107. Let us, then, investigate what we read in the
Old Testament concerning the kinds of trumpets, considering that those
festivals which were enjoined on the Jews by the Law are the shadow of
joys above and of heavenly festivals. For here is the shadow,
there the truth. Let us endeavour to attain to the truth by means
of the shadow. Of which truth the figure is expressed in this
manner, where we read that the Lord said
to Moses: “Speak unto the
children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of
the month, shall be a rest unto you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets,
it shall be called holy unto you. Ye shall not do any servile
work, and ye shall kindle a whole burnt-offering unto the
Lord.” Lev. xxiii. 24, 25. And in the
Book of Numbers: “The Lord spake unto Moses, saying:
Make thee two trumpets of beaten work, of silver shalt thou make them,
and they shall be to thee for calling the assembly and for the
journeying of the camp. And thou shalt blow with them, and all
the congregation shall be gathered together at the door of the
tabernacle of witness. But if thou blow with one trumpet, all the
princes and leaders of Israel shall come to thee; and ye shall blow a
signal with the trumpet the first time, and they shall move the camp
forward, and place it on the east. And ye shall blow a signal
with the trumpet the second time, and they shall move the camp forward,
and place it towards Libanus. And ye shall blow a signal with the
trumpet the third time, and they shall move the camp forward, which
shall be placed towards the north [Boream]. And ye shall blow a
signal with the trumpet the fourth time, and they shall move the camp
forward, which shall be placed towards the north [Aquilonem].
They shall blow a signal with the trumpet when they move forward.
And when ye shall gather together the assembly, blow with the trumpet,
but not the signal. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall
blow with the trumpets, and it shall be for you a statute for ever
throughout your generations. But if ye shall go out to war into
your own land, against the adversaries who resist you, ye shall sound a
signal with the trumpets and ye shall be remembered before the Lord,
and have deliverance from your dead. Also in the days of your
gladness, and on your feast days, and on your new moons, ye shall blow
with the trumpets, and at your whole burnt sacrifices and at your
peace-offerings, and it shall be for you for your memorial before the
Lord, saith the Lord.” Num. x. 1–10. St. Ambrose
translates the Septuagint as usual, but there are some
variations. Probably Libanus is a copyist’s mistake for
Liba [Λίβα] the W.S.W. wind.
So, too, Boream perhaps should be mare [παρὰθάλασσαν].
In ch. 115, St. Ambrose in explaining the third trumpet speaks of the
sea. The third and fourth trumpets are not mentioned except in
the Septuagint, and it may be noticed that St. Ambrose changes the
description of the positions of the camps [παρεμβάλλουσαι], consttuta, into a direction, constituentur.