person common plural

תְּרוּעָ֥הtə·rū·‘āhThe blastsH8643

√ tᵉrûwʻâh — clamor, iNounfeminine singular

יִתְקְע֖וּyiṯ·qə·‘ūare to signal themH8628

√ tâqaʻ — to clatter, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

לְמַסְעֵיהֶֽם׃lə·mas·‘ê·hemto set outH4550

√ maççaʻ — a departure (from striking the tents), iPreposition-lNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

lə·mas·‘ê·hem, "for their journeyings" — a deliberate echo of v. 2's massaʻ; the alarm exists specifically for the march, Benson notes, "as a sign for them to march forward."

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-when-you-blow a-blast-of-alarm a-second-time, then-shall-set-out the-camps the-ones-encamping southward; a-blast-of-alarm they-shall-blow for-their-journeyings.

Where the English smooths the original

תֵּימָ֑נָה tê·mā·nāh (H8486, têymân) is "the south," named as the region "on the right hand" of one facing east. "South side" is right, but the word is the directional cousin of qedem in v. 5 — Hebrew maps space from a body that faces the sunrise.
לְמַסְעֵיהֶֽם׃ lə·mas·‘ê·hem (H4550, maççaʻ) is "for their breakings-of-camp / journeyings" — the rare noun (only eleven verses) tying this command to v. 2 and to the wilderness-itinerary of Numbers 33. "To set out" loses the technical term for each staged departure.
שֵׁנִ֔ית šê·nîṯ (H8145, shênîy), "a second time," properly "double / repeated." The two alarm-blasts are an ordered sequence; the LXX (noted by Ellicott and the Pulpit) even adds a third and fourth for west and north, which the Hebrew leaves implicit.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

A clear and intelligible distinction was to be made between the summons to the princes, or to the congregation, to assemble at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and the signal for the moving of the camps. So the gospel trumpet must at no time give an uncertain sound ( 1Corinthians 14:8 )

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

according to Ben Gersom blowing was a voice drawn out, and joined or continued; an alarm, a voice not joined, but broken.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

But to call the congregation together they were to blow, not to sound an alarm. תּקע signifies blowing in short, sharp tones. הריע equals תּרוּעה תּקע, blowing in a continued peal.

Note that Keil here reverses Barnes and Ellicott: he calls the plain blow (tâqaʻ) the short, sharp note and the alarm the continued peal. The honest verdict (Cambridge) is that the difference "is not known."

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To convene the assembly, you are to sound long blasts, not short ones.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇə·haq·hîl ’eṯ- haq·qā·hāl tiṯ·qə·‘ū wə·lō ṯā·rî·‘ū

Word by word6 · parsed

וּבְהַקְהִ֖ילū·ḇə·haq·hîlTo conveneH6950

√ qâhal — to convokeConjunctive waw, Preposition-bVerbHifilInfinitive construct

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

הַקָּהָ֑לhaq·qā·hālthe assemblyH6951

√ qâhâl — assemblage (usually concretely)ArticleNounmasculine singular

haq·qā·hāl (H6951, qâhâl), "the assembly / congregation gathered" — paired here with its own causative verb. The LXX renders qâhâl as ekklēsia, the word the NT takes up for the church.

תִּתְקְע֖וּtiṯ·qə·‘ūyou are to sound long blastsH8628

√ tâqaʻ — to clatter, iVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

tiṯ·qə·‘ū (H8628), the steady blow — the gathering-signal, set in explicit opposition to the alarm.

וְלֹ֥אwə·lōnotH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

תָרִֽיעוּ׃ṯā·rî·‘ūshort onesH7321

√ rûwaʻ — to mar (especially by breaking)VerbHifilImperfectsecond person masculine plural

rûwaʻ, the alarm-verb. Gill cites Ben Gersom: "blowing was a voice drawn out, and joined or continued; an alarm, a voice not joined, but broken" — the ancient attempt to fix a distinction the text never spells out.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-in-the-convening-of the-assembly you-shall-blow, but-not shall-you-sound-an-alarm.

Where the English smooths the original

וּבְהַקְהִ֖יל ū·ḇə·haq·hîl (H6950, qâhal, Hiphil infinitive) is "to convoke, to cause-to-be-assembled" — a causative, the very root of qāhāl in the next word. The BSB's "to convene the assembly" is faithful but loses the figura etymologica: assembling the assembly.
תָרִֽיעוּ׃ ṯā·rî·‘ū (H7321, rûwaʻ) is the verb behind tᵉrûwʻâh — literally "to mar / break (the sound)" into the alarm-blast. The contrast is sharp and lexical: a steady tâqaʻ ("blow") gathers; a broken rûwaʻ ("sound an alarm") moves out. "Long blasts… not short ones" reads one plausible interpretation into the verbs.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

In order to attract greater attention and more faithful observance, it was reserved to the priests alone, as the Lord's ministers; and as anciently in Persia and other Eastern countries the alarm trumpets were sounded from the tent of the sovereign, so were they blown from the tabernacle, the visible residence of Israel's King.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The accustomed formula for some sacred institution which was to have a permanent character and an eternal meaning (cf. Exodus 12:24 ). The truth of these words cannot be exhausted by an actual use of 1500 years, followed by complete disuse for 1800 years.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The number of these trumpets was increased in the time of David and Solomon. We read in 1Chronicles 15:24 of seven priests blowing with them before the ark of God, and in 2Chronicles 5:12 of one hundred and twenty priests blowing with them.

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The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to sound the trumpets. This shall be a permanent statute for you and the generations to come.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇə·nê ’a·hă·rōn hak·kō·hă·nîm yiṯ·qə·‘ū ba·ḥă·ṣō·ṣə·rō·wṯ wə·hā·yū ‘ō·w·lām lə·ḥuq·qaṯ lā·ḵem lə·ḏō·rō·ṯê·ḵem

Word by word10 · parsed

וּבְנֵ֤יū·ḇə·nêThe sonsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct

ū·ḇə·nê (H1121, bēn), "and the sons of" — the trumpets are entrusted to a line, not a person; the office outlives the individual.

אַהֲרֹן֙’a·hă·rōnof AaronH175

√ ʼAhărôwn — Aharon, the brother of MosesNounpropermasculine singular

הַכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔יםhak·kō·hă·nîmthe priestsH3548

√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestArticleNounmasculine plural

hak·kō·hă·nîm (H3548, kôhên), "the priests" — the apposition is pointed: only Aaron's sons as priests may blow. JFB reads it as a deliberate dignifying of the signal, "as the Lord's ministers," sounded from the tabernacle as a king's command from his tent.

יִתְקְע֖וּyiṯ·qə·‘ūare to soundH8628

√ tâqaʻ — to clatter, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

בַּֽחֲצֹצְר֑וֹתba·ḥă·ṣō·ṣə·rō·wṯthe trumpetsH2689

√ chătsôtsᵉrâh — a trumpet (from its sundered or quavering note)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine plural

ba·ḥă·ṣō·ṣə·rō·wṯ — the chătsôtsᵉrâh again, now defining who may handle it.

וְהָי֥וּwə·hā·yūThis shall beH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person common plural

עוֹלָ֖ם‘ō·w·lāma permanentH5769

√ ʻôwlâm — properly, concealed, iNounmasculine singular

‘ôlâm, "forever" — the perpetuity-word; the Pulpit insists its truth "cannot be exhausted" by Israel's history alone.

לְחֻקַּ֥תlə·ḥuq·qaṯstatuteH2708

√ chuqqâh — {an enactmentPreposition-lNounfeminine singular construct

לָכֶ֛םlā·ḵemfor you

Prepositionsecond person masculine plural

לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶֽם׃lə·ḏō·rō·ṯê·ḵem[and] the generations to comeH1755

√ dôwr — properly, a revolution of time, iPreposition-lNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-the-sons-of Aaron, the-priests, shall-blow with-the-trumpets; and-they-shall-be for-you for-a-statute everlasting throughout-your-generations.

Where the English smooths the original

עוֹלָ֖ם ‘ō·w·lām (H5769) is "the hidden / vanishing-point of time" — "forever, perpetual, age-long." The BSB's "permanent" is weaker than the Hebrew, which names an unbounded horizon. The Pulpit presses it: the "ordinance forever" cannot be exhausted by historical use and disuse.
לְחֻקַּ֥ת lə·ḥuq·qaṯ (H2708, chuqqâh) is a "statute / engraved decree" — from a root meaning to cut in / inscribe. "Statute" is good, but the word carries the force of a thing fixed by being carved, not merely enacted by speech.
לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ lə·ḏō·rō·ṯê·ḵem (H1755, dôwr) is "for your generations" — literally "revolutions / circles of time." "The generations to come" expands it; the Hebrew compactly says the decree turns through every cycle of descendants.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

