Exodus 3:16

Posted on February 22, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 3:16 Vade, et congrega seniores Israel, et dices ad eos: Dominus Deus patrum vestrorum apparuit mihi, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob, dicens: Visitans visitavi vos, et vidi omnia quæ acciderunt vobis in Ægypto:

Go, and gather the elders of Israel, and you shall say to them: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, saying: “Visiting I have visited you, and I have seen all that has happened to you in Egypt;

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Vade go 2SG.PRES.ACT.IMP
2 et and CONJ
3 congrega gather 2SG.PRES.ACT.IMP
4 seniores elders ACC.PL.M
5 Israel of Israel GEN.SG.M PROPER
6 et and CONJ
7 dices you shall say 2SG.FUT.ACT.IND
8 ad to PREP+ACC
9 eos them ACC.PL PRON
10 Dominus LORD NOM.SG.M
11 Deus God NOM.SG.M
12 patrum of the fathers GEN.PL.M
13 vestrorum of your GEN.PL POSS
14 apparuit has appeared 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
15 mihi to me DAT.SG PRON
16 Deus God NOM.SG.M
17 Abraham of Abraham GEN.SG.M
18 Deus God NOM.SG.M
19 Isaac of Isaac GEN.SG.M
20 et and CONJ
21 Deus God NOM.SG.M
22 Iacob of Jacob GEN.SG.M
23 dicens saying PRES.ACT.PTCP.NOM.SG.M
24 Visitans visiting PRES.ACT.PTCP.NOM.SG.M
25 visitavi I have visited 1SG.PERF.ACT.IND
26 vos you ACC.PL PRON
27 et and CONJ
28 vidi I have seen 1SG.PERF.ACT.IND
29 omnia all things ACC.PL.N
30 quæ which NOM/ACC.PL.N REL
31 acciderunt have happened 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
32 vobis to you DAT.PL PRON
33 in in PREP+ABL
34 Ægypto Egypt ABL.SG.F PROPER

Syntax

Imperative Chain:
Vade, et congrega seniores Israel — “Go, and gather the elders of Israel.”
• Vade and congrega are coordinated 2nd person singular imperatives.
• seniores Israel = direct object phrase, “the elders of Israel,” with Israel as a dependent genitive.

Forthcoming Speech:
et dices ad eos — “and you shall say to them.”
• dices = future indicative with the force of a command.
• ad eos marks the elders as the recipients of Moses’ words.

Content of the Message (Appositional Chain):
Dominus Deus patrum vestrorum apparuit mihi — “the LORD, the God of your fathers, has appeared to me.”
• Dominus = core subject (YHWH) with Deus patrum vestrorum in apposition specifying “God of your fathers.”
• apparuit mihi = perfect indicative with dative of the person to whom He appeared.

Expanded Patriarchal Apposition:
Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob — “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
• Repeated Deus heightens emphasis on each patriarchal link.

Participial Introduction:
dicens — “saying,” a circumstantial participle attached to the subject (“the LORD, the God…”), introducing the direct speech.

Hebraic Emphatic Construction:
Visitans visitavi vos — “Visiting I have visited you.”
• Participial + perfect verb for intensive assurance (“I have indeed visited you”).

Result of Divine Observation:
et vidi omnia quæ acciderunt vobis in Ægypto — “and I have seen all that has happened to you in Egypt.”
• omnia = object of vidi, specified by the relative clause quæ acciderunt vobis.
• in Ægypto locates the sufferings in the land of Egypt.

