Judges 3:27

Jdg 3:27 And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them.

Ver. 27. He blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim.] He gave the alarm to those valiant and warlike men, such as are for most part your mountaineers; and while the Moabites were all on a hurry about their king’s death, he taketh his opportunity, which, as in all things else, so especially in military matters, is much to be observed, and hastily apprehended, since it is headlong, and once past, irrecoverable.

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.

Jdg 3:27-28. He blew a trumpet — In order to summon those who were disposed to recover their liberty to take arms and follow him. And the children of Israel went down with him — Whom doubtless he had prepared by his emissaries, and gathered together in considerable numbers. With these he attacked the Moabites who were in garrisons on the west of Jordan, and slew ten thousand of their best men; which utterly broke the power of Moab, and freed the Israelites from the yoke of that nation. They took the fords of Jordan — Where that river was usually passed, that neither the Moabites that were in Canaan might escape, nor any more Moabites come over Jordan to their succour.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, caused the trumpet to be blown, Num. 20:2,3.

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

he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim--summoned to arms the people of that mountainous region, which, adjoining the territory of Benjamin, had probably suffered most from the grievous oppression of the Moabites.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(27) He blew a trumpet.—The word for “trumpet” is shophar. The LXX. have “he trumpeted with a horn” (Esalpisen en keratine).

In the mountain of Ephraim.—The hill country of Ephraim was always the fastness of Israelitish freedom (Jdg_4:5; Jdg_10:1; 1Sa_1:1; 1Sa_13:6; 1Sa_14:22).

He before them.—He assumed the leadership.

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

27. when he was come] If Se‘îrah was meant, ‘thither’ should have been written. Some indication of the place is needed; the LXX. cod. B adds ‘unto the land of Israel,’ shewing that the obscurity was felt. Perhaps the simplest course is to suppose that the original order of words has been disturbed, and to read when he was come to (omit in) the highlands of Ephraim he blew a trumpet. For the summons to arms cf. Jdg_6:34; 1Sa_13:3.

the hill country of E.… the hill country] Cf. Jdg_2:9, Jdg_4:5, Jdg_7:24, Jdg_17:1; Jos_17:15. The Highlands, which extend continuously from the Great Plain to the S. of Judah, were occupied in the northern half by W. Manasseh, Ephraim, and Benjamin (‘the hill country of E.’), in the southern half by Judah (‘the hill country of J.’ Jos_21:11); at this period a line of Canaanite strongholds separated the territories of Joseph and Judah. The country between Ramah and Beth-el lay ‘in the hill country of E.’ Jdg_4:5; it was the Israelites of this neighbourhood, i.e. the Benjamites, who responded to their clansman’s call.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he said unto them, follow after me,.... This he said to encourage them, putting himself at the head of them showing himself ready to expose his own life, if there was any danger:

for the Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hands; which he concluded from the success he had had in cutting off the king of Moab which had thrown the Moabites into great confusion and distress, and from an impulse on his mind from the Lord, assuring him of this deliverance:

and they went down after him: from the mountain of Ephraim:

and took the fords of Jordan towards Moab; where the river was fordable, and there was a passage into the country of Moab, which lay on the other side Jordan; this they did to prevent the Moabites, which were in the land of Israel, going into their own land upon this alarm, and those in the land of Moab from going over to help them:

and suffered not a man to pass over; neither out of Israel into Moab, nor out of Moab into Israel.

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

Seirath seems to have been on the road from Galgal to Mount Ephraim. Some conjecture that Josephus speaks of it under the name of Syriad, (Calmet) where he saw the inscriptions, which he asserts were left by the children of Seth before the deluge. (Haydock) --- They might perhaps be the idols which are mentioned here.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Doubtless he had prepared

the children of Israel, and by his emissaries gathered together in considerable numbers.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. Blew a trumpet — The alarm-signal to call a people rapidly together. Compare Jdg_6:34; 1Sa_13:3; 2Sa_20:1; 1Ki_1:34. Thus Joel, (Joe_2:1,) “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain.”

Mountain of Ephraim — See on Jdg_17:1, and Jos_17:15. Ehud does not first rally his own tribe to his standard, because Benjamin had at this time been almost annihilated by the other tribes. Chapters 19-21.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He blew a trumpet. Like Alfred in the marshes of Somerset, he gathered a host around him in the shelter of the forest; and then, full of faith in his Divine mission, "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might," dashed down boldly into the plain, and, seizing the fords, cut off all communication between the Moabites at Jericho and their countrymen east of the Jordan. They could neither escape into Moab nor get help from Moab. Thrown into confusion by the death of their king and the suddenness of the attack, the Moabites fell to the number of 10, 000 men; and so ended the second servitude, to be followed by a rest (if the numeral in the text is sound) of eighty years.

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

The children of Israel - Whom doubtless he had prepared by his emissaries gathered together in considerable numbers.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

It happened that, when he arrived. He crossed the Yardein, and arrived at his place in the land of Canaan.

At Mount Ephrayim. Which was in the land of Canaan, on the western side of the Yardein. The land of Moav was on the eastern side of the Yardein, but as they had subdued Yisroel and crossed the Yardein, they occupied Yericho as stated above, and installed their princes and governors over Yisroel.

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.