Genesis 46:31

Posted on February 15, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 46:31 At ille locutus est ad fratres suos, et ad omnem domum patris sui: Ascendam, et nunciabo Pharaoni dicamque ei: Fratres mei, et domus patris mei, qui erant in Terra Chanaan, venerunt ad me:

But he spoke to his brothers and to the whole house of his father: “I will go up and I will announce to Pharao, and I will say to him: ‘My brothers and the house of my father, who were in the Land of Chanaan, have come to me;

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 At but CONJ
2 ille he NOM.SG.M
3 locutus having spoken NOM.SG.M.PART.PERF.DEP
4 est was 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND
5 ad to PREP+ACC
6 fratres brothers ACC.PL.M
7 suos his ACC.PL.M.ADJ
8 et and CONJ
9 ad to PREP+ACC
10 omnem all ACC.SG.F.ADJ
11 domum house ACC.SG.F
12 patris of father GEN.SG.M
13 sui his GEN.SG.M.ADJ
14 Ascendam I will go up 1SG.FUT.ACT.IND
15 et and CONJ
16 nunciabo I will announce 1SG.FUT.ACT.IND
17 Pharaoni to Pharaoh DAT.SG.M
18 dicamque and I will say 1SG.FUT.ACT.IND+QUE
19 ei to him DAT.SG.M
20 Fratres brothers NOM.PL.M
21 mei my NOM.PL.M.ADJ
22 et and CONJ
23 domus house NOM.SG.F
24 patris of father GEN.SG.M
25 mei my GEN.SG.M.ADJ
26 qui who NOM.PL.M
27 erant were 3PL.IMPF.ACT.IND
28 in in PREP+ABL
29 Terra land ABL.SG.F
30 Chanaan Canaan ABL.SG.F
31 venerunt have come 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
32 ad to PREP+ACC
33 me me ACC.SG.PRON

Syntax

Main Narrative Clause: At ille locutus est ad fratres suos et ad omnem domum patris sui — At introduces a mild contrast; ille is the subject (“he”), referring to Joseph; locutus est is the perfect deponent verb “spoke”; the prepositional phrases ad fratres suos and ad omnem domum patris sui give the recipients (“to his brothers and to the whole house of his father”).

Statement of Intent: Ascendam, et nunciabo Pharaoni, dicamque ei — three coordinated future first-person singular verbs (Ascendam, nunciabo, dicamque) express Joseph’s planned actions; Pharaoni and ei are indirect objects (“to Pharaoh”, “to him”).

Quoted Report: Fratres mei, et domus patris mei, qui erant in Terra Chanaan, venerunt ad me — the subjects are the coordinated phrases Fratres mei and domus patris mei; the relative clause qui erant in Terra Chanaan describes these subjects; the main predicate is venerunt ad me (“have come to me”), with ad me marking Joseph as the destination.

Morphology

  1. At — Lemma: at; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: adversative sentence connector introducing a slight contrast or shift; Translation: “but”; Notes: weaker than sed, often used in narrative transitions.
  2. ille — Lemma: ille; Part of Speech: demonstrative pronoun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of the main verb locutus est; Translation: “he”; Notes: contextually refers to Joseph as the one speaking.
  3. locutus — Lemma: loquor; Part of Speech: deponent participle; Form: nominative singular masculine perfect participle; Function: with est forms the perfect tense “he spoke”; Translation: “having spoken” / “spoke”; Notes: deponent verb with passive form and active meaning.
  4. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular present active indicative; Function: auxiliary verb completing the perfect of the deponent locutus; Translation: “was” (forming “has spoken / spoke”); Notes: standard auxiliary in deponent perfect constructions.
  5. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: takes accusative; Function: introduces the first group of recipients of speech; Translation: “to”; Notes: directional preposition marking goal or addressee.
  6. fratres — Lemma: frater; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: object of the preposition ad as recipients of the speaking; Translation: “brothers”; Notes: refers to Joseph’s siblings who are addressed.
  7. suos — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: modifies fratres, showing possession; Translation: “his”; Notes: reflexive, referring back to the subject ille (Joseph).
  8. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: coordinating conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: joins the two prepositional phrases ad fratres suos and ad omnem domum patris sui; Translation: “and”; Notes: simple additive coordination.
  9. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: takes accusative; Function: introduces a second recipient phrase; Translation: “to”; Notes: marks direction toward the whole household.
  10. omnem — Lemma: omnis; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: modifies domum, emphasizing totality of the house; Translation: “whole / all”; Notes: intensifies the scope of domum.
  11. domum — Lemma: domus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of ad (second recipient group); Translation: “house”; Notes: here “house” denotes household or family as a social unit.
  12. patris — Lemma: pater; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: genitive of possession modifying domum; Translation: “of [his] father”; Notes: indicates that the house in view is that of Joseph’s father.
  13. sui — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective/pronominal adjective; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: modifies patris, reinforcing the reflexive possession; Translation: “his”; Notes: reflexive to ille (Joseph), not to some other male.
  14. Ascendam — Lemma: ascendo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: first person singular future active indicative; Function: first of a series of coordinated future actions in Joseph’s reported intention; Translation: “I will go up”; Notes: expresses deliberate future movement, probably to the court of Pharaoh.
  15. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: coordinating conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates Ascendam and nunciabo; Translation: “and”; Notes: links parallel future actions.
  16. nunciabo — Lemma: nuntio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: first person singular future active indicative; Function: second future action, announcing news; Translation: “I will announce”; Notes: content of this announcement is introduced by the following reported speech.
  17. Pharaoni — Lemma: Pharao; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: dative singular masculine; Function: indirect object of nunciabo; Translation: “to Pharaoh”; Notes: identifies the addressee of the announcement.
  18. dicamque — Lemma: dico; Part of Speech: verb (with enclitic); Form: first person singular future active indicative with enclitic -que; Function: third coordinated future action (“and I will say”); Translation: “and I will say”; Notes: enclitic -que adds this action closely to the previous future verbs.
  19. ei — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: personal/demonstrative pronoun; Form: dative singular masculine; Function: indirect object of dicamque; Translation: “to him”; Notes: refers to Pharaoh, the person to whom Joseph will speak.
  20. Fratres — Lemma: frater; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: first subject of the quoted clause; Translation: “brothers”; Notes: these are Joseph’s brothers being reported to Pharaoh.
  21. mei — Lemma: meus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: modifies Fratres, indicating possession; Translation: “my”; Notes: explicitly marks the brothers as belonging to Joseph.
  22. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: coordinating conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates Fratres mei and domus patris mei as joint subjects; Translation: “and”; Notes: joins two subject phrases in the report.
  23. domus — Lemma: domus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular feminine; Function: second subject of the quoted clause, coordinated with Fratres mei; Translation: “house”; Notes: here “house” = “household” or “family of my father.”
  24. patris — Lemma: pater; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: genitive of possession modifying domus; Translation: “of father”; Notes: specifies whose household is in view, i.e., the father of Joseph.
  25. mei — Lemma: meus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: modifies patris, clarifying first person possession; Translation: “my”; Notes: together domus patris mei = “the house of my father.”
  26. qui — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: relative pronoun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: subject of the relative clause erant in Terra Chanaan; Translation: “who”; Notes: refers collectively to Fratres mei et domus patris mei.
  27. erant — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person plural imperfect active indicative; Function: main verb of the relative clause; Translation: “were”; Notes: imperfect marks a continuing past state (“were living in the land of Canaan”).
  28. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs ablative; Function: introduces a locative phrase; Translation: “in”; Notes: static location preposition.
  29. Terra — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular feminine; Function: object of the preposition in; Translation: “land”; Notes: generic term for region or territory.
  30. Chanaan — Lemma: Chanaan; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: ablative singular feminine; Function: geographical name in apposition to Terra; Translation: “Canaan”; Notes: specifies which land is meant.
  31. venerunt — Lemma: venio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person plural perfect active indicative; Function: main verb of the quoted clause; Translation: “have come”; Notes: perfect tense highlights completed arrival of the family.
  32. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: marks the goal or destination of the coming; Translation: “to”; Notes: introduces the personal destination.
  33. me — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: accusative singular; Function: object of ad, indicating the one to whom they have come; Translation: “me”; Notes: Joseph is the focal point of the family’s arrival.

 

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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