Genesis 2:19

Posted on January 2, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 2:19 Formatis igitur, Dominus Deus, de humo cunctis animantibus terræ, et universis volatilibus cæli, adduxit ea ad Adam, ut videret quid vocaret ea: omne enim quod vocavit Adam animæ viventis, ipsum est nomen eius.

Therefore the LORD God, having formed from the ground all the living creatures of the earth and every bird of the sky, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; for whatever Adam called a living soul, that was its name.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Formatis having been formed ABL.PL.N.PERF.PASS.PART
2 igitur therefore ADV
3 Dominus LORD NOM.SG.M
4 Deus God NOM.SG.M
5 de from / out of PREP+ABL
6 humo ground / soil ABL.SG.F
7 cunctis all ABL.PL.N
8 animantibus living creatures ABL.PL.N
9 terræ of the earth GEN.SG.F
10 et and CONJ
11 universis all ABL.PL.N
12 volatilibus birds ABL.PL.N
13 cæli of the sky / heaven GEN.SG.M
14 adduxit brought 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
15 ea them ACC.PL.N.PRON
16 ad to / toward PREP+ACC
17 Adam Adam ACC.SG.M (PROPER)
18 ut that / in order that CONJ
19 videret he might see 3SG.IMPERF.ACT.SUBJ
20 quid what INTERROG.PRON.ACC.SG.N
21 vocaret he might call 3SG.IMPERF.ACT.SUBJ
22 ea them ACC.PL.N.PRON
23 omne every / whatever NOM.SG.N
24 enim for CONJ
25 quod which / whatever REL.PRON.NOM.SG.N
26 vocavit called 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
27 Adam Adam NOM.SG.M (PROPER)
28 animæ of a soul GEN.SG.F
29 viventis living GEN.SG.F.PART
30 ipsum itself NOM.SG.N.PRON
31 est is 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND
32 nomen name NOM.SG.N
33 eius its GEN.SG.M.PRON

Syntax

Introductory Clause: Formatis igitur … animantibus terræ et volatilibus cæli — “Therefore, having formed from the ground all living creatures of the earth and every bird of the sky.” The ablative absolute (Formatis …) indicates prior action completed by the LORD God.
Main Clause: adduxit ea ad Adam — “He brought them to Adam,” expressing divine action of presentation.
Purpose Clause: ut videret quid vocaret ea — “that he might see what he would call them,” introducing the purpose for Adam’s encounter with the animals.
Explanatory Clause: omne enim quod vocavit Adam animæ viventis, ipsum est nomen eius — “for whatever Adam called a living soul, that was its name.” The demonstrative ipsum emphasizes identity between word and referent.

