“Make two trumpets of hammered silver for calling the community to assemble and for signaling the breaking of camp.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Make two trumpets of silver. You shall make them of beaten work. You shall use them for the calling of the congregation, and for the journeying of the camps.
- KJV 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.
- BSB “Make two trumpets of hammered silver to be used for calling the congregation and for having the camps set out.
- NKJV “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps.
- NASB “Make yourself two trumpets of silver, you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and breaking camp.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God commands two silver trumpets, hammered from beaten work, to summon the people and signal the camps to move. They were instruments for ordering the whole nation.
Overview
The trumpets gave God a means to call and direct the vast camp in an orderly way. Made of silver and beaten work, they served both assembly and journey, reflecting God's concern that His people gather and move together in unity and order under His guidance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Joel 1:14Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of Yahweh, your God, and cry to Yahweh.
- Isa 1:13Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me; new moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can’t bear with evil assemblies.
- Ps 81:3Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.
- 2 Chr 5:12also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty priests sounding with trumpets);
- Eph 4:5one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
- Hos 8:1“Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against my law.
- Num 10:7But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm.
- Ps 89:15Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you. They walk in the light of your presence, Yahweh.
- Exod 25:18You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.
- Exod 25:31“You shall make a lamp stand of pure gold. Of hammered work shall the lamp stand be made, even its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers, shall be of one piece with it.
- 2 Kgs 12:13But there were not made for Yahweh’s house cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into Yahweh’s house;
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 10:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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