Numbers 10:8

Num 10:8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.

Ver. 8. Shall blow with the trumpets.] A trumpeter, as one observeth, winds his trumpet with his mouth, and holds it up with his hand: so should a minister both preach and practise; vivere concionibus, concionari moribus.

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.

10:8 Only the priests . . . are allowed to blow the trumpets: All uses of these trumpets were related to God and his government of Israel, both of which the priests served.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

So that only the Priests must blow the trumpets, so long as the Priesthood lasted.

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

the sons of Aaron the priests shall blow with the trumpets, &c.--Neither the Levites nor any in the common ranks of the people could be employed in this office of signal giving. In order to attract greater attention and more faithful observance, it was reserved to the priests alone, as the Lord's ministers; and as anciently in Persia and other Eastern countries the alarm trumpets were sounded from the tent of the sovereign, so were they blown from the tabernacle, the visible residence of Israel's King.

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

(8) And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets.—As Aaron had only two sons at this time, there was need only of two trumpets. In most of the places in which the word hazozerah (trumpet) occurs (as, e.g., Num_31:6; 1Ch_15:24), this instrument appears to have been used by the priests. There are cases, however, in the later history (as 2Ki_11:14; 1Ch_16:42), in which the trumpets appear to have been used by the Levites, and perhaps by those who were neither priests nor Levites. The number of these trumpets was increased in the time of David and Solomon. We read in 1Ch_15:24 of seven priests blowing with them before the ark of God, and in 2Ch_5:12 of one hundred and twenty priests blowing with them. Josephus says that Solomon made 200,000 trumpets, according to the command of Moses (Antiq., Book 8, chap. 3).

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

And the sons of Aaron the priests shall blow with the trumpets,.... Eleazar and Ithamar, the one with the one and the other with the other, there being at first but two, as there were but two priests; but in Solomon's time there were an hundred twenty priests, and as many trumpets, Ch2 5:12; hence Maimonides says (l), there were never fewer than two trumpets, nor more than an hundred twenty:

and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations: for they were not only for present use, for the journeying of the camps in the wilderness, but for calling together the assembly in later times, as well as for other uses next mentioned; which would obtain in future ages till the coming of Christ, and even under the Gospel dispensation the mystical use of them continues, the preaching of the everlasting Gospel.

(l) Hilchot Cele Hamikdash, c. 3. sect. 4.

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

The sons of Aaron - As the trumpets were emblematic of the voice of God, the priests only were to use them. At this time there were only two “sons of Aaron;” but in later times, when the number of priests was greater, more trumpets were used; we read of seven in the times of Joshua and David (see the marginal references.); and of a hundred and twenty in that of Solomon 2Ch 5:12.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Priests. God’s officers and heralds. Curtius (3) observes, that among the Persians at day-break, the signal was given from the king’s tent by sound of trumpet.

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).

The sons of Aaron shall blow, to oblige them to the greater regard and observance, as if God himself had called them.

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

8. The priests, shall blow — And they alone, in the giving of the signals in this statute, and they were to preserve these trumpets and use them in all future generations in the manner described by this law.

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

The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow. It was natural that they should be made responsible for the custody and use of these trumpets, not because their sound represented the voice of God, but because they were used for religious purposes, and could only be safely kept in the sanctuary. An ordinance forever. The accustomed formula for some sacred institution which was to have a permanent character and an eternal meaning. (cf. Exo_12:24) The truth of these words cannot be exhausted by an actual use of 1500 years, followed by complete disuse for 1800 years. The "ordinance" of the silver trumpets must be perpetuated "forever" in the gospel, or else the Divine word has failed.

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

These trumpets were to be used for the holy purposes of the congregation generally, and therefore not only the making, but the manner of using them was prescribed by God Himself. They were to be blown by the priests alone, and "to be for an eternal ordinance to the families of Israel," i.e., to be preserved and used by them in all future times, according to the appointment of God. The blast of these trumpets was to call Israel to remembrance before Jehovah in time of war and on their feast-days.

Num 10:9

"If ye go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, and ye blow the trumpets, ye shall bring yourselves to remembrance before Jehovah, and shall be saved (by Him) from your enemies." מלחמה בּוא, to come into war, or go to war, is to be distinguished from למּלחמה בּוא, to make ready for war, go out to battle (Num 31:21; Num 32:6).

Num 10:10

"And on your joyous day, and your feasts and new moons, he shall blow the trumpets over your burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, that they may be to you for a memorial (remembrance) before your God." - השּׂמחה יום is any day on which a practical expression was given to their joy, in the form of a sacrifice. The השּׂמחה are the feasts enumerated in chs. 28 and 29 and Lev 23. The "beginnings of the months," or new-moon days, were not, strictly speaking, feast-days, with the exception of the seventh new moon of the year (see at Num 28:11). On the object, viz., "for a memorial," see Exo 28:29, and the explanation, p. 450. In accordance with this divine appointment, so full of promise, we find that in after times the trumpets were blown by the priests in war (Num 31:6; Ch2 13:12, Ch2 13:14; Ch2 20:21-22, Ch2 20:28) as well as on joyful occasions, such as at the removal of the ark (Ch1 15:24; Ch1 16:6), at the consecration of Solomon's temple (Ch2 5:12; Ch2 7:6), the laying of the foundation of the second temple (Ezr 3:10), the consecration of the walls of Jerusalem (Neh 12:35, Neh 12:41), and other festivities (Ch2 29:27).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

ובני אהרן... יתקעו AND THE SONS OF AARON … SHALL BLOW [WITH THE TRUMPETS] at the occasions of these (above-mentioned) assemblings and journeyings.

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.