horn

The musical instrument that is most often translated as “(ram’s) horn” or “trumpet” in English is translated in the following ways:

  • Yakan: tabuli’ (big sea shell used to give signals) (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Mairasi / Bariai: “Triton shell trumpet” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • German Luther translation: Posaune, today: “trombone,” originally with the meaning of a wind instrument made from cow horn (from Latin bucina [bovi- / “cow” + the root of cano / “sing”]. Incidentally, bucina is also used in the Latin Vulgate translation). By the time of Luther’s translation it referred to the natural trumpet or a fanfare trumpet (see also trumpet). Once the meaning morphed to “trombone” in the 19th century, trombone ensembles started to play a central role in Protestant German churches and do so to the present day. In 2016, “Posaunenchöre” became added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list . (Note that Exodus 19:13 is the only exception in the Luther Bible. From the 1956 revision on, Widderhorn or “ram’s horn” is used here) (source: Zetzsche)

In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:

Description: The horn was a wind instrument made from the horn of an animal, usually a male sheep.

Usage: The animal horn was softened so that it could be shaped. The point of the horn was cut off to leave a small opening through which the user blew. The vibration of the lips produced the sound.

The ram’s horn served two general purposes:

1. It was blown in certain religious contexts, not as musical accompaniment to worship but as a signal for important events. Some of these events were the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, the Day of Atonement, the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, and the coronation of kings.

2. It also served as a signal or alarm when war was approaching. Such references are particularly common in the prophetic books, when the prophets are calling the people to repent (Hosea 5:8; 8:1; Joel 2:1; 2:15; Amos 3:6).

Translation: In many passages the purpose of the ram’s horn called shofar in Hebrew was to sound an alarm. This will be easy to express in those cultures where the horns of animals are used as musical instruments to give signals to large groups of people. In other cultures it may be possible to find another instrument that is used for an equivalent purpose. In some languages, for example, instruments such as bells or drums are the warnings for war. Some translations have transliterated the word shofar. Unless the instrument is well known, such a borrowing should normally be accompanied by a footnote or a glossary entry.

In some passages it will be necessary to expand the translation in order to indicate that the blowing of the ram’s horn was not just for music; for example, in Ezekiel 7:14 Contemporary English Version has “A signal has been blown on the trumpet,” and the German Contemporary English Version says “An alarm is sounded” [elsewhere, the same German version refers to the horns as Kriegshörner or “war horns.”]

Man blowing ram’s horn (source: Knowles, revised by Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)

Quoted with permission.

complete verse (2 Samuel 18:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 18:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “After that was over, Joab blew a horn. When the people of David who were following/pursuing the people of Israel heard that horn, they stopped fighting.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the soldiers stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained the soldiers, saying not to do like this.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then Joab caused-to-sound the horn to stop his men in pursuing the soldiers of Israel.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then Joab blew his trumpet to signal that they should not fight any more, and his soldiers returned from pursuing those Israeli soldiers.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 18:16

Then: the connecting word here simply introduces the next in the series of events.

Blew the trumpet: it is doubtful that Joab himself blew the trumpet. Probably he simply gave the order that the trumpet should be blown. For this reason Good News Translation has translated “had the trumpet blown.” On the word for trumpet, see 2.28; 6.15; 15.10; 1 Sam 13.3.

Came back from pursuing: it may be more natural in certain languages to say something like “stopped chasing” or “ceased fighting.”

For Joab restrained them: this indicates the purpose of blowing the trumpet. In some languages it will be more natural to make this a part of the sentence about blowing the trumpet, rather than a separate sentence as in Revised Standard Version. Two possible models are “in order to inform the soldiers to finish…” and “to signal his troops to stop…” (Contemporary English Version)

As often in 1 and 2 Samuel, the Hebrew uses the word “people” in reference to the troops. The Hebrew says “… and the people came back” and “for Joab restrained the people.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .