Numbers 10:9

And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) And if ye go to war.—Better, And when ye shall go to war. In Numbers 31:6 we read that in the war against the Midianites, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, had these trumpets of alarm (hazozeroth) in his hand. So also Abijah, in his address to Jeroboam, previously to the battle, lays great stress upon the fact that Judah had on their side the priests with the trumpets of alarm (2Chronicles 13:12; 2Chronicles 13:14). On the other hand, the seven priests who compassed the city of Jericho carried the shophar, or keren—i.e., rams’ horn—not the hazozerah, or silver trumpet.

Benson Commentary

Numbers 10:9. Ye shall be saved — If you use this ordinance of God with trust and dependance upon God for help.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:1-10 Here are directions concerning the public notices to be given the people by sound of trumpet. Their laws in every case were to be Divine, therefore, even in this matter Moses is directed. These trumpets typify the preached gospel. It sounds an alarm to sinners, calls them to repent, proclaims liberty to the captives and slaves of Satan, and collects the worshippers of God. It directs and encourages their heavenly journey; stirs them up to combat against the world and sin, encouraging them with the assurance of victory. It leads their attention to the sacrifice of Christ, and shows the Lord's presence for their protection. It is also necessary that the gospel trumpet give a distinct sound, according to the persons addressed, or the end proposed; whether to convince, humble, console, exhort, reprove, or teach. The sounding of the trumpet of the gospel is God's ordinance, and demands the attention of all to whom it is sent.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For examples of the employment of trumpets in war compare marginal references and 2 Chronicles 20:28. By employment of them was signified the dependence of God's people on His aid.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. If ye go to war—In the land of Canaan, either when attacked by foreign invaders or when they went to take possession according to the divine promise, "ye [that is, the priests] shall blow an alarm." This advice was accordingly acted upon (Nu 31:6; 2Ch 13:12); and in the circumstances it was an act of devout confidence in God. A solemn and religious act on the eve of a battle has often animated the hearts of those who felt they were engaged in a good and just cause; and so the blowing of the trumpet, being an ordinance of God, produced that effect on the minds of the Israelites. But more is meant by the words—namely, that God would, as it were, be aroused by the trumpet to bless with His presence and aid.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Which was practised accordingly. See Numbers 31:6 2 Chronicles 13:12.

Ye shall be saved from your enemies, if you use this ordinance of God with trust and dependence upon God for help, which condition is necessarily to be understood from divers others scriptures, where it is expressed.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you,.... That enters in to invade it, to besiege cities, and distress the inhabitants of it:

then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets: a "tara-tan-tara" with both of them, to call the several tribes together to join against the enemy; or to call them to fasting and humiliation, to repentance and prayer, to seek the Lord in the exercise of these, and cry for help and assistance, for victory and salvation; for, as Ben Gersom observes, by this alarm their hearts would be broken and become contrite, and they would return to the Lord, and he would have mercy on them when they pray unto him; for such a sound makes a man's heart shake and tremble, according to Amos 3:6; see Jeremiah 4:19; this is a third use of the trumpets, and in a mystical sense it may be observed, that saints are in a militant state, and have many enemies that come in to them to oppress them, sin, Satan, and the world; and the Gospel calls and encourages them to fight, furnishes them with armour, and assures them of victory, and directs them where to fight and with whom, and bids them endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ:

and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God; for a book of remembrance is written for them that fear God, humble themselves before him, and pray unto him:

and ye shall be saved from your enemies; as Israel from their temporal, so the people of God from their spiritual enemies, being made more than conquerors through him that loved them.

Geneva Study Bible

And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. 2 Chronicles 13:12-16 relates an occasion on which the clarions brought success in battle.

9, 10. In Canaan the clarions are to be used in war (Numbers 10:9) and in peace (Numbers 10:10); and their purpose, in both, is to remind Jehovah of His people; see Numbers 5:26.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - If ye go to war. בּוא מִלחָמָה, "come into war," or "be engaged," denoting actual hostilities. In your land. The practical use of the trumpets ceased with the years of wandering; the ceremonial use was continued as long as the people dwelt in "their land;" the spiritual use remains an "ordinance for ever," as long as the Church is militant here on earth. That the use of the two silver trumpets was ceremonial, and not practical, after the conquest of Canaan is evident from the purpose and effect ascribed to that use. Whether in war or in worship, that purpose was not to convoke the people, nor to give signals to the host, but to put God in mind of his promises, and to invoke his covenanted grace. Indeed, two trumpets, as here prescribed, could not be otherwise than ceremonially used after the nation was spread abroad over the whole face of Canaan; and there is no direction to make more than two such trumpets. The use of trumpets in subsequent times is indeed often mentioned both in war and in holy festivities, and it was undoubtedly founded upon this Divine ordinance; but it was not in literal compliance with it, for the obvious reason that many trumpets were used instead of two only (see 1 Chronicles 15:24; 2 Chronicles 5:12; Nehemiah 12:35). In these passages (and probably in 2 Chronicles 13:12) we have abundant evidence of one of those expansions and adaptations of the Mosaic ritual which were so freely made under the house of David. Chapter 31:6, and (perhaps) 1 Chronicles 16:6, and Psalm 81:3 may be quoted as pointing to the strict fulfillment of the law as it stands. Numbers 10:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"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 (Numbers 31:21; Numbers 32:6).