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)
  • 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 (1 Kings 1:41)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 1:41:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then, Adonijah plus all the visitors/guests who were winding up the feast heard that noise. And when Joab heard the sound of the horn, he asked, ‘For what reason is all this noise in this city ,oh people?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Adonijah and his guests heard this when they were about to finish eating. Hearing the sound of the ram’s horn, Joab said, "Why is there so much turmoil in the city?"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Adonijah and his visitors heard all of this while they were-finishing-up their feast. When- Joab -heard the horn/trumpet, he asked, ‘What had-happened that it is very noisy in the city?’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When Adonijah and all his guests/the people whom he had invited were finishing eating at their celebration, they heard the noise. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpets, he asked, ‘What is causing all that noise in the city?’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 1:41

Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it: Since these people were only about 700 meters (2,300 feet) south of Gihon at the spring of Rogel, they were close enough to hear the trumpets and the other noises of celebration. Instead of saying simply heard it, some languages will require something more specific; for example, “heard the noise” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Revised English Bible) or “… the cries of the multitude” (Knox). The pronoun it is not in the Masoretic Text but is added in Revised Standard Version for reasons of English style.

The guests who were with him is literally “those called who were with him,” that is, the people that Adonijah had invited to his own celebration (verse 9). In some languages there is no special word for guests, so it will be necessary to translate “the people who had been invited by him” or “the ones that he had called together.”

What does this uproar in the city mean?: The Hebrew word translated city is not the usual Hebrew word for “city,” but there does not seem to be any distinction in meaning.

Instead of the direct quotation at the end of this verse, some languages will prefer to express the same idea using indirect discourse; for example, “Joab asked what was the meaning of the sound of tumult coming from the city.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .