complete verse (Numbers 10:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 10:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “But if the people are to gather in one place, another kind of sound is to be blown.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When assembling the people, however, the trumpet blast must be made longer, but not like the signal to move forward.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But it is different sounding/blowing of the trumpet when gathering them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When you want only to gather the people together, blow the trumpets, but do not blow them as loudly.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 10:5 - 10:7

When you blow an alarm …: The pronoun you and all the other second person pronouns in verses 5-10 are plural in Hebrew, referring to the Israelites. Verse 8 makes it clear that the priests are to blow the trumpets on behalf of the rest of the Israelites. Good News Translation does not specify the agent here by using the passive verb “are sounded,” which we recommend, if it is possible. The use of the pronoun you is ambiguous in English since it can be singular or plural. Verses 5-7 do not specify how many trumpets should be blown. However, these verses do seem to make a distinction between two ways of blowing the trumpets. An alarm (that is, a loud sound) is to be blown to break camp and travel further. But “no alarm” should be blown when the people are called together without breaking camp. This distinction between alarm and “no alarm” is rendered as “short blasts” and “long blasts” in Good News Translation and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh. These renderings make the distinction more strongly and clearly, but they are also quite speculative. (According to Jewish tradition, the convocation trumpet sound was one long blast [verses 3-4, 7], while the moving out signal [verses 5-6] was three shorter blasts. Good News Translation and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh seem to follow this tradition.) There is a problem with the word alarm. It gives the wrong suggestion that the trumpet blowing here concerns an unexpected emergency or some immediate danger. This word is better rendered “signal” (Contemporary English Version) or “blast” in this context (see the model below).

The camps that are on the east side refers to the camps of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun on the east side of the Tabernacle (see 2.3-9).

For the Hebrew verb rendered set out, see the comments on 2.9. Here it may be translated “move off,” “journey further,” “resume their journey,” or “march.”

And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out: When there was a second trumpet blast, the Israelites south of the Tabernacle had to resume their journey. The camps that are on the south side refers to the camps of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad (see 2.10-16). It is striking that only the most important sides are mentioned: the east and the south. (The Septuagint actually adds the trumpet signals for the camps on the western and northern sides.)

An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out is literally “They shall blow a blast for their settings out.” The pronouns “They” and “their” refer to the Israelites, although verse 8 makes it clear that the priests had to blow the trumpets on behalf of the rest of the Israelites. The passive construction An alarm is to be blown does not specify the agent, which we recommend, if it is possible. If a passive construction is not possible, a possible alternative is “A blast must be the signal.”

But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm: The conjunction But (literally “And”) introduces well the contrast here. The Hebrew term rendered assembly is not ʿedah (as in verse 2) but qahal. While the word ʿedah refers to the entire national, legal and cultic society of Israel, qahal refers to the gathering of the people. As a general rule, if the target language allows for a distinction between these two words, ʿedah may be rendered “community,” and qahal may be translated “assembly,” “gathering,” or “congregation.” However, in this section the “community” (verses 2-3) and the assembly are the same. Sound an alarm does not render the same Hebrew expression translated blow an alarm. The signal for gathering the people was in some way different from the signal for moving their camp. The Hebrew verb rendered sound an alarm comes from the same root as the noun for alarm.

A model for verses 5-7, which is partly based on Contemporary English Version, is:

• 5-6 When you give a trumpet signal, the first blast will be the signal for the tribes camped on the east side to set out, and the second blast will be the signal for those on the south side. A trumpet signal is to be given whenever they are to set out. 7 But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall sound a different trumpet signal.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .