Numbers 10:2 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Numbers 10:2
Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
to do or make · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
two
שְׁתֵּי֙she.Tei
H8147
two · cardinal number, feminine dual construct
trumpets
חֲצֽוֹצְרֹ֣תcha.tzotz.Rot
H2689
a trumpet (from its sundered or quavering note) · noun, common feminine plural construct
silver
כֶּ֔סֶףKe.sef
H3701
silver (from its pale color) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
piece
מִקְשָׁ֖הmik.Shah
H4749
rounded work · noun, common feminine singular absolute
make
תַּעֲשֶׂ֣הta.'a.Seh
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
use
וְהָי֤וּve.ha.Yu
H1961
to exist · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
calling
לְמִקְרָ֣אle.mik.Ra'
H4744
something called out · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
assembly
הָֽעֵדָ֔הha.'e.Dah
H5712
a stated assemblage (specifically · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
journeying
וּלְמַסַּ֖עu.le.ma.Sa'
H4550
a departure (from striking the tents) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
camps
הַֽמַּחֲנֽוֹתHa.ma.cha.Not
H4264
an encampment (of travellers or troops) · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with;…
Joel 1:14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and c…
Psalms 81:3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
Exodus 25:18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
Exodus 25:31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his kn…
Numbers 10:7 But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm.
2 Kings 12:13 Howbeit there were not made for the house of the LORD bowls of silver, snuffers, basons, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver…
2 Chronicles 5:12 Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in w…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 10:1-10
We have here directions concerning the public notices that were to be given to the people upon several occasions by sound of trumpet. In a thing of this nature, one would think, Moses needed not to have been taught of God: his own reason might teach him the conveniency of trumpets; but the constitution of Israel was to be in every thing divine, and therefore even in this matter, small as it seems. Moses is here directed, 1. About the making of them. They must be made of silver; not cast but of beaten work (as some read it), the matter and shape, no doubt, very fit for the purpose. He was now ordered to make but two, because there were but two priests to use them. But in Solomon's time we rea…
Make thee two trumpets of silver,.... A metal very valuable and precious, durable, and fit for sound; only two are ordered, Aaron having but two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, who were to blow with them, Numbers 10:8; for though Moses's order is, "make thee", or for thee, yet not for his own use, but for the priests to use when he should order them: the Targum of Jonathan adds, of what is thine own, as if they were to be made at his own expense; but others say, and which is more probable, that they were to be made at the public expense: Josephus (i) gives a description of them, and says, that they were little less than a cubit long, the pipe of them narrow, but broader about the mouth to receive…
Numbers 10:1-10
1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
1. Et loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:
2. Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
2. Fac tibi duas tubas argenteas: opere ductili facies illas: quae sint tibi ad convocationem coetus, et ad castra movenda.
3. And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
3. Quum clangent illis, congregabuntur ad te omnes coetus ad ostium tabernaculi testimonii.
4. And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes,…
The Church Fathers
"Make for yourself two trumpets of hammered silver." The army is led by two trumpets because the people are called to readiness in faith by the two commandments of charity. Scripture bids them to be made of silver, so that the words of the preachers may shine with gleaming light and not confuse the minds of the hearers with any darkness of their own. They are to be hammered, because those who preach the life to come grow through the blows of the present tribulations. Scripture says well, "When the short signal sounds, the camps will move." When the preacher's word is subtle and concise, the hearers are aroused more ardently for the struggle against temptation.
"Make for yourself two trumpets of hammered silver." The army is led by two trumpets because the people are called to readiness in faith by the two commandments of charity. Scripture bids them to be made of silver, so that the words of the preachers may shine with gleaming light and not confuse the minds of the hearers with any darkness of their own. They are to be hammered, because those who preach the life to come grow through the blows of the present tribulations. Scripture says well, "When the short signal sounds, the camps will move." When the preacher's word is subtle and concise, the hearers are aroused more ardently for the struggle against temptation. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Numbers
But since we wish to understand what the great trumpet is, we ought to compare spiritual things with spiritual. Come now, let us also briefly expound about the trumpets, insofar as we are able to grasp it, to see whether we can, from the gathering together and the reminder of these examples, understand also the great trumpet of the angels. For it is written in Numbers: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Make yourself two silver trumpets; of beaten work you shall make them; and they shall serve you for gathering together the congregation and they shall serve you for setting the camps in motion. And you shall sound with them, and all the congregation shall be gathered together to you at the door of the tabernacle of testimony; but if they sound with one only, all the chiefs of the hosts of Israel shall come to you. And you shall sound the first signal, and the camps that lie toward the east shall set out; and you shall sound the second signal, and the camps that lie toward the south shall set out; and you shall sound the third signal, and the camps that lie toward the sea shall set out; and you shall sound the fourth signal, and the camps that lie toward the north shall take up their march; therefore they shall sound the trumpet at their setting out. And when you gather together the assembly, you shall sound, but not a signal. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall sound with the trumpets. And it shall be to you a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations. But if you go out to war in your land against your adversaries, you shall sound with the trumpets. And you shall be remembered in the sight of your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. And in the days of your gladness and in your feasts and in your new moons you shall sound with the trumpets, both over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, and there shall be a remembrance of you in the sight of your God. I am the Lord your God." See also in these words that at the first signal of the trumpet the camps set out that are toward the east, but at the second the camps set out that are toward the south, and — to put it briefly — from the four winds the priests sounding the trumpets gather together those who are of the camps of Israel; and, in correspondence with the priests sounding the trumpets, the angels of Christ with a great trumpet will gather together…
Dictionary and topics
Exodus — The great deliverance wrought for the children of Isreal when they were brought out of the land of Egypt with “a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm” (Ex 12:51; Deut. 26:8; Ps 114; 136), about…
Music, Instrumental — Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments. These were, (1.) The kinnor, the “harp.” (2.) The nebel, “a skin bottle,” rendered “psaltery.” (3.)…
Priest — The Heb. kohen, Gr. hierus, Lat. sacerdos, always denote one who offers sacrifices. At first every man was his own priest, and presented his own sacrifices before God. Afterwards that office devolved…
Trumpets — Were of a great variety of forms, and were made of divers materials. Some were made of silver (Num. 10:2), and were used only by the priests in announcing the approach of festivals and in giving…
Music · Instruments of: Made of silver — Instruments of: Made of silver
Priests · Services of: Blowing the trumpets on various occasions — Services of: Blowing the trumpets on various occasions
Silver · Trumpets — Trumpets
Trumpet · Ma — Ma
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The two trumpets were used to get people’s attention for important pronouncements (cp. Rev 8–11).
Rashi on Numbers 10:2
עשה לך MAKE THEE etc. — make לך, “for thyself” (on thy own behalf) suggests that they shall blow them in your presence, as before a king, as it is said, (with reference to Moses) (Deuteronomy 33:5) ויהי בישרון מלך “and he was king in Jeshurun”.
עשה לך MAKE THEE — from that which is thine own and not from the common funds (Sifrei Bamidbar 72).
עשה לך MAKE FOR THYSELF” also suggests: you make them and use them, but no one else.
למקרא העדה [THAT THOU MAYEST USE THEM] FOR THE CALLING OF THE ASSEMBLY — i. e. when you wish to speak to the Sanhedrin and the rest of the people and you summon them to assemble unto you, you shall summon them by the trumpets.
ולמסע את המחנות AND FOR THE JOURNEYING…
