Genesis 46:12

Posted on February 15, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 46:12 Filii Iuda: Her et Onan et Sela et Phares et Zara. mortui sunt autem Her et Onan in terra Chanaan. Natique sunt filii Phares: Hesron et Hamul.

The sons of Judas: Her and Onan and Sela and Phares and Zara. But Her and Onan died in the land of Chanaan. And sons were born to Phares: Hesron and Hamul.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Filii sons NOM.PL.M
2 Iuda Judah GEN.SG.M
3 Her Er NOM.SG.M
4 et and CONJ
5 Onan Onan NOM.SG.M
6 et and CONJ
7 Sela Shela NOM.SG.M
8 et and CONJ
9 Phares Perez NOM.SG.M
10 et and CONJ
11 Zara Zerah NOM.SG.M
12 mortui having died NOM.PL.M.PERF.PTCP
13 sunt were 3PL.PRES.ACT.IND
14 autem however CONJ
15 Her Her NOM.SG.M
16 et and CONJ
17 Onan Onan NOM.SG.M
18 in in PREP+ABL
19 terra land ABL.SG.F
20 Chanaan Canaan ABL.SG.INDECL
21 Natique and having been born NOM.PL.M.PERF.PTCP+ENCL
22 sunt were 3PL.PRES.ACT.IND
23 filii sons NOM.PL.M
24 Phares of Perez GEN.SG.M
25 Hesron Hezron NOM.SG.M
26 et and CONJ
27 Hamul Hamul NOM.SG.M

Syntax

Genealogical Heading: Filii Iuda functions as a nominative title: “the sons of Iuda,” introducing the list that follows.
Coordinated List: Her, Onan, Sela, Phares, and Zara form a coordinated series of nominative names, linked by repeated et for clear enumeration.
Death Statement: mortui sunt autem Her et Onan in terra Chanaan forms an independent clause: mortui sunt (verbal nucleus) with coordinated subjects Her and Onan, and the prepositional phrase in terra Chanaan specifying the place of their death; autem adds a mild contrastive or transitional nuance.
Secondary Genealogical Note: Natique sunt filii Phares introduces a second clause: the periphrastic verb Natique sunt (“and sons were born”) with filii as subject and Phares in the genitive of parentage. The following coordinated names Hesron and Hamul identify those sons.

Morphology

  1. Filii — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: subject and heading of the genealogical list; Translation: “sons”; Notes: plural nominative introduces the group of male descendants belonging to Iuda.
  2. Iuda — Lemma: Iuda; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: genitive of relationship depending on Filii; Translation: “of Iuda”; Notes: Hebrew tribal name used in Latin form to mark paternal lineage.
  3. Her — Lemma: Her; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: first member of the list of Iuda’s sons; Translation: “Her”; Notes: appears both in the initial list and later as subject in the death notice.
  4. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: coordinating conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: links coordinated noun phrases; Translation: “and”; Notes: simple copulative conjunction, frequently repeated in genealogical lists for clarity.
  5. Onan — Lemma: Onan; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: coordinated element in the list of sons; Translation: “Onan”; Notes: shares parallel syntactic status with the other brothers named.
  6. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: coordinating conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: joins Onan to Sela and the rest of the list; Translation: “and”; Notes: continues the additive enumerative pattern.
  7. Sela — Lemma: Sela; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: coordinated son of Iuda; Translation: “Sela”; Notes: one of the named sons, grammatically parallel to Her and Onan.
  8. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: coordinating conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: joins Sela to Phares; Translation: “and”; Notes: maintains the paratactic listing style typical of genealogies.
  9. Phares — Lemma: Phares; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular masculine (in this first occurrence); Function: one of the sons of Iuda, part of the coordinated list; Translation: “Phares”; Notes: later appears in the genitive as the father of Hesron and Hamul.
  10. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: coordinating conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: connects Phares to Zara; Translation: “and”; Notes: final connective in this first enumeration.
  11. Zara — Lemma: Zara; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: final son in the list; Translation: “Zara”; Notes: completes the set of five sons of Iuda.
  12. mortui — Lemma: morior; Part of Speech: participle of a deponent verb; Form: nominative plural masculine perfect participle; Function: predicate participle with sunt describing the state of the subjects; Translation: “having died” or “died”; Notes: from deponent morior, morphologically passive but active in meaning.
  13. sunt — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active indicative third person plural; Function: auxiliary verb completing the periphrastic construction with mortui; Translation: “were”; Notes: forms a perfect-like sense together with the perfect participle.
  14. autem — Lemma: autem; Part of Speech: conjunction (postpositive particle); Form: invariable; Function: adds a mild adversative or transitional nuance to the clause; Translation: “however” or “but”; Notes: appears after the first word of the clause, as is typical for postpositive particles.
  15. Her — Lemma: Her; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: one of the coordinated subjects of mortui sunt; Translation: “Her”; Notes: here specifically in focus as one of those who died in the land of Chanaan.
  16. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: coordinating conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: links Her and Onan as joint subjects of the verb phrase; Translation: “and”; Notes: simple coordination of two proper nouns as a compound subject.
  17. Onan — Lemma: Onan; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: second coordinated subject of mortui sunt; Translation: “Onan”; Notes: paired with Her in the explicit death notice.
  18. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs the ablative; Function: introduces a prepositional phrase of location; Translation: “in”; Notes: here indicates the place where the death occurred.
  19. terra — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular feminine; Function: object of the preposition in; Translation: “land”; Notes: combined with Chanaan to specify the geographical region.
  20. Chanaan — Lemma: Chanaan; Part of Speech: proper noun (indeclinable); Form: indeclinable used here in ablative apposition; Function: apposition to terra naming the land; Translation: “Chanaan”; Notes: Hebrew place name treated as indeclinable in Latin.
  21. Natique — Lemma: natus + -que (from nascor); Part of Speech: perfect participle of a deponent verb with enclitic conjunction; Form: nominative plural masculine perfect participle with enclitic -que; Function: predicate participle with sunt introducing a new but connected clause; Translation: “and having been born” or “and were born”; Notes: deponent nascor uses perfect participle nati plus -que to link this statement closely to the previous one.
  22. sunt — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active indicative third person plural; Function: auxiliary completing the periphrastic verb phrase with Natique; Translation: “were”; Notes: together with Natique forms a passive-like sense “were born.”
  23. filii — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: subject of Natique sunt; Translation: “sons”; Notes: identifies the ones who were born, namely the sons of Phares.
  24. Phares — Lemma: Phares; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: genitive of parentage depending on filii; Translation: “of Phares”; Notes: shifts from nominative in the earlier list to genitive here to mark him as the father.
  25. Hesron — Lemma: Hesron; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: first member of the list of sons of Phares; Translation: “Hesron”; Notes: stands in nominative agreement with the implied subject “sons.”
  26. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: coordinating conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: connects Hesron and Hamul as a pair; Translation: “and”; Notes: simple coordination of the two brothers.
  27. Hamul — Lemma: Hamul; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: second son of Phares in the list; Translation: “Hamul”; Notes: completes the short genealogical notice of Phares’s line.

 

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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