Genesis 37:20

Posted on February 6, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 37:20 venite, occidamus eum, et mittamus in cisternam veterem: dicemusque: Fera pessima devoravit eum: et tunc apparebit quid illi prosint somnia sua.

Come, let us kill him and throw him into an old cistern; we will say, ‘A wild beast most fierce has devoured him,’ and then it will appear what his dreams profit him.”

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 venite come V.2PL.PRES.IMPER.ATT
2 occidamus let us kill V.1PL.PRES.SUBJ.ACT (hortatory)
3 eum him PRON.PERS.ACC.SG.M
4 et and CONJ
5 mittamus let us throw/send V.1PL.PRES.SUBJ.ACT (hortatory)
6 in into PREP+ACC
7 cisternam cistern NOUN.ACC.SG.F
8 veterem old ADJ.ACC.SG.F (modifies cisternam)
9 dicemusque and we will say V.1PL.FUT.ACT.IND + ENCLITIC -QUE
10 Fera wild beast NOUN.NOM.SG.F (exclamatory)
11 pessima most fierce ADJ.NOM.SG.F (superlative, modifies Fera)
12 devoravit has devoured V.3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
13 eum him PRON.PERS.ACC.SG.M
14 et and CONJ
15 tunc then ADV
16 apparebit will appear V.3SG.FUT.ACT.IND
17 quid what PRON.INTERROG.ACC.SG.N (introducing indirect question)
18 illi to him PRON.DEM.DAT.SG.M
19 prosint may profit V.3PL.PRES.SUBJ.ACT (subjunctive in indirect question)
20 somnia dreams NOUN.NOM/ACC.PL.N (subject of prosint)
21 sua his ADJ.POSS.NOM/ACC.PL.N (agrees with somnia)

Syntax

Imperative/Hortatory Sequence: venite, occidamus eum, et mittamus in cisternam veterem — an exhortation expressed by a present imperative venite followed by hortatory subjunctives occidamus and mittamus (1st pl.), giving the proposed collective action and its purpose (throwing into an old cistern).

Reported Speech / False Report: dicemusque Fera pessima devoravit eum — future indicative dicemus introduces the plan to assert a fabricated report; the clause Fera pessima devoravit eum functions as the content of that false declaration (presented as a direct quotation in the plan).

Result / Challenge to Dreams: et tunc apparebit quid illi prosint somnia sua — temporal adverb tunc links consequence; main verb apparebit (future) introduces an indirect question quid … prosint (with subjunctive prosint), where somnia sua is the grammatical subject of prosint. The meaning: “then it will become apparent what advantage his dreams are to him.”

Morphology

  1. venite — Lemma: veniō; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 2nd person plural present imperative active; Function: vocative/exhortative call to the group; Translation: “come / come on”; Notes: Initiates the collective violent plan.
  2. occidamus — Lemma: occīdō; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 1st person plural present subjunctive active (hortatory); Function: expresses the proposed joint action; Translation: “let us kill”; Notes: Hortatory subjunctive commonly used for collective exhortations in Latin.
  3. eum — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: direct object of occidamus and devoravit; Translation: “him”; Notes: Refers to Joseph; repeated for emphasis across verbs.
  4. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates actions; Translation: “and”; Notes: Connects killing and casting actions into a single plan.
  5. mittamus — Lemma: mittō; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 1st person plural present subjunctive active (hortatory); Function: continues the hortatory sequence; Translation: “let us cast/send”; Notes: With in cisternam specifies the disposition of the body.
  6. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative for motion into; Function: introduces destination; Translation: “into”; Notes: Motion into the cistern—accusative required.
  7. cisternam — Lemma: cisterna; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of in; Translation: “cistern”; Notes: Underground pit used for water storage; here a receptacle for concealment.
  8. veterem — Lemma: vetus (veter-is); Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative singular feminine (agrees with cisternam); Function: attributive adjective; Translation: “old”; Notes: Qualifies the cistern as disused or suitable for hiding a body.
  9. dicemusque — Lemma: dīcō; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 1st person plural future indicative active + enclitic -que; Function: expresses planned utterance following the violent act; Translation: “and we will say”; Notes: Future signals intended false report; enclitic -que links to prior clause.
  10. Fera — Lemma: fera; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular feminine (exclamatory utterance); Function: subject in the planned declaration; Translation: “a wild beast”; Notes: Exclamatory noun used as the opening of the false statement they will assert.
  11. pessima — Lemma: pessimus, -a, -um; Part of Speech: adjective (superlative); Form: nominative singular feminine agreeing with fera; Function: emphatic modifier; Translation: “most fierce / very savage”; Notes: Heightens the supposed brutality of the beast in the false report.
  12. devoravit — Lemma: devorō (devorō); Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person singular perfect indicative active; Function: predicate of the false report; Translation: “has devoured”; Notes: Perfect used to assert a completed violent action—part of the fabricated narrative.
  13. eum — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: direct object of devoravit; Translation: “him”; Notes: Repeats referent within the fabricated claim for clarity.
  14. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: links the clause of false report to the resulting statement about dreams; Translation: “and”; Notes: Joins consequences in the narrative.
  15. tunc — Lemma: tum/tunc; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: indeclinable; Function: temporal adverb marking the subsequent moment; Translation: “then”; Notes: Signals the expected moment of proving or refutation.
  16. apparebit — Lemma: appareō; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person singular future indicative active; Function: main verb of the result clause; Translation: “will appear / will become clear”; Notes: Future indicates expectation of revelation or consequence.
  17. quid — Lemma: quis, quid; Part of Speech: interrogative pronoun; Form: accusative singular neuter; Function: introduces the indirect question (content clause) dependent on apparebit; Translation: “what”; Notes: Heads the content of the indirect question concerning the value of the dreams.
  18. illi — Lemma: ille, illa, illud; Part of Speech: demonstrative pronoun; Form: dative singular masculine; Function: indirect object (to/for him) within the indirect question; Translation: “to him”; Notes: Refers to Joseph as the beneficiary (or not) of the dreams.
  19. prosint — Lemma: prōsum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person plural present subjunctive active; Function: verb of the indirect question introduced by quid; Translation: “may/might profit / be of use”; Notes: Subjunctive used in indirect question; present subjunctive expresses general potentiality regarding the dreams’ efficacy.
  20. somnia — Lemma: somnium; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative/accusative plural neuter; Function: subject of prosint within the indirect question; Translation: “dreams”; Notes: Refers specifically to Joseph’s dreams previously narrated.
  21. sua — Lemma: suus, -a, -um; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: nominative/accusative plural neuter agreeing with somnia; Function: possessive modifier; Translation: “his”; Notes: Clarifies that the dreams belong to Joseph, reinforcing the mockery and the test of their value.

 

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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