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)
  • Apal: “bamboo bugle” (source: Martha Wade in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 26ff.)
  • Tibetan “yak’s horn” (a traditional instrument in Tibetan culture) (source: David Clark in Clark / Desnitsky 2009 , p. 23)
  • 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 (Isaiah 18:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 18:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “Please, let every person in the world see
    and every one on this earth listen!
    See (plur.) the banner/flag that has been raised up on the hill,
    listen to the sound of a horn.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “O [you] people who live on the earth, listen!
    Look at the signal flag [lit.: flag of a sign] on the mountain peak!
    Listen to the sound of the trumpet being blown!” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) all who dwell in the world, you (plur.) watch-out for the raising of the banner on top of the mountain, and you (plur.) listen to the sound of the trumpet.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 18:3

In this verse the prophet tells the messengers what to say. They must tell people everywhere to look for signals that warn of an enemy attack on Cush/Ethiopia. It may be helpful to begin verse 3 with a quote frame to indicate that this verse contains the message the envoys are to deliver; for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh begins with “Say this.” Most versions start a new stanza (so Revised Standard Version) or paragraph (so Good News Translation) at verse 3, without showing any obvious link with verse 2. However, it is better to provide a connection here.

All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth: The prophet uses hyperbole here by addressing the whole world. These two lines are parallel. Good News Translation combines them, saying “everyone who lives on earth.”

When a signal is raised on the mountains, look!: The signal here and the trumpet in the next line warn of an enemy attack. A signal is raised could refer to sending up a smoke signal, but it more likely means raising a flag as a signal (so Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; see the comments at 5.26). Although only the word mountains is used, it probably refers to the top of the mountains, and this can be made clear if necessary. In the ancient world mountaintops served as signal stations allowing messages to be sent rapidly over vast distances. It is unusual for the verb look to come at the end of this line in Hebrew. This places emphasis on the signal. The form of the Hebrew verb here may be read as an imperative (so RSV/NRSV, Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New American Bible) or a future indicative (so New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible); for example, for this whole line New International Version has “when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it.”

When a trumpet is blown, hear!: This line is parallel to the previous one. Trumpet is literally “ram’s horn.” This horn was fashioned into a musical instrument, and used to call people to worship, to war, or to any communal activity. Translators should consider rendering trumpet as “ram’s horn” (New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) if there is any likelihood that readers will think of a modern metal trumpet or bugle. Alternatively, a cultural note could be added if a word like trumpet is used in the text. A word for a wind instrument is valid, as long as the sound it produces is loud enough to serve as a warning sound. Since the instrument here is blown as a warning signal, the idea of “warning” may be made explicit by rendering this line as “When a ram’s horn is blown, heed the warning!” or “When you hear a ram’s horn, be warned!” Like the verb look, hear occurs in the same unusual position in Hebrew and may be read as an imperative or future indicative.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Say: “All you people throughout the world, you who live on the earth,
when you see a signal given on the mountain top, take note!
When you hear a ram’s horn sound, be warned!”

• Say: “All inhabitants of the world, all who live on the earth,
when on the mountain top a signal is raised, look at it!
When a warning ram’s horn is blown, listen to it!”

• Say: “All inhabitants of the world, all who live on the earth,
you will see a signal when it is raised on the mountains,
you will hear a ram’s horn sound its warning.”

• Say: “All of you who live on earth,
take note when you see someone raise a signal on the mountains!
Listen when they blow a warning on the ram’s horn!”

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .