Joshua 6:13

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Yahweh went on continually, and blew the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; and the rearward came after the ark of Yahweh, [the priests] blowing the trumpets as they went.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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הַיֹּבְלִ֗ים

yôwbêl

H3104

“the · ram's horns”

Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute

Appears 27× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 19:13

Full BDB Definition

Origin: apparently from H2986

TWOT: 835e

ram, ram's horn, trumpet, cornet - ram (only in combination) - ram's horn, trumpet - jubilee year (marked by the blowing of cornets) (metonymy)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

25: words
13: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

הַיֹּבְלִ֗ים ram's horn H3104 occurs in 25 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

11 verbs
11 nouns
2 adjectives
1 preposition

Verb forms

נֹשְׂאִים֩ Qal · Participle Active
הֹלְכִ֣ים Qal · Participle Active
הָל֔וֹךְ Qal · Infinitive Absolute
וְתָקְע֖וּ Qal · Sequential Perfect
וְהֶחָלוּץ֙ Qal · Participle Passive
הֹלֵ֣ךְ Qal · Participle Active
וְהַֽמְאַסֵּ֗ף Piel · Participle Active
הֹלֵךְ֙ Qal · Participle Active
הולך Qal · Participle Active
הָל֖וֹךְ Qal · Infinitive Absolute
וְתָק֥וֹעַ Qal · Infinitive Absolute

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

הֹלְכִ֣ים to walk H1980 ×6
שׁוֹפְר֜וֹת horn H7782 ×3
וְשִׁבְעָ֣ה seven H7651 ×2
לִפְנֵי֙ face H6440 ×2
אֲר֣וֹן ark H727 ×2
יְהוָ֔ה LORD H3068 ×2
וְתָקְע֖וּ to blow H8628 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 46 words from the Hebrew and 44 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 25 Hebrew tokens and 44 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Joshua 6:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Galatians 6:9 Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don't give up.
Matthew 24:13 But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.
1 Chronicles 15:26 It happened, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, that they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Joshua 6:13 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְשִׁבְעָ֣ה הַכֹּהֲנִ֡ים נֹשְׂאִים֩ שִׁבְעָ֨ה שׁוֹפְר֜וֹת הַיֹּבְלִ֗ים לִפְנֵי֙ אֲר֣וֹן יְהוָ֔ה הֹלְכִ֣ים הָל֔וֹךְ וְתָקְע֖וּ בַּשּׁוֹפָר֑וֹת וְהֶחָלוּץ֙ הֹלֵ֣ךְ לִפְנֵיהֶ֔ם וְהַֽמְאַסֵּ֗ף הֹלֵךְ֙ אַֽחֲרֵי֙ אֲר֣וֹן יְהוָ֔ה הולך הָל֖וֹךְ וְתָק֥וֹעַ בַּשּׁוֹפָרֽוֹת

The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Yahweh went on continually, and blew the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; and the rearward came after the ark of Yahweh, [the priests] blowing the trumpets as they went.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Joshua 6:13 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ὁ ἑπτά ἱερεύς ὁ φέρω ὁ σάλπιγξ ὁ ἑπτά προπορεύομαι ἐναντίον κύριος καί μετά οὗτος εἰςπορεύομαι ὁ μάχιμος καί ὁ λοιπός ὄχλος ὄπισθε ὁ κιβωτός ὁ διαθήκη κύριος καί ὁ ἱερεύς σαλπίζω ὁ σάλπιγξ καί ὁ λοιπός ὄχλος ἅπας περικυκλόω ὁ πόλις ἐγγύθεν

And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets went on before the Lord; and afterwards the men of war went on, and the remainder of the multitude went after the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, The Pulpit Commentary discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

וְשִׁבְעָא כַהֲנַיָא נְסִיבוּ שִׁבְעָא שׁוֹפָרַיָא דְקֶרֶן דִכְרַיָא קֳדָם אֲרוֹנָא דַייָ אָזְלִין מֵיזַל וְתָקְעִין בְּשׁוֹפָרַיָא וּמְזָרְזֵי חֵילָא אָזְלִין קֳדָמֵיהוֹן וְשִׁבְטָא דְבֵית דָן אָזֵיל בָּתַר אֲרוֹנָא דַייָ וְכַהֲנַיָא אָזְלִין וְתָקְעִין בְּשׁוֹפָרַיָא:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Joshua 6:13 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Jos 6:13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, [the priests] going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

Ver. 13. And seven priests bearing seven trumpets.] Here were many sevens, as also in the Revelation. Many mysteries throughout the Scriptures are set forth by this number: the Hebrew word signifieth fulness.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

The tribe of Dan was so called, because it marched last and gathered up whatsoever was left of others.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) The priests going on.—Literally, with a going, and a blowing with the trumpets.” The priests” is inserted by the Targum.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord,.... See Gill on Jos 6:4,

went on continually; or, "going they went" (b): kept on going, making no stop at all, until they had compassed the city:

and blew with the trumpets; as they went along:

and the armed men went before them, but the rereward came after the ark of the Lord; which the Targum paraphrases as on Jos 6:9,

the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets; See Gill on Jos 6:9.

(b) "euntes eundo", Montanus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Pulpit Commentary

The rereward. (see Jos_5:9) Literally, the gathering together and then the body of troops which collects the stragglers, the rear guard, as in Num_10:25 Isa_52:12 Isa_58:8. Calvin renders here by quia cogebat agmen. But the LXX and Vulgate render by o loipo and vulgus reliquum. So Luther, der Haufe. The LXX, however, in ver. 9 translates the same word by ouragountev , i.e., " qui extremum agmen ducunt, et quasi caudam efficiunt" (Rosenmuller). The word is not the same as that translated rereward in 1Sa_29:2, the only other place where our version has "rereward," where there can be no question of the rendering being correct, since the literal meaning there is the hindermost.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

The rearmost. This refers to the tribe of Dan that traveled last and gathered all those who lagged behind.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Joshua, in the Historical, opens this verse with 25 words (13 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is yôwbêl (“ram's horn”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “ram's horn” (yôwbêl) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Exodus 19:13 shares the word «ram's horn» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to walk” occurs 6× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
The verb «נֹשְׂאִים֩» is Qal Participle Active. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 25 Hebrew ↔ 44 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 22 words in this verse.
“to walk” occurs 6× in this single verse.
13 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 25 words in this verse.