A solemn and religious act on the eve of a battle has often animated the hearts of those who felt they were engaged in a good and just cause; and so the blowing of the trumpet, being an ordinance of God, produced that effect on the minds of the Israelites. But more is meant by the words—namely, that God would, as it were, be aroused by the trumpet to bless with His presence and aid.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

If ye go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, and ye blow the trumpets, ye shall bring yourselves to remembrance before Jehovah, and shall be saved (by Him) from your enemies.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Ye shall be saved from your enemies, if you use this ordinance of God with trust and dependence upon God for help, which condition is necessarily to be understood from divers others scriptures, where it is expressed.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

On the other hand, the seven priests who compassed the city of Jericho carried the shophar, or keren — i.e., rams’ horn—not the hazozerah, or silver trumpet.

Ellicott's distinction matters for the Jericho thread below: the conquest's trumpets were ram's-horns (shophar), a different word from the silver hazozerah of Numbers 10 — so the link to Joshua 6 is thematic, not the same instrument.

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When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who attacks you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and saved from your enemies.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ḵî- ṯā·ḇō·’ū mil·ḥā·māh bə·’ar·ṣə·ḵem ‘al- haṣ·ṣar haṣ·ṣō·rêr ’eṯ·ḵem wa·hă·rê·‘ō·ṯem ba·ḥă·ṣō·ṣə·rō·wṯ wă·niz·kar·tɛm lip̄·nê Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem wə·nō·wō·ša‘·tem mê·’ō·yə·ḇê·ḵem

Word by word16 · parsed

וְכִֽי־wə·ḵî-WhenH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

תָבֹ֨אוּṯā·ḇō·’ūyou enterH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

ṯā·ḇō·’ū (H935, bôwʼ), "you come (into war)" — Keil distinguishes bôʼ milchâmâh ("come into war," actual hostilities) from bôʼ lammilchâmâh ("go out to battle"); this is war that has reached your land.

מִלְחָמָ֜הmil·ḥā·māhinto battleH4421

√ milchâmâh — a battle (iNounfeminine singular

בְּאַרְצְכֶ֗םbə·’ar·ṣə·ḵemin your landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

עַל־‘al-againstH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

הַצַּר֙haṣ·ṣaran adversaryH6862

√ tsar — narrowArticleNounmasculine singular

הַצֹּרֵ֣רhaṣ·ṣō·rêrwho attacksH6887

√ tsârar — to cramp, literally or figuratively, transitive or intransitiveArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

אֶתְכֶ֔ם’eṯ·ḵemyouH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markersecond person masculine plural

וַהֲרֵעֹתֶ֖םwa·hă·rê·‘ō·ṯemsound short blastsH7321

√ rûwaʻ — to mar (especially by breaking)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

wa·hă·rê·‘ō·ṯem (H7321, rûwaʻ), the alarm-verb of v. 7 — in war it is the broken battle-blast, not the gathering note.

בַּחֲצֹצְר֑וֹתba·ḥă·ṣō·ṣə·rō·wṯon the trumpetsH2689

√ chătsôtsᵉrâh — a trumpet (from its sundered or quavering note)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine plural

וֲנִזְכַּרְתֶּ֗םwă·niz·kar·tɛmand you will be rememberedH2142

√ zâkar — properly, to mark (so as to be recognized), iConjunctive wawVerbNifalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

לִפְנֵי֙lip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

lip̄·nê (H6440, pânîym), "before / to the face of" — Israel is remembered at God's face; the trumpet directs the appeal upward.

יְהוָ֣הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

Yahweh (H3068) named again, with ’ĕlōhêḵem — "the LORD your God": covenant name plus covenant relation, the ground of the promised deliverance.

אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵemyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וְנוֹשַׁעְתֶּ֖םwə·nō·wō·ša‘·temand savedH3467

√ yâshaʻ — properly, to be open, wide or free, iConjunctive wawVerbNifalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

yâshaʻ, "be saved" — the salvation-root; the trumpet of war ends not in human victory but in being rescued by God.

מֵאֹיְבֵיכֶֽם׃mê·’ō·yə·ḇê·ḵemfrom your enemiesH341

√ ʼôyêb — hatingPreposition-mVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-when you-come into-battle in-your-land against the-adversary the-one-distressing you, then-you-shall-sound-an-alarm with-the-trumpets; and-you-shall-be-remembered before Yahweh your-God, and-you-shall-be-saved from-your-enemies.