Morphology

  1. Vade — Lemma: vado; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 2nd person singular present active imperative; Function: main command initiating Moses’ action; Translation: “go”; Notes: Direct divine instruction to move toward a task.
  2. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates imperatives and clauses; Translation: “and”; Notes: Links successive commands and statements.
  3. congrega — Lemma: congrego; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 2nd person singular present active imperative; Function: command to assemble the elders; Translation: “gather”; Notes: Imperative continues the sequence of divine directives.
  4. seniores — Lemma: senior; Part of Speech: noun (substantivized comparative); Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: direct object of congrega; Translation: “elders”; Notes: Refers to leaders of Israelite community.
  5. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: genitive dependent on seniores; Translation: “of Israel”; Notes: Marks the covenant people whose elders are addressed.
  6. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: links further instruction; Translation: “and”; Notes: Moves from gathering to speaking.
  7. dices — Lemma: dico; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 2nd person singular future active indicative; Function: expresses what Moses must say in the near future; Translation: “you shall say”; Notes: Future indicative has imperatival nuance in divine speech.
  8. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: marks direction of Moses’ words; Translation: “to”; Notes: Used with the pronoun eos.
  9. eos — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: personal/demonstrative pronoun; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: object of ad; Translation: “them”; Notes: Refers to the elders of Israel.
  10. Dominus — Lemma: Dominus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of apparuit; Translation: “LORD”; Notes: Designates YHWH, the covenant God.
  11. Deus — Lemma: Deus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: in apposition to Dominus; Translation: “God”; Notes: Clarifies the identity of the LORD as God.
  12. patrum — Lemma: pater; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive plural masculine; Function: dependent genitive with Deus; Translation: “of the fathers”; Notes: Points to the patriarchal ancestors.
  13. vestrorum — Lemma: vester; Part of Speech: possessive adjective/pronoun; Form: genitive plural masculine; Function: modifies patrum; Translation: “of your”; Notes: Directly associates the patriarchs with the present generation.
  14. apparuit — Lemma: appareo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person singular perfect active indicative; Function: main verb; Translation: “has appeared”; Notes: Perfect tense denotes a completed theophany with present significance.
  15. mihi — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: dative singular; Function: dative of indirect object; Translation: “to me”; Notes: Identifies Moses as the recipient of the divine manifestation.
  16. Deus — Lemma: Deus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: resumes as subject in appositional pattern; Translation: “God”; Notes: Repeated for stylistic and theological emphasis.
  17. Abraham — Lemma: Abraham; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: genitive with Deus; Translation: “of Abraham”; Notes: Names first patriarch of the covenant line.
  18. Deus — Lemma: Deus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: repeated subject/apposition; Translation: “God”; Notes: Reinforces the triple formula.
  19. Isaac — Lemma: Isaac; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: genitive with Deus; Translation: “of Isaac”; Notes: Second patriarch, linking promise from Abraham to Jacob.
  20. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: joins the final member of the triad; Translation: “and”; Notes: Simple coordination.
  21. Deus — Lemma: Deus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: continued appositional subject; Translation: “God”; Notes: The same God across all three patriarchs.
  22. Iacob — Lemma: Iacob; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: genitive with Deus; Translation: “of Jacob”; Notes: Third patriarch, representing the whole nation.
  23. dicens — Lemma: dico; Part of Speech: participle; Form: present active participle nominative singular masculine; Function: circumstantial participle modifying the divine subject; Translation: “saying”; Notes: Introduces the content of God’s ongoing declaration.
  24. Visitans — Lemma: visito; Part of Speech: participle; Form: present active participle nominative singular masculine; Function: paired with visitavi in an emphatic idiom; Translation: “visiting”; Notes: Part of a Semitic-style construction intensifying the verb (“surely I have visited”).
  25. visitavi — Lemma: visito; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 1st person singular perfect active indicative; Function: main verb of divine action; Translation: “I have visited”; Notes: Perfect underscores decisive divine intervention.
  26. vos — Lemma: vos; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: accusative plural; Function: direct object of visitavi; Translation: “you”; Notes: Refers to the people of Israel collectively.
  27. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: connects two divine actions; Translation: “and”; Notes: Joins visitation and observation.
  28. vidi — Lemma: video; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 1st person singular perfect active indicative; Function: second main verb of divine action; Translation: “I have seen”; Notes: Emphasizes God’s awareness of Israel’s situation.
  29. omnia — Lemma: omnis; Part of Speech: adjective used substantively; Form: accusative plural neuter; Function: direct object of vidi; Translation: “all things”; Notes: Summarizes the totality of events affecting Israel.
  30. quæ — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: relative pronoun; Form: nominative/accusative plural neuter; Function: introduces relative clause modifying omnia; Translation: “which”; Notes: Links the general “all things” with the specific events.
  31. acciderunt — Lemma: accido; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person plural perfect active indicative; Function: main verb of the relative clause; Translation: “have happened”; Notes: Perfect indicates completed afflictions.
  32. vobis — Lemma: vos; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: dative plural; Function: dative of reference/indirect object; Translation: “to you”; Notes: Marks Israel as those to whom the events occurred.
  33. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs ablative; Function: introduces place; Translation: “in”; Notes: Locative preposition specifying the setting.
  34. Ægypto — Lemma: Ægyptus; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: ablative singular feminine; Function: object of in; Translation: “Egypt”; Notes: Place of Israel’s oppression and divine visitation.

 

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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