Numeri 31:4 (Numbers 31:4)

Posted on May 28, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 31:4 mille viri de singulis tribubus eligantur ex Israel qui mittantur ad bellum.

Let a thousand men from each tribe be chosen from Israel, who are to be sent to war.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 mille a thousand INDECL.CARD.NUM
2 viri men NOM.PL.M
3 de from PREP+ABL
4 singulis each ABL.PL.F.DISTR.ADJ
5 tribubus tribes ABL.PL.F
6 eligantur let them be chosen 3PL.PRES.PASS.SUBJ
7 ex from PREP+ABL
8 Israel Israel ABL.SG.INDECL
9 qui who NOM.PL.M.REL.PRON
10 mittantur are to be sent 3PL.PRES.PASS.SUBJ
11 ad to PREP+ACC
12 bellum war ACC.SG.N

Syntax

1. Jussive Main Clause
The principal clause is mille viri de singulis tribubus eligantur ex Israel. Its verb, eligantur, is a third-person plural present passive subjunctive used independently with jussive force. It expresses a command directed toward others: “let them be chosen.” The passive voice places emphasis upon the selection of the men rather than upon the unnamed persons responsible for choosing them.

2. Subject of the Passive Verb
The nominative plural noun viri is the grammatical subject of eligantur. Because the verb is passive, these men receive the action of selection. The cardinal numeral mille modifies viri and specifies the total number to be chosen.

3. Use of the Indeclinable Numeral
mille is an indeclinable cardinal numeral when it denotes exactly one thousand. Here it stands adjectivally with the nominative plural viri. The construction means “a thousand men,” not “a thousand of men,” since mille directly qualifies the noun rather than governing a partitive genitive.

4. Distributive Prepositional Phrase
The phrase de singulis tribubus indicates the groups from which the men are to be selected. The preposition de governs the ablative and expresses selection from a larger body. The distributive adjective singulis means “from each” or “from every one separately.” Thus the command requires representation from every tribe rather than permitting the entire force to be drawn from only some tribes.

5. Agreement within the Phrase
singulis agrees with tribubus in feminine gender, plural number, and ablative case. Although translated naturally as the singular “each tribe,” Latin uses the plural distributive expression singulis tribubus, literally “from the several tribes, one by one.”

6. Prepositional Phrase of Source
The phrase ex Israel further identifies the source of the selected men. The preposition ex ordinarily governs the ablative, while Israel is an indeclinable proper noun whose case is determined by its syntactical position. The phrase makes clear that the military force is to be drawn from the nation of Israel itself.

7. Relationship between the Two Source Phrases
The phrases de singulis tribubus and ex Israel overlap but are not redundant. The first specifies the internal distribution of the selection, requiring men from each individual tribe. The second identifies Israel collectively as the nation from which the force is assembled. Together they express both tribal representation and national identity.

8. Relative Clause
The relative pronoun qui introduces the clause qui mittantur ad bellum. It refers back to viri and therefore appears in the nominative plural masculine. Within the relative clause, qui functions as the subject of the passive verb mittantur.

9. Relative Clause of Purpose
The subjunctive mittantur gives the relative clause purposive force. The men are to be chosen precisely so that they may be sent to war. The clause may therefore be understood as “men who are to be sent to war” or more explicitly, “men in order that they may be sent to war.” The subjunctive does not merely describe what happens to them; it expresses the intended purpose of their selection.

10. Passive Verbal Parallelism
Both principal verbs, eligantur and mittantur, are present passive subjunctives. This parallelism creates a two-stage sequence: first the men are to be selected, and then they are to be sent. The repeated passive construction keeps attention on the divinely ordered process rather than on the human agents carrying it out.

11. Prepositional Phrase of Destination or Purpose
The phrase ad bellum complements mittantur. The preposition ad governs the accusative bellum and expresses the destination or purpose of the sending. In this military context, it means “to war,” indicating active deployment for battle.