Where the English smooths the original

וֲנִזְכַּרְתֶּ֗ם wă·niz·kar·tɛm (H2142, zâkar, Nifal) is "you-shall-be-remembered / brought-to-remembrance" — the trumpet's purpose is not to rally troops but to make Israel remembered before God. JFB and Keil note this almost startling reversal: the blast "arouses" God to act. The BSB keeps it, but the theological weight is easily missed.
וְנוֹשַׁעְתֶּ֖ם wə·nō·wō·ša‘·tem (H3467, yâshaʻ, Nifal) is "you-shall-be-saved / delivered" — the very root of the names Yᵉhôshûaʻ and Yēshûaʻ (Jesus). Salvation here is passive: be saved, not save yourselves. Poole and Benson rightly add the implied condition — "with trust and dependence upon God."
הַצֹּרֵ֣ר haṣ·ṣō·rêr (H6887, tsârar) is "the one cramping / besieging / distressing" you — a participle of active oppression, paired with haṣ·ṣar (H6862, "the narrow / the foe") in a pointed sound-play. "Who attacks you" is plainer than the Hebrew's tsar… tsôrēr assonance of foe-and-foeing.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

For a memorial — That God may remember you for good to accept and bless you. God then takes pleasure in our religious exercises, when we take pleasure in them. Holy work should be done with holy joy.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

In accordance with this divine appointment, so full of promise, we find that in after times the trumpets were blown by the priests in war ( Numbers 31:6 ; 2 Chronicles 13:12 , 2 Chronicles 13:14 ; 2 Chronicles 20:21-22 , 2 Chronicles 20:28 ) as well as on joyful occasions, such as at the removal of the ark ( 1 Chronicles 15:24 ; 1 Chronicles 16:6 )

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The F. of Trumpet-blowing was the greatest of these—the 1st day of the sacred seventh month ( Numbers 29:1 ). See Psalm 81:3 f.

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And on your joyous occasions, your appointed feasts, and the beginning of each month, you are to blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and peace offerings to serve as a reminder for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

śim·ḥaṯ·ḵem ū·ḇə·yō·wm ū·ḇə·mō·w·‘ă·ḏê·ḵem ū·ḇə·rā·šê ḥā·ḏə·šê·ḵem ū·ṯə·qa‘·tem ba·ḥă·ṣō·ṣə·rōṯ ‘al ‘ō·lō·ṯê·ḵem wə·‘al šal·mê·ḵem ziḇ·ḥê wə·hā·yū lə·zik·kā·rō·wn lā·ḵem lip̄·nê ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem ’ă·nî Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem

Word by word20 · parsed

שִׂמְחַתְכֶ֥םśim·ḥaṯ·ḵemAnd on your joyousH8057

√ simchâh — blithesomeness or glee, (religious or festival)Nounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

וּבְי֨וֹםū·ḇə·yō·wmoccasionsH3117

√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

וּֽבְמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם֮ū·ḇə·mō·w·‘ă·ḏê·ḵemyour appointed feastsH4150

√ môwʻêd — properly, an appointment, iConjunctive waw, Preposition-bNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וּבְרָאשֵׁ֣יū·ḇə·rā·šêand the beginningH7218

√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcConjunctive waw, Preposition-bNounmasculine plural construct

חָדְשֵׁיכֶם֒ḥā·ḏə·šê·ḵemof each monthH2320

√ chôdesh — the new moonNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וּתְקַעְתֶּ֣םū·ṯə·qa‘·temyou are to blowH8628

√ tâqaʻ — to clatter, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

בַּחֲצֹֽצְרֹ֗תba·ḥă·ṣō·ṣə·rōṯthe trumpetsH2689

√ chătsôtsᵉrâh — a trumpet (from its sundered or quavering note)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine plural

עַ֚ל‘aloverH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

עֹלֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם‘ō·lō·ṯê·ḵemyour burnt offeringsH5930

√ ʻôlâh — a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending)Nounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

‘ō·lō·ṯê·ḵem (H5930, ‘ôlâh), "your burnt-offerings" — from a root "to ascend"; the whole-offering that goes up entirely in smoke. The trumpet sounds over the rising sacrifice.

וְעַ֖לwə·‘al. . .H5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsConjunctive wawPreposition

שַׁלְמֵיכֶ֑םšal·mê·ḵemand peaceH8002

√ shelem — properly, requital, iNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

šal·mê·ḵem (H8002, shelem), "your peace-offerings" — the fellowship-offering of requital / completeness; joy and communion, fittingly trumpeted.

