Commentaria in Numeros
Chapter 10
God commands two trumpets to be made, and their uses. Secondly, verse 14, at the motion of the pillar of cloud the Hebrews, the line being drawn up, move camp from Sinai to Pharan. Thirdly, verse 29, Moses detains Hobab his brother-in-law. Fourthly, verse 35, the ark goes before the camp, Moses praying.
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2. Make thee two trumpets of beaten silver, that thou mayest call together the multitude when the camp is to be moved. 3. And when thou shalt sound the trumpets, all the multitude shall gather unto thee to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant. 4. If thou sound once, the princes and the heads of the multitude of Israel shall come to thee. 5. But if the sound of the trumpet be longer and with a broken blast, they that are on the east side shall first move the camp. 6. And at the second sound of the trumpet and the like blast, they that lie on the south side shall take up their tents, and after this manner shall the rest do, the trumpets sounding for a march. 7. But when the people is to be gathered together, the sound of the trumpets shall be simple, and they shall not sound with a broken blast. 8. And the sons of Aaron the priests shall sound the trumpets, and this shall be an ordinance for ever in your generations. 9. If you go to war out of your land against the enemies that fight against you, you shall sound aloud with the trumpets, and there shall be a remembrance of you before the Lord your God, that you may be delivered out of the hands of your enemies. 10. If at any time you shall have a banquet, and on your festival days, and on the first days of your months, you shall sound the trumpets over the holocausts and the sacrifices of peace-offerings, that they may be to you for a remembrance of your God, I am the Lord your God. 11. In the second year, in the second month, the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle of the covenant, 12. and the children of Israel set forward by their troops from the desert of Sinai, and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Pharan. 13. And they first moved the camp according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. 14. The sons of Juda by their troops, whose prince was Nahasson the son of Aminadab. 15. In the tribe of the children of Issachar the prince was Nathanael the son of Suar. 16. In the tribe of Zabulon the prince was Eliab the son of Helon. 17. And the tabernacle was taken down, which the sons of Gerson and Merari carried and set out. 18. The sons of Ruben also set forward by their troops and order, whose prince was Helisur the son of Sedeur. 19. And in the tribe of the children of Simeon the prince was Salamiel the son of Surisaddai. 20. Moreover in the tribe of Gad the prince was Eliasaph the son of Duel. 21. And the Caathites also set forward carrying the Sanctuary. So long was the tabernacle carried, until they came to the place of its setting up. 22. The children of Ephraim also moved their camp by their troops, in whose army the prince was Elisama the son of Ammiud. 23. And in the tribe of the children of Manasses the prince was Gamaliel the son of Phadassur. 24. And in the tribe of Benjamin the leader was Abidan the son of Gedeon. 25. The last of all the camp, the children of Dan set forward by their troops, in whose army the prince was Ahiezer the son of Amisaddai. 26. And in the tribe of the children of Aser the prince was Phegiel the son of Ochran. 27. And in the tribe of the children of Nephthali the prince was Ahira the son of Enan. 28. These are the camps and the marches of the children of Israel by their troops, when they went out. 29. And Moses said to Hobab the son of Raguel the Madianite, his kinsman: We are going to the place which the Lord will give us: come with us, that we may do thee good; for the Lord hath promised good things to Israel. 30. He answered him: I will not go with thee, but I will return to my own country, wherein I was born. 31. And he said: Do not leave us; for thou knowest in what places in the wilderness we should pitch our camp, and thou shalt be our guide. 32. And when thou shalt come with us, what good soever the Lord shall do to us, we will give thee of the same. 33. So they departed from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, providing a place for the camp for three days. 34. And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they marched. 35. And when the ark was lifted up, Moses said: Arise, O Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee from before thy face. 36. And when it was set down, he said: Return, O Lord, to the multitude of the host of Israel.
Verse 2. MAKE THEE TWO TRUMPETS OF BEATEN SILVER—that with them thou mayest call the people together: first, for moving the camp; second, for feasts; third, for sacrifices; fourth, for wars; but God commands only two trumpets to be made, lest he burden the Hebrews with expense, not that he forbids more to be made. Hence it is plain that more were made, if not trumpets, at least horns, either then or afterwards, from Josue 6:4, where seven horns are numbered, at whose sounding the walls of Jericho fell.