12. Overall Sentence Structure
The sentence consists of a jussive main clause followed by a purposive relative clause. The main clause determines the number, tribal distribution, and national source of the men. The relative clause then states their intended mission. The syntax therefore moves in an orderly progression from selection to deployment.

Morphology

  1. mille — Lemma: mille; Part of Speech: Cardinal numeral; Form: Indeclinable numeral; Function: Modifies viri and specifies their number; Translation: “a thousand”; Notes: When denoting exactly one thousand, mille is indeclinable and may directly modify a plural noun.
  2. viri — Lemma: vir; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: nominative plural masculine, second declension; Function: Subject of eligantur; Translation: “men”; Notes: Refers to the Israelite men who are to be selected for military service.
  3. de — Lemma: de; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the ablative case; Function: Introduces the groups from which the men are selected; Translation: “from”; Notes: Expresses selection out of the individual tribes.
  4. singulis — Lemma: singuli; Part of Speech: Distributive adjective; Form: ablative plural feminine; Function: Modifies tribubus; Translation: “each”; Notes: Distributes the selection among the tribes individually, requiring representation from every tribe.
  5. tribubus — Lemma: tribus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: ablative plural feminine, fourth declension; Function: Object of de; Translation: “tribes”; Notes: Identifies the tribal divisions from which the men are to be chosen.
  6. eligantur — Lemma: eligo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third-person plural present passive subjunctive, third conjugation; Function: Main verb used as a jussive command; Translation: “let them be chosen”; Notes: The independent subjunctive expresses an order, while the passive voice emphasizes the men being selected.
  7. ex — Lemma: ex; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the ablative case; Function: Introduces the national source of the selected men; Translation: “from”; Notes: Indicates that the force is to be drawn from Israel.
  8. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable proper noun used with ablative force; Function: Object of ex; Translation: “Israel”; Notes: Its syntactical case is determined by the preposition even though its form does not change.
  9. qui — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: Relative pronoun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: Subject of mittantur; Translation: “who”; Notes: Refers back to the nominative plural noun viri.
  10. mittantur — Lemma: mitto; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third-person plural present passive subjunctive, third conjugation; Function: Verb of the relative clause of purpose; Translation: “are to be sent”; Notes: The subjunctive expresses the purpose for which the men are chosen.
  11. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the accusative case; Function: Introduces the destination or purpose of the sending; Translation: “to”; Notes: Indicates deployment for military action.
  12. bellum — Lemma: bellum; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative singular neuter, second declension; Function: Object of ad; Translation: “war”; Notes: Specifies the military purpose for which the chosen men are to be sent.

 

About Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Born around 346 A.D. in Stridon, St. Jerome was a scholar fluent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew whose ascetic discipline and deep engagement with Scripture prepared him for a monumental task: translating the Bible into Latin. Commissioned by Pope Damasus I around 382 A.D., Jerome began by revising the flawed Old Latin Gospels, then expanded his work to the entire Bible. For the New Testament, he corrected Latin texts using Greek manuscripts; for the Old Testament, he translated most books directly from Hebrew—a controversial but principled choice. His final Psalter, however, followed the Greek Septuagint tradition for liturgical use. This composite translation, later known as the Vulgate (editio vulgata), became the authoritative biblical text of the Western Church, formally endorsed at the Council of Trent in 1546. The Vulgate’s influence extends beyond theology into textual criticism and Latin education. As one of the earliest translations grounded in original-language scholarship, it offers a vital witness to the state of biblical texts in late antiquity. Jerome’s lexical and syntactic decisions are studied to trace manuscript history and assess variant readings. Its elegant Latin, consistent in grammar and rich in vocabulary, became a model for medieval and Renaissance learning, bridging classical and ecclesiastical Latin. More than a translation, the Vulgate helped define Christian doctrine, preserved the Latin language, and laid essential groundwork for the critical study of Scripture—remaining indispensable to students of Latin, theology, and textual history.
This entry was posted in Numeri. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.