Numbers 10:3

And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:1-10 Here are directions concerning the public notices to be given the people by sound of trumpet. Their laws in every case were to be Divine, therefore, even in this matter Moses is directed. These trumpets typify the preached gospel. It sounds an alarm to sinners, calls them to repent, proclaims liberty to the captives and slaves of Satan, and collects the worshippers of God. It directs and encourages their heavenly journey; stirs them up to combat against the world and sin, encouraging them with the assurance of victory. It leads their attention to the sacrifice of Christ, and shows the Lord's presence for their protection. It is also necessary that the gospel trumpet give a distinct sound, according to the persons addressed, or the end proposed; whether to convince, humble, console, exhort, reprove, or teach. The sounding of the trumpet of the gospel is God's ordinance, and demands the attention of all to whom it is sent.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The trumpet was a straight instrument, differing in this respect from the curved horn or cornet; and is represented, among the other spoils of the temple, on the Arch of Titus. See Exodus 25:23 cut. From Egyptian monuments it appears that the Jewish trumpet was copied from that used in the armies of the Pharaohs. The cornet was at first a simple ram's horn Joshua 6:4, and the metal instrument of later times preserved the original shape.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3-7. when they shall blow with them—There seem to have been signals made by a difference in the loudness and variety in the notes, suited for different occasions, and which the Israelites learned to distinguish. A simple uniform sound by both trumpets summoned a general assembly of the people; the blast of a single trumpet convoked the princes to consult on public affairs; notes of some other kind were made to sound an alarm, whether for journeying or for war. One alarm was the recognized signal for the eastern division of the camp (the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun) to march; two alarms gave the signal for the southern to move; and, though it is not in our present Hebrew text, the Septuagint has, that on three alarms being sounded, those on the west; while on four blasts, those on the north decamped. Thus the greatest order and discipline were established in the Israelitish camp—no military march could be better regulated.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

When they, i.e. the priests, by comparing this with Numbers 10:8,

shall blow with them, i.e. with both of them, by comparing this with the next verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when they shall blow with them,.... With both the trumpets, in an even and continued sound, that is, the sons of Aaron:

all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; to hear what was to be said unto them: blowing both the trumpets together was a token that the whole congregation was called to meet together at the tabernacle, the door of which was the usual place of assembling, especially on religious counts, for there also the Lord met them, Exodus 29:42.

Geneva Study Bible

And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. when they shall blow] See on Numbers 10:5.

with them] i.e. with both of them together, in contrast with the use of one alone in Numbers 10:4.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - When they shall blow with them, i.e., with both of them. All the assembly, i.e., by their natural or customary representatives. Numbers 10:3

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Silver Signal-Trumpets. - Although God Himself appointed the time for removal and encampment by the movement of the cloud of His presence, signals were also requisite for ordering and conducting the march of so numerous a body, by means of which Moses, as commander-in-chief, might make known his commands to the different divisions of the camp. To this end God directed him to prepare two silver trumpets of beaten work (mikshah, see Exodus 25:18), which should serve "for the calling of the assembly, and for the breaking up of the camps," i.e., which were to be used for this purpose. The form of these trumpets is not further described. No doubt they were straight, not curved, as we may infer both from the representation of these trumpets on the triumphal arch of Titus at Rome, and also from the fact, that none but straight trumpets occur on the old Egyptian monuments (see my Arch. ii. p. 187). With regard to the use of them for calling the congregation, the following directions are given in Numbers 10:3, Numbers 10:4 : "When they shall blow with them (i.e., with both), the whole congregation (in all its representatives) shall assemble at the door of the tabernacle; if they blow with only one, the princes or heads of the families of Israel shall assemble together."