Morphology

  1. Formatis — Lemma: formo; Part of Speech: Participle; Form: Perfect passive participle ablative plural neuter; Function: Head of an ablative absolute; Translation: “having been formed”; Notes: Sets prior circumstance to the main action of bringing.
  2. igitur — Lemma: igitur; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Transitional connector; Translation: “therefore”; Notes: Signals logical or narrative consequence.
  3. Dominus — Lemma: Dominus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative singular masculine; Function: Subject; Translation: “LORD”; Notes: Refers to YHWH; rendered as LORD per your convention.
  4. Deus — Lemma: Deus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative singular masculine; Function: Apposition to Dominus; Translation: “God”; Notes: Clarifies the subject as “the LORD God.”
  5. de — Lemma: de; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Indicates source; Translation: “from / out of”; Notes: Introduces material origin.
  6. humo — Lemma: humus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular feminine; Function: Object of de; Translation: “ground / soil”; Notes: Material from which creatures are formed.
  7. cunctis — Lemma: cunctus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Ablative plural (neuter) agreeing with animantibus; Function: Modifier; Translation: “all”; Notes: Totality of the set.
  8. animantibus — Lemma: animans, -antis; Part of Speech: Noun (participle used substantively); Form: Ablative plural; Function: In ablative absolute with formatis; Translation: “living creatures”; Notes: Denotes land animals.
  9. terræ — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Genitive singular feminine; Function: Dependent genitive on animantibus; Translation: “of the earth”; Notes: Specifies domain.
  10. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Coordinating; Function: Links ablative phrases; Translation: “and”; Notes: Joins the two zoological groups.
  11. universis — Lemma: universus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Ablative plural (neuter) agreeing with volatilibus; Function: Modifier; Translation: “all”; Notes: Emphatic “the whole set.”
  12. volatilibus — Lemma: volatilis, -e; Part of Speech: Noun (adj. used substantively); Form: Ablative plural; Function: In ablative absolute; Translation: “birds”; Notes: Winged creatures of the sky.
  13. cæli — Lemma: caelum; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Genitive singular neuter; Function: Dependent genitive on volatilibus; Translation: “of the sky / heaven”; Notes: Habitat specification.
  14. adduxit — Lemma: adduco; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Perfect active indicative 3rd singular; Function: Main verb; Translation: “brought”; Notes: Advances narrative action.
  15. ea — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Accusative plural neuter; Function: Direct object of adduxit; Translation: “them”; Notes: Refers to animals and birds.
  16. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs accusative; Function: Goal; Translation: “to / toward”; Notes: Marks direction of movement.
  17. Adam — Lemma: Adam; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Accusative singular masculine; Function: Object of ad; Translation: “Adam”; Notes: Recipient of the presentation.
  18. ut — Lemma: ut; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: —; Function: Introduces purpose clause; Translation: “that / in order that”; Notes: Governs subjunctive verbs.
  19. videret — Lemma: video; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Imperfect active subjunctive 3rd singular; Function: Verb of purpose; Translation: “he might see”; Notes: Subjunctive by sequence of tenses.
  20. quid — Lemma: quis, quid; Part of Speech: Interrogative pronoun; Form: Accusative singular neuter; Function: Object within indirect question; Translation: “what”; Notes: Anticipates naming outcome.
  21. vocaret — Lemma: voco; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Imperfect active subjunctive 3rd singular; Function: Verb of indirect question; Translation: “he might call”; Notes: Paired with videret in purpose construction.
  22. ea — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Accusative plural neuter; Function: Object of vocaret; Translation: “them”; Notes: Refers to the creatures being named.
  23. omne — Lemma: omnis; Part of Speech: Adjective used substantively; Form: Nominative singular neuter; Function: Subject of est; Translation: “whatever / every [thing]”; Notes: Universalizing quantifier for the naming rule.
  24. enim — Lemma: enim; Part of Speech: Conjunction (postpositive); Form: Indeclinable; Function: Causal/explanatory; Translation: “for”; Notes: Explains purpose/result of presentation.
  25. quod — Lemma: qui, quae, quod; Part of Speech: Relative pronoun; Form: Accusative singular neuter; Function: Object of vocavit referring back to omne; Translation: “which / whatever [thing]”; Notes: Links relative clause to head term.
  26. vocavit — Lemma: voco; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Perfect active indicative 3rd singular; Function: Main verb of relative clause; Translation: “called / named”; Notes: Completed naming action.
  27. Adam — Lemma: Adam; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Nominative singular masculine; Function: Subject of vocavit; Translation: “Adam”; Notes: Agent of naming.
  28. animæ — Lemma: anima; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Genitive singular feminine; Function: Dependent genitive (“of a living soul/creature”); Translation: “of a soul / living creature”; Notes: Classifies the referent of the naming.
  29. viventis — Lemma: vivo; Part of Speech: Participle; Form: Genitive singular feminine; Function: Modifier of animæ; Translation: “living”; Notes: Qualifies the creature as alive.
  30. ipsum — Lemma: ipse; Part of Speech: Demonstrative pronoun; Form: Nominative singular neuter; Function: Subject of est with emphatic force; Translation: “that very [thing]”; Notes: Equates the named item with its official designation.
  31. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Present active indicative 3rd singular; Function: Copula; Translation: “is”; Notes: Links subject and predicate.
  32. nomen — Lemma: nomen; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative singular neuter; Function: Predicate nominative; Translation: “name”; Notes: Designation resulting from Adam’s speech.
  33. eius — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Genitive singular (masc./neut.); Function: Possessive genitive; Translation: “its”; Notes: Refers back to each creature so named.

 

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.