Joshua 6:3-5
Seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets
The plan is counted out in sevens, and the signal for the shout is the sound of the horn rather than an order from a commander.
Objects of the Bible
The trumpets of Jericho
Seven rams’ horns carried by seven priests, and for six days the only instruction was to keep quiet.
They are not silver trumpets. The text specifies trumpets of rams’ horns, the instrument used to announce the jubilee, which is a detail worth noticing at a siege. Seven priests carry seven of them before the ark, and the order of march is given: the armed men before the priests, the priests with the trumpets, the ark, and the rereward after the ark. Everybody has a position and almost nobody has a job.
Scroll down to the story
The movements, in the order the text gives them.
The story of The trumpets of Jericho
- 01
- 02
Joshua 6:8-11
The priests blew with the trumpets
The first day is one circuit and a return to camp. The account describes the procession in full and then says they lodged in the camp.
- 03
Joshua 6:10
Neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth
The silence is not incidental, it is commanded, and it applies to every person except the seven men with horns.
- 04
Joshua 6:20
The people shouted with a great shout
The wall falls down flat and every man goes up straight before him. The only tools named in the whole operation are horns and voices.
Why it matters
The trumpets sound on all seven days. What changes on the seventh is the number of circuits and one permission: when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout. Until then the people are under a specific prohibition about their own voices, ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth. Six days of hearing an instrument and not being allowed to answer it.
3 songs
The music
Every song in the catalogue whose passage falls inside these chapters.
