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 2:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 2:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then Joab blew the horn that stopped his people from following the people of Israel. (Then) The war ended.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped pursuing the Israelites, and then the battle came to an end.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So Joab blew the horn and all his men stopped chasing those from-Israel. And the battle had-stopped.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So Joab blew a trumpet to signal that they should stop fighting. So all his men did that. They did not pursue the soldiers of Israel any more, and they stopped fighting.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 2:28

So: while Revised Standard Version takes this as a logical transition marker, Good News Translation makes it more temporal. New Revised Standard Version omits it altogether, but a temporal transition seems appropriate in this context.

Blew the trumpet: most English versions translate as Revised Standard Version, but it is worth noting that the instrument used to signal the end of a battle was a common ram’s horn (see Josh 6.4, for example; also 2 Sam 18.16; 20.22). It is not normally used for making music. The same instrument was also used later in this book to assemble the people at the arrival of the Covenant Box in Jerusalem (6.15). In that case Revised Standard Version translates “horn.” In both cases Anchor Bible and Fox transliterate it shofar, but this is not recommended. Probably it is best to use the word for “horn.” See also comment on 1 Sam 13.3.

And all the men stopped: the conjunction and may be misleading. In many languages it will be necessary to show the relationship between the blowing of the trumpet and the fact that the soldiers (literally “the people”) stopped. Some may say “and therefore the troops halted” or “so that his soldiers stopped chasing their enemies.”

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 .