זִבְחֵ֣יziḇ·ḥêofferingsH2077

√ zebach — properly, a slaughter, iNounmasculine plural construct

וְהָי֨וּwə·hā·yūto serveH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person common plural

לְזִכָּרוֹן֙lə·zik·kā·rō·wnas a reminderH2146

√ zikrôwn — a memento (or memorable thing, day or writing)Preposition-lNounmasculine singular

zikrôwn, "memorial" — the climactic purpose-word, echoing v. 9; the trumpet's deepest end is remembrance before God.

לָכֶ֤םlā·ḵemfor you

Prepositionsecond person masculine plural

לִפְנֵ֣יlip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵemyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

אֲנִ֖י’ă·nîIH589

√ ʼănîy — IPronounfirst person common singular

’ă·nî (H589), the emphatic "I" — the unit closes as it opened, with God Himself foregrounded: not merely "the LORD," but "I am Yahweh your God," the self-naming signature that seals the ordinance.

יְהוָ֥הYah·weham the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃פ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵemyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-on-the-day-of your-gladness, and-on-your-appointed-feasts, and-on-the-heads-of your-months, you-shall-blow with-the-trumpets over your-burnt-offerings and-over your-peace-offerings; and-they-shall-be for-you for-a-memorial before your-God. I am-Yahweh your-God.

Where the English smooths the original

לְזִכָּרוֹן֙ lə·zik·kā·rō·wn (H2146, zikrôwn) is "a memorial / memento" — the same root zâkar as "remembered" in v. 9, binding war and worship together: both blasts exist to make Israel remembered before God. "Reminder" understates a near-technical cultic term (cf. Leviticus 23:24, the Day of Memorial).
וּֽבְמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם֮ ū·ḇə·mō·w·‘ă·ḏê·ḵem (H4150, mô‘êd) is "your appointed-times" — the same mô‘êd as the Tent of Meeting in v. 3. The trumpet sounds at the appointed meetings of the appointment-tent; "appointed feasts" is right but the recurring root knits the unit together.
שִׂמְחַתְכֶ֥ם śim·ḥaṯ·ḵem (H8057, simchâh) is "your gladness / festal joy" — religious gladness expressed in sacrifice. "Joyous occasions" is a fair gloss, but Benson's note catches the heart of it: "Holy work should be done with holy joy."
וּבְרָאשֵׁ֣י ū·ḇə·rā·šê (H7218, rôʼsh), "and on the heads of (your months)" — the same word "heads" as the tribal heads in v. 4. New-moon days are the "heads" / beginnings of the months; "the beginning of each month" smooths the idiom.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. One instrument, made by command — 1–2

The unit opens the way the Torah's gravest commands open: way·ḏab·bêr Yahweh — "and-Yahweh-spoke." Even the metalwork of two signal-horns is not left to Moses' invention. Keil & Delitzsch put the practical case plainly: though the cloud itself appointed when to move, "signals were also requisite for ordering and conducting the march of so numerous a body," by which Moses "as commander-in-chief, might make known his commands." Yet the design is God's, down to the metal. The word is chătsôtsᵉrâh (H2689) — the straight silver clarion, which the Cambridge editors deliberately render "Clarion" to keep it distinct from the curved ram's-horn shophar; Ellicott observes the word "occurs in this place for the first time" in Scripture. Poole reads the metal itself: "Silver is a metal pure and precious, and giving a clear sound." And Gill, following Jarchi, hears miqshah ("beaten work") as "one solid mass of silver, beaten with an hammer… such a piece as the candlestick was made of in Exodus 25:31" — one undivided thing, of a piece. (The lampstand link is the commentators' reading; the shared word miqshah is real, but Numbers 10:2 does not name the lampstand.)

ii. The grammar of the signals — 3–7

What follows is a small, exact code. Two trumpets blown together (bāhēn, feminine, agreeing with the two instruments) convene the whole ‘ēdâh; one trumpet calls only the nəśî’îm, the "lifted-up" tribal heads. A steady tâqaʻ ("blow") gathers; a broken tᵉrûwʻâh ("sound an alarm," v. 5) strikes camp. Here the synthesis must be honest about a genuine uncertainty the English hides: which note was which. Keil makes tâqaʻ the "short, sharp tones" and the alarm "a continued peal"; Barnes says the very opposite. The Cambridge Bible refuses to decide — the difference "is not known… Some think… But the converse is equally likely." Gill preserves the oldest attempt, citing Ben Gersom: "blowing was a voice drawn out, and joined or continued; an alarm, a voice not joined, but broken." The point the text does make is the one Ellicott seizes: "A clear and intelligible distinction was to be made" — and from there he leaps to Paul, "the gospel trumpet must at no time give an uncertain sound (1 Corinthians 14:8)." The order of march is itself a sermon on clarity.

