Genesis 43:20

Posted on February 12, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 43:20 locuti sunt: Oramus domine ut audias nos. Iam ante descendimus ut emeremus escas:

they spoke: “We beg, lord, that you may hear us. Already before we came down to buy food;

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 locuti having spoken NOM.PL.M.PPP
2 sunt they 3PL.PRES.ACT.IND
3 Oramus we beg 1PL.PRES.ACT.IND
4 domine lord VOC.SG.M
5 ut that CONJ
6 audias you may hear 2SG.PRES.ACT.SUBJ
7 nos us ACC.PL
8 Iam already ADV
9 ante before ADV
10 descendimus we came down 1PL.PERF.ACT.IND
11 ut to / in order to CONJ
12 emeremus we might buy 1PL.IMPFT.ACT.SUBJ
13 escas food ACC.PL.F

Syntax

Opening participial clause: locuti sunt — periphrastic perfect forming “they spoke.”
Direct address: Oramus domine — speech act with vocative domine.
Purpose clause: ut audias nos — subjunctive audias shows requested action.
Temporal adverbs: Iam ante — emphasize previous descent.
Main clause: descendimus — completed action.
Final clause: ut emeremus escas — expresses purpose of journey.

Morphology

  1. locuti — Lemma: loquor; Part of Speech: deponent participle; Form: nominative plural masculine perfect passive participle (active meaning); Function: forms perfect with sunt; Translation: “having spoken”; Notes: deponent, active in sense.
  2. sunt — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active indicative 3rd plural; Function: auxiliary; Translation: “they”; Notes: used with deponent participle.
  3. Oramus — Lemma: oro; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active indicative 1st plural; Function: main verb of speech; Translation: “we beg”; Notes: expresses appeal.
  4. domine — Lemma: dominus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: vocative singular masculine; Function: direct address; Translation: “lord”; Notes: respectful form of address.
  5. ut — Lemma: ut; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: introduces purpose; Function: marks requested action; Translation: “that”; Notes: governs subjunctive.
  6. audias — Lemma: audio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active subjunctive 2nd singular; Function: verb of purpose; Translation: “you may hear”; Notes: polite petition.
  7. nos — Lemma: nos; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: accusative plural; Function: object of audias; Translation: “us”; Notes: direct recipients.
  8. Iam — Lemma: iam; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: adverbial; Function: temporal marker; Translation: “already”; Notes: emphasizes prior action.
  9. ante — Lemma: ante; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: adverbial; Function: temporal; Translation: “before”; Notes: strengthens time reference.
  10. descendimus — Lemma: descendo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect active indicative 1st plural; Function: main verb; Translation: “we came down”; Notes: earlier journey to Egypt.
  11. ut — Lemma: ut; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: introduces purpose; Function: marks the reason for descent; Translation: “to / in order to”; Notes: governs subjunctive.
  12. emeremus — Lemma: emo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: imperfect active subjunctive 1st plural; Function: purpose; Translation: “we might buy”; Notes: imperfect subjunctive used after historical main verb.
  13. escas — Lemma: esca; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural feminine; Function: direct object; Translation: “food”; Notes: generic for provisions.

 

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 Genesis. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.