Numeri 34:29 (Numbers 34:29)

Posted on June 1, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 34:29 Hi sunt, quibus præcepit Dominus ut dividerent filiis Israel Terram Chanaan.

These are they whom the LORD commanded to divide the Land of Chanaan for the children of Israel.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Hi these NOM.PL.M.DEM
2 sunt are 3PL.PRES.ACT.IND
3 quibus to whom DAT.PL.M.REL
4 præcepit commanded 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND 3RD CONJ
5 Dominus the LORD NOM.SG.M 2ND DECL
6 ut that CONJ INVAR
7 dividerent they should divide 3PL.IMP.ACT.SUBJ 3RD CONJ
8 filiis for the children DAT.PL.M 2ND DECL.IOBJ
9 Israel of Israel INDECL
10 Terram the Land ACC.SG.F 1ST DECL.OBJ
11 Chanaan of Canaan INDECL

Syntax

Main Clause: Hi sunt means “These are they.” Hi is a nominative plural masculine demonstrative referring to the men just enumerated, and sunt is the copular verb. The expression sums up the preceding list of tribal representatives.

Relative Clause: quibus præcepit Dominus means literally “to whom the LORD commanded.” quibus is dative plural because præcipio takes the person commanded in the dative. Its antecedent is Hi. Dominus is the nominative subject of præcepit.

Subordinate Command Clause: ut dividerent expresses the content of the command: “that they should divide.” ut introduces the subordinate clause, and dividerent is an imperfect active subjunctive. The imperfect subjunctive follows the perfect præcepit according to normal sequence of tenses in reported or dependent command.

Indirect Object / Beneficiary: filiis Israel means “for the children of Israel.” filiis is dative plural and identifies those for whose benefit the Land is to be apportioned. The indeclinable name Israel specifies whose children are meant.

Direct Object: Terram Chanaan is the direct object of dividerent. Terram is accusative singular, while the indeclinable Chanaan specifies the Land in a genitival sense: “the Land of Chanaan.”

Morphology

  1. Hi — Lemma: hic; Part of Speech: Demonstrative pronoun; Form: Nominative plural masculine; Function: Subject of sunt, referring to the men named in the preceding list; Translation: “these”; Notes: Used substantivally, the masculine plural means “these men” or “these are they.”
  2. sunt — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person plural, present active indicative, irregular verb; Function: Copular verb with Hi; Translation: “are”; Notes: Together with Hi, it forms the summarizing expression that identifies the previously named representatives.
  3. quibus — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: Relative pronoun; Form: Dative plural masculine; Function: Dative complement of præcepit, referring back to Hi; Translation: “to whom”; Notes: The dative reflects the construction of præcipio, in which the person receiving the command is expressed in the dative.
  4. præcepit — Lemma: præcipio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person singular, perfect active indicative, third conjugation; Function: Main verb of the relative clause, governing quibus and the ut-clause; Translation: “commanded”; Notes: The perfect tense presents the LORD’s command as a completed act, while the content of that command follows in the subjunctive clause.
  5. Dominus — Lemma: dominus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative singular masculine, second declension; Function: Subject of præcepit; Translation: “the LORD”; Notes: In this biblical context Dominus represents the divine name and is therefore rendered “LORD.”
  6. ut — Lemma: ut; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Indeclinable subordinating conjunction; Function: Introduces the subordinate clause expressing the content of the command; Translation: “that”; Notes: With præcepit, ut introduces what the named men were commanded to do.
  7. dividerent — Lemma: divido; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person plural, imperfect active subjunctive, third conjugation; Function: Verb of the subordinate command clause introduced by ut; Translation: “they should divide”; Notes: Its understood subject is the men referred to by quibus; the imperfect subjunctive follows the past-tense præcepit in historical sequence.
  8. filiis — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Dative plural masculine, second declension; Function: Indirect object or dative of advantage with dividerent; Translation: “for the children”; Notes: The dative identifies the Israelites as those for whom the Land is to be divided and allotted.
  9. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable biblical proper name; Function: Dependent modifier of filiis, equivalent in sense to “of Israel”; Translation: “of Israel”; Notes: The name remains unchanged in form while specifying the ancestral identity of the filiis.
  10. Terram — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine, first declension; Function: Direct object of dividerent; Translation: “the Land”; Notes: The noun denotes the territory to be apportioned among the children of Israel and is further specified by Chanaan.
  11. Chanaan — Lemma: Chanaan; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable biblical geographical name; Function: Dependent modifier of Terram, equivalent in sense to “of Chanaan”; Translation: “of Chanaan”; Notes: The indeclinable geographical name identifies the particular Land whose division has been entrusted to the appointed representatives.

 

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.
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