A shofar (pron. /ʃoʊˈfɑːr/, from Hebrew: שׁוֹפָר , [ʃoˈfaʁ]) is an ancient musical horn made of ram’s horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player’s embouchure. The shofar is blown in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and at the very end of Yom Kippur, and is also blown every weekday morning in the month of Elul running up to Rosh Hashanah. Shofars come in a variety of sizes and shapes, depending on the choice of animal and level of finish.
The shofar is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud and rabbinic literature. The blast of a shofar emanating from the thick cloud on Mount Sinai made the Israelites tremble in awe (Exodus 19:16).
The shofar was used to announce holidays (Psalms 81:3 (4)), and the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25:9). The first day of the seventh month (Tishrei) is termed “a memorial of blowing” (Leviticus 23:24), or “a day of blowing” (Numbers 29:1), the shofar. They were for signifying the start of a war (Joshua 6:4; Judges 3:27; 7:16, 20; 1 Samuel 8:3). Later, it was also employed in processions (2 Samuel 6:15; 1 Chronicles 15:28), as musical accompaniment (Psalms 98:6; comp. ib. 47:5) and eventually it was inserted into the temple orchestra by David (Psalms 150:3). Note that the ‘trumpets’ described in Numbers 10 are a different instrument, described by the Hebrew word ‘trumpet’ (Hebrew: חצוצרה ḥaṣoṣrah), not the word for shofar (Hebrew: שופר).
To continue reading this Bible article, click here.
Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Ram's horn, Shofar, Trumpet, Blowing trumpet, Blow trumpet, Blow shofar, Blowing shofar, Blow horn, Blowing horn
Bible reference(s): Exod. 19:16, Exod. 19:19, Exod. 20:18, Lev. 25:9, Jos. 6:4-6, Jos. 6:8-9, Jos. 6:13, Jos. 6:16, Jos. 6:20, Jdg. 3:27, Jdg. 6:34, Jdg. 7:8, Jdg. 7:16, Jdg. 7:18-20, Jdg. 7:22, 1 Sam. 13:3, 2 Sam. 2:28, 2 Sam. 6:15, 2 Sam. 15:10, 2 Sam. 18:16, 2 Sam. 20:1, 2 Sam. 20:22, 1 Ki. 1:34, 1 Ki. 1:39, 1 Ki. 1:41, 2 Ki. 9:13, 1 Chr. 15:28, 2 Chr. 15:14, Neh. 4:18, Neh. 4:20, Job 39:24-25, Ps. 47:5, Ps. 81:3, Ps. 98:6, Ps. 150:3, Isa. 18:3, Isa. 27:13, Isa. 58:1, Jer. 4:5, Jer. 4:19, Jer. 4:21, Jer. 6:1, Jer. 6:17, Jer. 42:14, Jer. 51:27, Ezek. 33:3-6, Hos. 5:8, Hos. 8:1, Joel 2:1, Joel 2:15, Amos 2:2, Amos 3:6, Zeph. 1:16, Zech. 9:14
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Shofar,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.