Genesis 26:11

Posted on January 26, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 26:11 Qui tetigerit hominis huius uxorem, morte morietur.

“Whoever touches this man’s wife shall surely be put to death.”

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Qui whoever REL.PRON.NOM.SG.M
2 tetigerit shall touch 3SG.FUT.PERF.ACT.IND
3 hominis of the man NOUN.GEN.SG.M
4 huius this DEM.PRON.GEN.SG.M
5 uxorem wife NOUN.ACC.SG.F
6 morte by death NOUN.ABL.SG.F
7 morietur shall die 3SG.FUT.DEP.IND

Syntax

Main Clause: Qui tetigerit hominis huius uxorem, morte morietur — conditional structure in relative form: “Whoever touches … shall die.”
Subject: Qui functions as both relative pronoun and subject of tetigerit.
Verb: tetigerit (future perfect) indicates the act precedes the punishment expressed by morietur.
Objects: uxorem (object of tetigerit) governed by genitive phrase hominis huius indicating possession.
Phrase: morte morietur — ablative of means or penalty, literally “by death he shall die,” a legal formula emphasizing certainty of execution.

Morphology

  1. Qui — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: relative pronoun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of tetigerit; Translation: “whoever”; Notes: Generic relative introducing legal conditional clause.
  2. tetigerit — Lemma: tango; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future perfect active indicative 3rd person singular; Function: verb of conditional clause; Translation: “shall touch”; Notes: Future perfect anticipates the completed action before judgment.
  3. hominis — Lemma: homo; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: possessive genitive; Translation: “of the man”; Notes: Expresses ownership of uxorem.
  4. huius — Lemma: hic; Part of Speech: demonstrative pronoun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: modifies hominis; Translation: “this”; Notes: Refers to the man presently discussed (Isaac).
  5. uxorem — Lemma: uxor; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: direct object of tetigerit; Translation: “wife”; Notes: Object of the prohibited action.
  6. morte — Lemma: mors; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular feminine; Function: ablative of penalty; Translation: “by death”; Notes: Denotes means or punishment to be inflicted.
  7. morietur — Lemma: morior; Part of Speech: deponent verb; Form: future indicative; Function: main verb of apodosis; Translation: “shall die”; Notes: Deponent verb using future tense to express divine or royal decree.

 

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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