iii. Priests, perpetuity, and the King's tent — 8

The trumpets are placed in priestly hands and made a chuqqat ‘ôlâm, an "engraved decree forever, throughout your generations." Jamieson, Fausset & Brown catch the royal dignity of it: the office was "reserved to the priests alone, as the Lord's ministers; and as anciently in Persia… the alarm trumpets were sounded from the tent of the sovereign, so were they blown from the tabernacle, the visible residence of Israel's King." The Pulpit Commentary will not let the word "forever" shrink to mere ceremony: "The truth of these words cannot be exhausted by an actual use of 1500 years, followed by complete disuse for 1800 years." Ellicott traces the historical swelling of the original two — "seven priests… before the ark" in David's day (1 Chronicles 15:24), "one hundred and twenty priests" at Solomon's temple (2 Chronicles 5:12). The number grew; the ordinance held.

iv. The trumpet that makes God remember — 9–10

The last two verses turn the horn from logistics to theology, and they do it with one root. In war, when Israel sounds the alarm, wă·niz·kar·tɛm — "you shall be remembered before Yahweh" (H2142); in worship, the festal blast is lə·zikkārôn, "for a memorial" (H2146). The same word stands at the head of both: the trumpet's deepest function is not to summon men but to bring Israel to God's remembrance. JFB states the staggering claim baldly: "God would, as it were, be aroused by the trumpet to bless with His presence and aid." Keil renders v. 9 with the same passive deliverance: "ye shall bring yourselves to remembrance before Jehovah, and shall be saved (by Him) from your enemies." Poole guards it from magic — "if you use this ordinance of God with trust and dependence upon God for help" — and Benson glosses the festal joy of v. 10: "God then takes pleasure in our religious exercises, when we take pleasure in them. Holy work should be done with holy joy." The verb "be saved" in v. 9 (yâshaʻ) is the root of the very name Yēshûaʻ; the unit ends, like it began, with God in the foreground — the emphatic "I am Yahweh your God."

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Read under the rule that Scripture alone is the final authority, three things in this small ordinance ask to be tested, not merely received. First, the means of grace are God's design, not ours. The Lord did not say "devise a way to muster the camp"; He specified the metal, the making, and the manner. Worship and warfare alike are conducted on terms God sets — the same instinct the Bereans had when they measured every teaching against what is written. Second, the trumpet does not move God so much as it positions Israel before Him. "Ye shall be remembered… and ye shall be saved" are both passive: the people sound, and God acts. The ordinance is a confession that deliverance is received, not manufactured — and the commentators (Poole, Benson, Keil) all quietly supply the condition the text assumes: faith, "trust and dependence upon God for help." Third, the honest reader must hold the typology loosely where the text is plain and tightly where it is sure. The classic Christian reading — Henry's "these trumpets typify the preached gospel" — is edifying and old, but it is a reading, not a statement of the verse; the verse is about silver clarions in a desert camp. What the verse itself secures is smaller and surer: God is a God who remembers His covenant people when they cry to Him, and who has bound a clear, audible summons to that remembrance.

The trumpet was never meant to wake the camp so much as to lay the camp before God — and a God who hears a horn of silver is a God who can be trusted to hear a sigh.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The war-trumpet kept: Israel's history obeys the ordinance verbal / quotation — confirmed

The promise of v. 9 — sound the alarm in battle, "and ye shall be saved from your enemies" — is not left in the wilderness. When Abijah faces Jeroboam he stakes everything on it: Judah has "with us… God for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you" (2 Chronicles 13:12), and the alarm is sounded, and Judah is delivered. The Verifier records a strong verbal link: both verses share the rare chătsôtsᵉrâh (H2689, in only 27 verses) together with the alarm-verb rûwaʻ (H7321) — the same instrument, the same act. Keil lists this among the texts where "the trumpets were blown by the priests in war."

