Genesis 34:4

Posted on February 3, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 34:4 Et pergens ad Hemor patrem suum, Accipe, inquit, mihi puellam hanc coniugem.

And going to Hemor his father, he said, “Take this girl for me as a wife.”

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Et and CONJ
2 pergens going / proceeding PRES.PTCP.NOM.SG.M
3 ad to / toward PREP+ACC
4 Hemor Hamor ACC.SG (PROPN.INDECL)
5 patrem father ACC.SG.M
6 suum his ACC.SG.M (REFL.ADJ)
7 Accipe receive / take 2SG.PRES.ACT.IMP
8 inquit he said 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND
9 mihi for me DAT.SG.1P.PRON
10 puellam girl ACC.SG.F
11 hanc this ACC.SG.F (DEMONS.PRON)
12 coniugem wife ACC.SG.F

Syntax

Introductory Clause: Et pergens ad Hemor patrem suum — “And going to Hamor his father.”
• Verb: pergens — present participle indicating concurrent action.
• Prepositional Phrase: ad Hemor patrem suum — expresses motion toward the father, apposition clarifying relationship.

Direct Speech: Accipe, inquit, mihi puellam hanc coniugem — “He said, ‘Take this girl for me as a wife.’”
• Verb: Accipe — imperative expressing request or demand.
• Indirect Object: mihi — dative of advantage, “for me.”
• Direct Object: puellam hanc coniugem — double accusative (object + predicate noun), “this girl as a wife.”
• Verb of Speech: inquit — introduces quotation.

Morphology

  1. Et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: connects the narrative sequence; Translation: “and”; Notes: Continues Shechem’s actions.
  2. pergens — Lemma: pergo; Part of Speech: participle; Form: present active participle, nominative singular masculine; Function: temporal modifier; Translation: “going / proceeding”; Notes: Describes Shechem’s movement toward his father.
  3. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: expresses motion toward; Translation: “to / toward”; Notes: Common directional preposition.
  4. Hemor — Lemma: Hemor; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: accusative singular (indeclinable); Function: object of “ad”; Translation: “Hamor”; Notes: Father of Shechem.
  5. patrem — Lemma: pater; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: in apposition to “Hemor”; Translation: “father”; Notes: Specifies familial relation.
  6. suum — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: reflexive possessive adjective; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: modifies “patrem”; Translation: “his”; Notes: Reflexive to the subject Shechem.
  7. Accipe — Lemma: accipio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 2nd person singular present active imperative; Function: direct command or request; Translation: “take / receive”; Notes: Used here in the sense of arranging a marriage.
  8. inquit — Lemma: inquam; Part of Speech: defective verb; Form: 3rd person singular present indicative active; Function: introduces direct speech; Translation: “he said”; Notes: Narrative parenthetical verb.
  9. mihi — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: dative singular; Function: indirect object; Translation: “for me”; Notes: Marks recipient of the action.
  10. puellam — Lemma: puella; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: direct object of “accipe”; Translation: “girl”; Notes: Refers to Dina, the subject of the proposal.
  11. hanc — Lemma: hic; Part of Speech: demonstrative pronoun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: modifies “puellam”; Translation: “this”; Notes: Indicates specificity.
  12. coniugem — Lemma: conjux; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: predicate accusative; Translation: “wife”; Notes: Second accusative completing double-object structure (“take as wife”).

 

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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