4536. salpigx
Lexical Summary
salpigx: Trumpet

Original Word: σάλπιγξ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: salpigx
Pronunciation: SAL-pinks
Phonetic Spelling: (sal'-pinx)
KJV: trump(-et)
NASB: trumpet, trumpets, bugle
Word Origin: [perhaps from G4535 (σάλος - waves) (through the idea of quavering or reverberation)]

1. a trumpet

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
trumpet.

Perhaps from salos (through the idea of quavering or reverberation); a trumpet -- trump(-et).

see GREEK salos

HELPS Word-studies

4536 sálpigks – "properly, a war-trumpet" (WS, 797) that boldly announces God's victory (the vanquishing of His enemies).

In the OT, trumpets were used to called God's people to war, and to announce victory wrought by Him. That is, a military clarion that proclaimed the Lord inspired and empowered the victory on behalf of His people.

["The trumpet was the signal employed to call the hosts of Israel to march as to war, and is common in prophetic imagery (Is 27:13). Cf. The seventh angel (Rev 11:15)" (WP, 1, 193).

Trumpets in the OT summoned God's saints for His righteous wars (Nu 10:9; Jer 4:19; Joel 2:1). See also Lev 23:24,25; Nu 10:2-10; Ps 81:3.]

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from salpizó
Definition
a trumpet
NASB Translation
bugle (1), trumpet (8), trumpets (2).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 4536: σάλπιγξ

σάλπιγξ, σάλπιγγος, , a trumpet: Matthew 24:31 (cf. Buttmann, 161 (141); 343 (295)); 1 Corinthians 14:8; Hebrews 12:19; Revelation 1:10; Revelation 4:1; Revelation 8:2, 6, 13; Revelation 9:14; ἐν σάλπιγγι Θεοῦ, a trumpet which sounds at God's command (Winer's Grammar, § 36, 3 b.), 1 Thessalonians 4:16; ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ σάλπιγγι, the trumpet which will sound at the last day, 1 Corinthians 15:52 (4 (2) Esdr. ; see commentaries on 1 Thessalonians as above). (From Homer down; the Sept. for שׁופָר and חֲצֹצְרָה.)

Topical Lexicon
Overview

Strong’s Greek 4536 refers to the trumpet, an instrument whose piercing call gathers, warns, or celebrates. In the New Testament it carries prophetic and eschatological weight, uniting earlier biblical symbolism with the climactic revelation of Jesus Christ. Eleven occurrences span the Gospels, Pauline epistles, Hebrews, and Revelation, each reinforcing the trumpet’s role as a divine signal.

Old Testament background

The Hebrew Scriptures distinguish between the ram’s horn (shofar) and the silver trumpets (chatsotserah). Both summoned Israel to worship (Numbers 10:10), signaled war (Numbers 10:9), proclaimed royal enthronements (2 Kings 9:13), and announced the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:9). This heritage shapes New Testament usage: the sound is never mere ceremony; it is God’s authoritative voice in audible form.

Trumpet imagery in Second Temple Judaism and Greco-Roman culture

During the intertestamental period, the trumpet maintained military and cultic functions. Jewish writings (e.g., Josephus, 1 Maccabees 4:40) speak of silver trumpets rallying forces and sanctifying feasts. Hellenistic armies likewise employed the salpinx to coordinate troops. Thus first-century hearers instinctively associated a trumpet blast with decisive action, public assembly, and royal presence.

The ministry of Jesus

Matthew 24:31 anticipates the consummation: “And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” The trumpet here gathers dispersed saints, echoing Isaiah 27:13 and framing Christ as the true Deliverer who fulfills Israel’s hope.

Pauline use and theology

• Clarion clarity: “If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?” (1 Corinthians 14:8). Clear proclamation is vital in corporate worship.

• Resurrection hope: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

• Advent assurance: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). The trumpet heralds both resurrection and reunion.

Paul thus weaves the instrument into his eschatology: the same God who once gathered Israel in the wilderness will finally gather His church into glory.

Horeb and heavenly assembly

Hebrews 12:19 recalls “the blast of a trumpet and a voice speaking words” at Sinai. The author contrasts that frightful scene with the joyful access believers now enjoy in the heavenly Zion (Hebrews 12:22-24). The trumpet blast underscores continuity between the covenants: God still speaks, yet through the mediating blood of Jesus.

Trumpet motifs in Revelation

• Voice of the exalted Christ: “I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet” (Revelation 1:10), a vivid reminder that His speech commands attention.

• Entrance into the heavenly throne room: “The first voice I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here’” (Revelation 4:1).

• Judicial series: Seven angels receive seven trumpets (Revelation 8:2) and unleash judgments (8:6–13; 9:14). The escalating plagues parallel the Egyptian plagues, emphasizing God’s sovereignty and the urgency of repentance.

