Horn, ram’s horn
Human-made Things in the Bible
The horn was a wind instrument made from the horn of an animal, usually a male sheep.
Pictures
How it was used
The animal horn was softened so that it could be shaped. The point of the horn was cut off to leave a small opening through which the user blew. The vibration of the lips produced the sound.
The ram’s horn served two general purposes:
1. It was blown in certain religious contexts, not as musical accompaniment to worship but as a signal for important events. Some of these events were the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, the Day of Atonement, the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, and the coronation of kings.
2. It also served as a signal or alarm when war was approaching. Such references are particularly common in the prophetic books, when the prophets are calling the people to repent ( ).
In the Bible
The Hebrew and Greek words for it, and every verse where each is used
יוֹבֵל yovel · 6 verses
קֶרֶן qeren · 5 verses
שׁוֹפָר shofar · 63 verses
תָּקוֹעַ taqo‘a · 1 verse
σάλπιγξ salpigx · 11 verses
Also in Wind instruments
Sources
Plants and Trees in the Bible, Animals in the Bible and Human-made Things in the Bible © United Bible Societies, 2025 (adapted from Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible by Robert Koops, All Creatures Great and Small: Living Things in the Bible by Edward R. Hope, and The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible by Ray Pritz), CC BY-SA 4.0; adapted for eRhema