And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
When they make a long blast with the ram's horn, х bimshok (H4900) bªqeren (H7161) hayowbeel (H3104)] - when the signal trumpet is sounded. [`The Chaldee translator and the Rabbins, by an absurd conjecture, interpret yowbeel (H3104), a ram, and qeren (H7161) yowbeel (H3104), ram's horn; nor are several modern conjectures much better' (Gesenius). Showpaar (H7782) was the crooked trumpet, buccina, horn, clarion (for it had a shrill tone), with which the commencement of the jubilee was announced (Leviticus 25:8), and thus differed from chªtsowtsªrot (H2689), the straight trumpet used for assembling the congregation, for breaking up the camp, and exclusively in war (Numbers 10:2; Numbers 31:6), by both the Israelites and Egyptians (Josephus, 'Antiquities,' b. 3:, ch. 12:, sec. 6; Wilkinson's 'Ancient Egyptians,' 2: p. 263; Hengstenberg, 'Egypt and Books of Moses,' p. 131, 132.). Since the Israelites were not to fight on this occasion, showpaar (H7782) was the proper word; but the instrument is here called indifferently trumpet and horn.] The design of this whole proceeding was obviously to impress the Canaanites with a sense of the divine omnipotence, to teach the Israelites a memorable lesson of faith and confidence in God's promises, and to inspire sentiments of respect and reverence for the ark, as the symbol of His presence. The length of time during which those circuits were made tended the more intensely to arrest the attention, and to deepen the impressions, both of the Israelites and the enemy. The number seven was among the Israelites the symbolic seal of the covenant between God and their nation (Keil, Hengstenberg).