The trumpet judgments widen the Exodus pattern to a global stage, proving that history moves toward the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

Doctrinal significance

1. Divine initiative: Every blast originates in heaven; human response is secondary.
2. Gathering and separation: The trumpet assembles the righteous and signals doom for the unrepentant.
3. Irreversibility: Once the final trumpet sounds, destinies are fixed (1 Corinthians 15:52; Revelation 11:15).
4. Continuity of covenants: From Sinai to Zion, the trumpet evidences the same holy God acting consistently.

Practical and liturgical applications

• Preaching must be as distinct as a trumpet, free of “uncertain sounds.”
• Worship anticipates the great assembly; music and liturgy may employ trumpet imagery to evoke watchfulness and joy.
• Pastoral ministry prepares believers for the imminent “last trumpet,” fostering holiness and hope.
• Evangelism sounds a warning: judgment is real, but so is the gracious call to gather under Christ’s banner.

Christological focus and eschatological hope

The trumpet draws all eyes to Jesus—His voice, His return, His reign. It signals that the kingdoms of this world will become “the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ” (Revelation 11:15). With every remembrance of the trumpet, the church looks forward, longing for the day when faith becomes sight and the final call resounds across creation.

Forms and Transliterations
σαλπιγγα σάλπιγγα σαλπιγγας σάλπιγγας σαλπιγγες σάλπιγγες σαλπιγγι σάλπιγγι σαλπιγγος σάλπιγγος σαλπίγγων σαλπιγξ σάλπιγξ σάλπιγξι σάλπιγξιν salpinga sálpinga salpingas sálpingas salpinges sálpinges salpingi sálpingi salpingos sálpingos salpinx sálpinx
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Matthew 24:31 N-GFS
GRK: αὐτοῦ μετὰ σάλπιγγος μεγάλης καὶ
NAS: with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER
KJV: sound of a trumpet, and
INT: of him with a trumpet call great and

1 Corinthians 14:8 N-NFS
GRK: ἐὰν ἄδηλον σάλπιγξ φωνὴν δῷ
NAS: For if the bugle produces
KJV: For if the trumpet give an uncertain
INT: if an uncertain a trumpet sound gives

1 Corinthians 15:52 N-DFS
GRK: τῇ ἐσχάτῃ σάλπιγγι σαλπίσει γάρ
NAS: at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound,
KJV: the last trump: for
INT: the last trumpet a trumpet will sound indeed

1 Thessalonians 4:16 N-DFS
GRK: καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι θεοῦ καταβήσεται
NAS: of [the] archangel and with the trumpet of God,
KJV: and with the trump of God: and
INT: and with trumpet of God will descend

Hebrews 12:19 N-GFS
GRK: καὶ σάλπιγγος ἤχῳ καὶ
NAS: and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound
KJV: the sound of a trumpet, and
INT: and trumpet to sound and

Revelation 1:10 N-GFS
GRK: μεγάλην ὡς σάλπιγγος
NAS: voice like [the sound] of a trumpet,
KJV: voice, as of a trumpet,
INT: loud as of a trumpet

Revelation 4:1 N-GFS
GRK: ἤκουσα ὡς σάλπιγγος λαλούσης μετ'
NAS: like [the sound] of a trumpet speaking
KJV: [was] as it were of a trumpet talking
INT: I heard [was] as of a trumpet speaking with

Revelation 8:2 N-NFP
GRK: αὐτοῖς ἑπτὰ σάλπιγγες
NAS: and seven trumpets were given
KJV: were given seven trumpets.
INT: to them seven trumpets

Revelation 8:6 N-AFP
GRK: τὰς ἑπτὰ σάλπιγγας ἡτοίμασαν αὑτοὺς
NAS: the seven trumpets prepared
KJV: the seven trumpets prepared
INT: the seven trumpets prepared themselves

Revelation 8:13 N-GFS
GRK: φωνῶν τῆς σάλπιγγος τῶν τριῶν
NAS: blasts of the trumpet of the three
KJV: voices of the trumpet of the three
INT: voices of the trumpet of the three

Revelation 9:14 N-AFS
GRK: ἔχων τὴν σάλπιγγα Λῦσον τοὺς
NAS: who had the trumpet, Release
KJV: which had the trumpet, Loose the four
INT: had the trumpet Release the

Strong's Greek 4536
11 Occurrences


σάλπιγγα — 1 Occ.
σάλπιγγας — 1 Occ.
σάλπιγγες — 1 Occ.
σάλπιγγι — 2 Occ.
σάλπιγγος — 5 Occ.
σάλπιγξ — 1 Occ.

4535
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