Hebrew Word Study – A Noise – Ru’a   Resh Vav Ayin

Psalms 98:6: “With trumpets and the sound of cornet, make a joyful noise before the Lord, the king.”

I find it curious that out of 21 modern translations 8 render shofar as a cornet. These are all translations before 1970 including the KJV. What bothers me is that the cornet was not even developed until 1828 in Paris when piston valves were added to a trumpet. The KJV was translated in 1611 but did go through a number of revisions. One of those revisions used cornet for shofar.  Why would revisionists use a word for an instrument that did not even exist in 1,000 BC? Most of our modern English translations correctly render this as a ram’s horn or just a horn. Even the latest revision of the KJV 2000 uses the word horn rather than cornet.  Yet, was our 19th Century KJV revisionist wrong to use the word cornet? I believe whoever did the revision of the KJV was not only a translator but a linguist as well.  

You see the word in the Hebrew for cornet is shofar. We all know what a shofar is, a ram’s horn that you blow into which makes a horrible sound if you are not skilled in its use. I see Christians all the time running around with a rams horn giving a toot at the most inappropriate times, scaring the living pudding out of you. That toot in Hebrew would be a tsalal which is just a noise or a sound. But if you have ever heard the rams horn or shofar played by a true master of the instrument who puts his whole heart and soul into it, well this artist accomplishes what Harry James one of the greatest cornet players accomplished with his cornet, he makes it sing. It not only sings, but it sings his heart. What Harry James did with his cornet would be called a qol in Hebrew.  

It is interesting that the KJV renders the word qol as sound for the sound of a shofar. Yet, it would more accurately be rendered as voice, the voice of a shofar. But then how can a horn have a voice? You might want to check out “YouTube” and listen to Harry James Play: “You Made Me Love You” on his cornet.  It sounds like a voice to me.  A violin in the hands of Isaac Stern or a guitar played by Chet Atkens all were given a voice.  Me, I would just make a tsalal noise or sound with those instruments. A true artist who plays the instrument with his heart gives it a voice, a qol.

When I sit down to play the piano I try to give it a voice. Of course, only I can hear that voice as I play when no one is listening and if someone does listen, they tend to hear something other than a voice.  Still, a musical instrument in the hands of one who knows how to translate his passions into the sounds of his musical instrument can give that instrument a voice a qol. So too, a shofar in the hands of a skilled artist who can express his passion for God and his people can give that simple rams horn a voice just as pure as Harry James on his cornet. I find it interesting to note that this passage only says to make a noise or a ri’u with a trumpet. Ri’u comes from the root word ru’a which means to give a cry of alarm, a battle cry, a shout, or anything to get your attention. That is what some of these people who take these week-long tours of Israel and return with a shofar they purchased in some souvenir shop learn only to make a ru’a a noise. They do not and cannot give it a qol – voice unless they spend hours and years and complaints from their neighbors learning to give it a voice and even then, unless God has given them a musical gift, they may still only give it a ru’a.  Most of us have only heard the ram’s horn when someone walks up behind us as we are praying and scares the pants off us by giving their little souvenir a blast or ru’a. Since we rarely hear a ram’s horn played by a true artist giving the horn a voice or qol we are more likely to hear a cornet played by a true artist giving it a voice, I believe the translator expresses the intent of the passage by using the word cornet, even it did not exist in David’s time. It is the best way to express how the shofar was to be played, to be played like a cornet.  The shofar is to be played like a cornet not a bugle like the trumpets to give a wake-up call.

Another definition of shofar is to shine or make bright. When a shofar is given a qol -voice it is blown by someone who draws from deep within himself, deep within his own darkness, and brings his passion for God into the daylight.  A trumpet is just blown. The Hebrew word for trumpet is chasar and comes from the idea of gathering together. It is the word used for a village or hamlet where people are grouped together to live. The trumpet is nothing more than a bugle used to make a noise to bring people together.  Today we can create a trumpet sound electronically. However, a shofar, cannot use an artificial source of air, it must come from inside a person, just as the air blown in a cornet.  The purpose of a shofar, as with a cornet, is to give a voice to one‘s inner passions. 

I have visited many churches and listened to the worship teams. For me, many of those playing an instrument are just giving it a noise a ru’a. I would really encourage those musicians to reach down into the depths of their soul and give their instruments a qol, a voice so that those listening to that instrument can hear the passion, the love, and the joy of their Savior and not be so concerned with making a good show. 

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