Numbers 10:9 · 2 Chronicles 13:12 · Numbers 31:6

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew: shared rare lexeme H2689 chătsôtsᵉrâh (in 27 vv) plus H7321 rûwaʻ (in 40 vv); the silver war-trumpet and its alarm recur identically (Verifier: Numbers 10:9 ↔ 2 Chronicles 13:12).

The alarm and the breaking of camp: from Sinai to the conquest structural / thematic — confirmed

The march-signal of vv. 5–6 — the tᵉrûwʻâh that breaks camp and sets the host moving — finds its loudest echo at Jericho, where "the people shouted with a great shout (tᵉrûwʻâh), and the wall fell down" (Joshua 6:20). The shared words are the blast-verb tâqaʻ (H8628) and the alarm-noun tᵉrûwʻâh (H8643). Held honestly: the link is thematic, not the same instrument — Ellicott notes the Jericho priests carried the ram's-horn shophar, not the silver chătsôtsᵉrâh of Numbers 10. The thread is the trumpet-blast that moves God's armies, not a single horn.

Numbers 10:5 · Numbers 10:6 · Joshua 6:20

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew: shared H8643 tᵉrûwʻâh (in 33 vv) and H8628 tâqaʻ (in 62 vv) — a shared signal-pattern (blast → movement/victory), not a quotation; the Jericho instrument is the shophar, a different word.

The congregation on the march: setting-out and journeyings verbal / quotation — confirmed

The ordinance's first stated purpose — "for the setting-out (massaʻ) of the camps" (v. 2) — places it inside the wilderness itinerary. The rare noun maççaʻ (H4550, in only 11 verses) and the congregation-word ‘ēdâh (H5712) tie v. 2 directly to Exodus 17:1, where "all the congregation… journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys." The same vocabulary opens the great march-catalogue of Numbers 33 and the immediate sequel here in Numbers 10:12. The trumpet is the audible hinge of a journeying people.

Numbers 10:2 · Exodus 17:1 · Numbers 10:12

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew: shared rare lexeme H4550 maççaʻ (in only 11 vv) plus H5712 ʻêdâh (in 140 vv) (Verifier: Numbers 10:2 ↔ Exodus 17:1 = verbal). maççaʻ's rarity carries the verbal weight; the congregation's staged journeyings.

The same clarion turned to judgment: Hosea's alarm at Gibeah verbal / quotation — confirmed

The silver chătsôtsᵉrâh that summoned and saved the camp could also be turned against it. Hosea takes up the very instrument and the very alarm-verb of Numbers 10 and aims them at apostate Israel: "Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet (chătsôtsᵉrâh) in Ramah: cry aloud (rûwaʻ) at Beth-aven" (Hosea 5:8). The Verifier records a genuine verbal link — the rare clarion (H2689, 27 vv) and the alarm-verb (H7321) recur together. Held honestly: this is recurrence of the same instrument and act, not a quotation of Numbers; the wilderness ordinance promised the alarm would bring Israel to remembrance and rescue, but in Hosea the same blast announces a judgment the nation has called down. The horn that pleads for a faithful people warns a faithless one. Cambridge notes that Hosea 5:8 is one of the rare places the clarion sounds as a secular war-alarm rather than a priestly summons.

Numbers 10:9 · Hosea 5:8

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew: shared rare lexeme H2689 chătsôtsᵉrâh (in 27 vv) plus H7321 rûwaʻ (in 40 vv) (Verifier: Numbers 10:9 ↔ Hosea 5:8 = verbal). Recurrence of the same instrument and alarm-act, not a citation; the rarity of chătsôtsᵉrâh carries the verbal weight.

The festal trumpet and the day of memorial structural / thematic — confirmed

Verse 10's command to blow over the offerings "for a memorial (zikkārôn) before your God" is the seed of a feast. Leviticus 23:24 appoints "a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation" on the first of the seventh month — sharing the very word zikrôwn (H2146) and "month" (chôdesh, H2320). Psalm 98:6 takes the same silver clarion into pure praise: "With trumpets (chătsôtsᵉrâh) and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD." Cambridge names the Feast of Trumpet-blowing "the greatest of these." The horn of war (v. 9) and the horn of joy (v. 10) are one ordinance with two faces.

Numbers 10:10 · Leviticus 23:24 · Psalm 98:6

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew: Numbers 10:10 ↔ Leviticus 23:24 share H2146 zikrôwn (in 22 vv) + H2320 chôdesh; ↔ Psalm 98:6 shares H2689 chătsôtsᵉrâh (in 27 vv). A shared cultic pattern (trumpet → memorial/joy before God), not a quotation.

