Shofar

Occurrences in Scripture

The shofar appears in many books of the Old Testament. Korean Bibles usually translate it as "trumpet" (nappal), so readers unfamiliar with the original language may not recognize it.

• Mount Sinai: When God descends upon Mount Sinai, the sound of the trumpet grows louder and louder (Exodus 19:16, 19).
• Feasts and the Jubilee: Leviticus 25:9 commands that the shofar be sounded throughout the land on the Day of Atonement in the year the Jubilee begins. Leviticus 23:24, which appoints the first day of the seventh month as "a memorial of blowing of trumpets," contains only the word teruah, meaning "shout" or "blast"; no instrument is named.
• War and alarm: At the fall of Jericho, seven priests blow "trumpets of rams' horns" (Joshua 6). Gideon's three hundred men attack the Midianite camp carrying trumpets, pitchers, and torches (Judges 7:16–22). In Ezekiel 33:3–6 the watchman blows it to warn of an enemy invasion.
• Enthronement and worship: The trumpet is sounded when David brings up the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:15) and when Solomon is anointed (1 Kings 1:39). Psalms 81:3 and 150:3 call for God to be praised with the trumpet.
• Prophecy: Joel 2:1, 15 says, "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion," calling the people to repentance and fasting. Isaiah 27:13 declares that when the great trumpet is blown, the scattered people will return and worship.

Background

The shofar is made by hollowing out and shaping an animal's horn. It was used to sound signals rather than to play melodies. The etymology of the word is uncertain.

It is distinct from the hatzotzerah, the metal trumpet blown by the priests, which was made of hammered silver (Numbers 10:1–10). In Psalm 98:6, where both instruments appear together, the Korean New Revised Version distinguishes them, rendering the metal trumpet as "trumpet" (nappal) and the shofar as "horn" (hogak).

Later Judaism has continued to blow the shofar at Rosh Hashanah, the New Year festival. The Talmud also preserves an interpretation that links the preference for a ram's horn to the ram offered in place of Isaac at the burnt offering on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:13).

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

In the Old Testament the sound of the shofar is associated with God's presence, warnings of judgment, proclamations of liberty, and the summons that gathers a scattered people.

The New Testament uses the Greek word salpinx ("trumpet"), the same word the Septuagint uses to translate both the shofar and the metal trumpet. Hebrews 12:19 recalls the sound of the trumpet at Sinai. Matthew 24:30–31 says that the elect will be gathered with a great sound of a trumpet, and 1 Corinthians 15:51–52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 say that the dead will rise at the sound of the trumpet. Chapters 8–11 of Revelation describe the judgments of the seven trumpets. Many interpreters hold that these New Testament passages take up the trumpet imagery of the Old Testament, especially the gathering trumpet of Isaiah 27:13.

Interpretation and Debated Issues

• The timing of the "last trump": Some interpreters in the dispensationalist tradition connect the Feast of Trumpets with the Rapture. Others identify this trumpet with the seventh trumpet of Revelation or are cautious about linking it to a particular feast or date. These differences reflect differing understandings of the Second Coming and eschatology.
• Claims beyond the text: It is sometimes claimed that blowing the shofar drives away evil spirits or gives prayer special efficacy. The biblical text, however, does not directly teach this.

In the Korean Church

Trumpet imagery frequently appears in sermons on the fall of Jericho or on the Second Coming. Some churches, prayer meetings, and praise gatherings actually blow a shofar at the opening of worship. Shofars are also sometimes brought back as souvenirs from pilgrimages to Israel. Nevertheless, the shofar is not used in most church services, and some caution against attributing spiritual efficacy to it or reenacting Old Testament rituals as they were originally performed.