With Nehemiah were seven priests with their trumpets (see verse 35 above). New Living Translation calls them “trumpet-playing priests.” It can be assumed that they blew their trumpets during this event, but the Hebrew text here only says that they were “with trumpets.” Osty-Trinquet says they were “equipped with trumpets” and this is a good model for translators to follow.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .