Numbers 10:2 - On the “community” label

עֲשֵׂ֣ה לְךָ֗ שְׁתֵּי֙ חֲצֽוֹצְרֹ֣ת כֶּ֔סֶף מִקְשָׁ֖ה תַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה אֹתָ֑ם וְהָי֤וּ לְךָ֙ לְמִקְרָ֣א הָֽעֵדָ֔ה וּלְמַסַּ֖ע אֶת־הַֽמַּחֲנֽוֹת׃

Have two silver trumpets made; make them of hammered work. They shall serve you to summon the community* and to set the divisions in motion.

*community Or those enrolled in its militia; cf. note at 1.2.

(The above rendering and its footnote come from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation.)


On the expression הָעֵדָה and its use as a metonym, see the section “Gender and Figurative Language” in this introduction, pp. 3–4; and see my comment to Exod 12:3, where the more elaborate term כׇּל־עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל “whole community of Israel” is similarly employed.

The present topical context is military and thus excludes women. In this chapter, the text returns to its ongoing portrayal of Israel as “God’s army”—an extended metaphor stretching that began already in Exodus.