This verse repeats the same information two times in parallel structure. The pronouns are singular in the first part of the verse and plural in the second part. The phrase the tenth day of the seventh month refers to “the Day of Atonement.” The verse should be translated in such a way as to avoid giving the impression that it refers to two separate events.

Send abroad the (loud) trumpet: this phrase occurs twice in this verse, but it may be translated once in those languages where the repetition is not acceptable. And since the trumpet cannot go around the land on its own, many languages will prefer to say “send someone to blow a trumpet loudly” (compare Good News Translation).

The Good News Translation rendering “send a man to blow a trumpet…” may give the impression that a single individual is to perform this action. But it is doubtful that one person would have done the job alone. If Good News Translation is taken as a model, then it will be important to change the singular to a plural in this case.

The word for trumpet in Hebrew refers to the horn of a ram, which was used as a musical instrument to give signals to large groups of people (see Josh 6.20; Judges 3.27; 1 Sam 13.3). In those cultures where the horns of animals are still used for such purposes, the receptor-language word for this instrument may be used in the translation.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .