Bible Strands
Joshua 6:20
So when the rams’ horns sounded, the people shouted. When they heard the blast of the horn, the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. Then all the people charged straight into the city and captured it.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the precise moment after the seven-day encirclement when the priests blow the trumpets at Jericho’s perimeter. The Israelites respond to the auditory signal by shouting, triggering the wall’s collapse and their immediate advance into the city.
The words — וַיִּתְקְעוּ (va.yit.ke'u) translates to "and they gave a blast," while שׁוֹפָרוֹת (sho.fa.rot) means "trumpets" or "rams’ horns." These terms identify the specific instruments and the action that directly precedes the people’s shouted response.
The thread — The event is referenced in Hebrews 11:30 as a faith-driven act that brought down fortified walls, and its structural pattern aligns with 2 Corinthians 10:4 regarding divine power demolishing strongholds.
Why it lands — The text states that the wall fell and the city was captured only after the people shouted at the horn’s blast, requiring the reader to accept that the outcome depended on executing the commanded sequence rather than on conventional force.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
- 2 Corinthians 10:4 The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
- Joshua 6:5 And when there is a long blast of the ram’s horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and all your people will charge straight into the city.”