The trumpet that has not yet sounded: toward the last trump flagged — verify source

Henry, Gill, and the Pulpit all hear the silver trumpets reaching past their disuse into "the everlasting Gospel" and beyond. Scripture's own trumpet-line runs to the end: "the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised" (1 Corinthians 15:52); "the Lord himself shall descend… with the trump of God" (1 Thessalonians 4:16); "the seventh angel sounded" and the kingdoms become the Lord's (Revelation 11:15). Flagged on purpose: these are Greek texts, and the New Testament salpinx shares no Strong's lexeme with the Hebrew chătsôtsᵉrâh — a cross-Testament link cannot be "verbal." The connection is a real biblical-theological trajectory (a God-appointed blast that gathers His people and announces His coming), argued, not asserted; the exact continuity between the wilderness clarion and the eschatological trump is a reading to be weighed.

Numbers 10:9 · Numbers 10:10 · 1 Corinthians 15:52 · 1 Thessalonians 4:16 · Revelation 11:15

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): Verifier finds no shared original-language lexeme (Numbers 10:9 ↔ 1 Corinthians 15:52 = no shared lexeme). A Greek↔Hebrew link cannot use Strong's numbers and cannot be "verbal"; the gathering/coming-trumpet motif is thematic and must be argued.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The name written in the salvation-verse widely-held

The promise of v. 9 closes on a single verb: wə·nō·wō·ša‘·tem, "and ye shall be saved" (H3467, yâshaʻ). That root is the root of the name Yᵉhôshûaʻ / Yēshûaʻ — "the LORD saves" — borne by the man who would lead Israel into the land, and at last by Ἰησοῦς, Jesus, "for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). The trumpet of alarm ends not in Israel's strength but in God's salvation; the word for it is the Saviour's name. (The link is the shared salvation-root; this verse names no person.)

Numbers 10:9 · Matthew 1:21

The trumpets that typify the gospel — and its herald widely-held

The oldest Christian reading of this passage is frankly typological. Matthew Henry: "These trumpets typify the preached gospel. It sounds an alarm to sinners, calls them to repent, proclaims liberty to the captives and slaves of Satan, and collects the worshippers of God… It leads their attention to the sacrifice of Christ." Gill calls the chătsôtsᵉrâh "an emblem of the ministry of the Gospel… the great trumpet," pointing to Isaiah 27:13. Ellicott draws the line through Paul's "uncertain sound" (1 Corinthians 14:8) to the watchman who must "warn the ungodly." The silver horn, blown only by the priest from the King's tent, prefigures the clear summons of the gospel sounded by Christ and His heralds. Held honestly: this is a figural reading the verses invite but do not state — it is offered to be tested against the text, not asserted as its plain sense.

Numbers 10:2 · Numbers 10:8 · 1 Corinthians 14:8 · Isaiah 27:13

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). The named voices (✦) are verbatim public-domain excerpts from BibleHub's commentary aggregations — Matthew Henry, John Gill, Keil & Delitzsch, Albert Barnes, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Matthew Poole, Joseph Benson, Charles Ellicott, the Cambridge Bible, the Geneva Study Bible, and the Pulpit Commentary — each linked to its source URL. The Hebrew is the Masoretic tradition; transliterations, parsings, literal renderings, and the "where the English smooths the Hebrew" notes are this tool's own work (⚙) — careful but fallible; check them against BDB/HALOT.

Two honesty-notes specific to this unit. (1) The two signal-notes. The text distinguishes tâqaʻ ("blow") from tᵉrûwʻâh / rûwaʻ ("sound an alarm"), but Scripture never defines which was the long peal and which the short staccato. Keil and Barnes flatly contradict each other; the Cambridge Bible says the difference "is not known." The BSB's "long blasts" vs. "short blasts" chooses one plausible reading — we have flagged that choice rather than asserting it. (2) The instrument is not the Jericho horn. Several threads touch the conquest and the festivals; throughout, the silver chătsôtsᵉrâh of Numbers 10 must be kept distinct from the ram's-horn shophar/keren (Joshua 6), as Ellicott and the Cambridge Bible insist. The Verifier's Strong's index never confuses the two words, which is why the Jericho thread is tiered thematic, not verbal. The single eschatological thread (the "last trump") is left flagged on principle: it crosses from Hebrew to Greek, where shared Strong's numbers are impossible and no claim of verbal quotation can stand. "Test all things; hold fast to what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)