What does תְּרוּעָה mean in the Bible?
A shout or sounding blast can announce departure, express joy or make an alarm audible. Numbers distinguishes short trumpet blasts for moving camps from the long blasts that convene the assembly.
Hebrew · H8643
תְּרוּעָה
A shout or sounding blast can announce departure, express joy or make an alarm audible. Numbers distinguishes short trumpet blasts for moving camps from the long blasts that convene the assembly.
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תְּרוּעָהH8643
What does תְּרוּעָה mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for תְּרוּעָה (H8643) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H8643?
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (5), with shouting (3), amid war cries (2), with a shout of joy (2), amid shouts of joy (1).
Where does תְּרוּעָה appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Leviticus 23:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Numbers (6), Psalms (5), Ezra (4), 1 Samuel (3).
What This Word Actually Means
A shout or sounding blast can announce departure, express joy or make an alarm audible. Numbers distinguishes short trumpet blasts for moving camps from the long blasts that convene the assembly. Ezra describes rejoicing over a temple foundation alongside loud weeping from people who remembered the earlier house; listeners cannot separate the sounds. First Samuel reports an enormous shout when the ark arrives in Israel's camp, followed later by defeat and the ark's capture.
Sound must therefore be read with its purpose and the narrated outcome. Loudness is neither proof that everyone feels the same thing nor a guarantee of divine favor. The word can help a teacher hear public praise, coordinated movement and distress in their own settings. It should not rank quiet people as faithless, demand a particular emotional display or turn a battlefield signal into a present-day method for victory.
How the Bible Uses It
Trumpet instructions, festival observance, temple-foundation sounds and the ark's arrival locate this audible expression in distinct activities. The sound's object and outcome keep celebration and alarm from collapsing into one lesson.
- Num.10.5
When you sound short blasts, the camps that lie on the east side are to set out.
Short blasts signal the eastern camps to set out, and following instructions distinguish further departure signals from convening the assembly.
- Ezra.3.13
The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people were making so much noise. And the sound was heard from afar.
Shouts of joy and weeping are indistinguishable to listeners as the temple foundation is celebrated and remembered, preserving different responses within one audible gathering.
- 1Sam.4.5
When the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a great shout that the ground shook.
The ark's arrival prompts a great shout, but verses 10-11 later report defeat and capture; excitement does not establish the outcome the elders hoped for.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It. . .5×Joshua 6:5, Joshua 6:20, Ezra 3:11, Ezra 3:13
with shouting3×2 Samuel 6:15, 1 Chronicles 15:28, 2 Chronicles 15:14
amid war cries2×Amos 1:14, Amos 2:2
with a shout of joy2×Job 8:21, Psalms 33:3
amid shouts of joy1×Psalms 47:5
and a battle cry1×Jeremiah 20:16
and battle cry1×Zephaniah 1:16
and shouts for joy1×Job 33:26
and the cry of war1×Job 39:25
and the shout1×Numbers 23:21
by [trumpet] blasts1×Leviticus 23:24
cry1×Jeremiah 49:2
far and wide1×Leviticus 25:9
for signaling1×Numbers 31:6
of the shout1×1 Samuel 4:6
others shouted1×Ezra 3:12
short blasts1×Numbers 10:5
shouting1×1 Samuel 4:6
such a great1×1 Samuel 4:5
the alarm1×Jeremiah 4:19
the battle call1×2 Chronicles 13:12
The blasts1×Numbers 10:6
the joyful sound1×Psalms 89:15
the short blasts1×Numbers 10:6
the shouts1×Ezra 3:13
to sound the trumpets1×Numbers 29:1
with resounding1×Psalms 150:5
with shouts of joy1×Psalms 27:6
Show sample aligned rows
Leviticus 23:24תְּרוּעָ֖הtoby [trumpet] blastsNoun - feminine singularLeviticus 25:9תְּרוּעָה֙tofar and wideNoun - feminine singularNumbers 10:5תְּרוּעָ֑הtoshort blastsNoun - feminine singularNumbers 10:6תְּרוּעָה֙tothe short blastsNoun - feminine singularNumbers 10:6תְּרוּעָ֥הtoThe blastsNoun - feminine singularNumbers 23:21וּתְרוּעַ֥תtoand the shoutConjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular constructNumbers 29:1תְּרוּעָ֖הtoto sound the trumpetsNoun - feminine singularNumbers 31:6הַתְּרוּעָ֖הtofor signalingArticle | Noun - feminine singularJoshua 6:5תְּרוּעָ֣הto. . .Noun - feminine singularJoshua 6:20תְּרוּעָ֣הto. . .Noun - feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLeviticus 23:24
Aligned rows36
Books represented14
Leviticus2Numbers6Joshua21 Samuel32 Samuel11 Chronicles12 Chronicles2Ezra4Job3Psalms5Jeremiah3Ezekiel1Amos2Zephaniah1
Source forms
תְּרוּעָ֣ה4xtə·rū·‘āhJoshua 6:5, Joshua 6:20, 1 Samuel 4:5, Ezra 3:13
בִּתְרוּעָ֑ה3xbiṯ·rū·‘āhJob 33:26, Psalms 47:5, Ezekiel 21:22
בִּתְרוּעָ֖ה2xbiṯ·rū·‘āh2 Samuel 6:15, Amos 2:2
בִּתְרוּעָה֙2xbiṯ·rū·‘āh1 Chronicles 15:28, Amos 1:14
הַתְּרוּעָ֖ה2xhat·tə·rū·‘āhNumbers 31:6, 2 Chronicles 13:12
תְרוּעָ֑ה2xṯə·rū·‘āhPsalms 27:6, Psalms 89:15
תְּרוּעָ֖ה2xtə·rū·‘āhLeviticus 23:24, Numbers 29:1
תְּרוּעָה֙2xtə·rū·‘āhLeviticus 25:9, Numbers 10:6
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular15xLeviticus 23:24, Leviticus 25:9, Numbers 10:5, Numbers 10:6
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular9x2 Samuel 6:15, 1 Chronicles 15:28, Ezra 3:12, Job 33:26
Article | Noun - feminine singular4xNumbers 31:6, 1 Samuel 4:6, 2 Chronicles 13:12
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular3xJob 39:25, Jeremiah 20:16, Zephaniah 1:16
Noun - feminine singular construct3xEzra 3:13, Jeremiah 4:19, Jeremiah 49:2
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct1xNumbers 23:21
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular1x2 Chronicles 15:14
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Offer space for grief and quiet participation instead of demanding an emotional display from everyone.
- Do not use ancient battlefield sounds to authorize contemporary aggression or guaranteed victory claims.
Avoid claiming...
- A louder gathering necessarily has stronger faith or a more favorable divine verdict.
- Trumpet instructions establish one sound-based formula for every present-day crisis.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. clamor , i.e. acclamation of joy or a battle-cry ; especially clangor of trumpets, as an alarum
Source Gloss
clamor , i.e. acclamation of joy or a battle-cry ; especially clangor of trumpets, as an alarum
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
clamor, i.e. acclamation of joy or a battle-cry; especially clangor of trumpets, as an alarum BDB: shout Usage: alarm, blow(-ing) (of, the) (trumpets), joy, jubile, loud noise, rejoicing, shout(-ing), (high, joyful) sound(-ing).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
תְּרוּעָה is built from this root:
For the Preacher and Teacher
An audible expression carries meaning through the event in which it occurs. Numbers gives concrete signals with different practical purposes: setting camps in motion and convening an assembly are not interchangeable instructions. Ezra preserves both joy and grief at the temple foundation, even when distant hearers cannot distinguish their sounds. First Samuel lets the reader hear confidence at the ark's arrival before reporting defeat and capture.
That sequence matters because the loud moment cannot be detached as a promise that sufficient enthusiasm produces victory. Teach praise where the text names praise, alarm where it names danger, and coordinated action where it supplies a signal. Give room for different responses to a shared event, and do not use a word for shouting to override the narrative's evidence about what actually happened.
Anchor passage
Ezra.3.13
Doctrinal connections
- Numbers 10:3-8 distinguishes short departure blasts from the assembly signal, locating the sound within instructions for ordered movement and gathering.
- Leviticus 23:23-25 joins trumpet blasts to a sacred assembly, rest and an offering on a named day in Israel's calendar.
- Ezra 3:10-13 reports thanksgiving for God's goodness alongside older witnesses' weeping, preserving different responses at the same foundation ceremony.
- First Samuel 4:3-11 moves from the elders' hope and camp's shout to defeat and the ark's capture, resisting an enthusiasm-based guarantee.
- Psalm 47:5-7 places shouts and the horn within praise of God as King, making the object of celebration explicit.
- Psalm 150:3-6 includes resounding cymbals within its call for everything that has breath to praise the Lord, without specifying one person's required emotional volume.
The Hebrew noun covers an audible shout, clamor or trumpet-type sounding in the licensed evidence. Its range includes joyful and alarming settings; a translation such as blast or shout reflects the instrument, event and purpose named in context.
From Old to New Testament
Luke 19:37-40 names disciples praising God for mighty works as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, with an explicit exchange about their voices. It is a separate Greek account rather than this Hebrew noun's occurrence. Read alongside Psalm 47's named praise, it highlights the praised person and stated reason without turning audible enthusiasm into a universal promise of safety or success.