Genesis 4:7

Posted on January 4, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 4:7 Nonne si bene egeris, recipies: sin autem male, statim in foribus peccatum aderit? sed sub te erit appetitus eius, et tu dominaberis illius.

If you do well, will you not be accepted? But if you do ill, sin will immediately be at the door; yet its desire will be under you, and you shall rule over it.”

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Nonne surely not ADV.INTERROG
2 si if CONJ
3 bene well ADV
4 egeris you act / do 2SG.FUT.PERF.ACT.IND
5 recipies you will be accepted 2SG.FUT.ACT.IND
6 sin but if CONJ
7 autem however CONJ
8 male ill / badly ADV
9 statim immediately ADV
10 in in / at PREP+ABL
11 foribus doors ABL.PL.F
12 peccatum sin NOM.SG.N
13 aderit will be present 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND
14 sed but CONJ
15 sub under PREP+ABL
16 te you ABL.SG.PRON
17 erit it will be 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND
18 appetitus desire NOM.SG.M
19 eius its / his GEN.SG.M.PRON
20 et and CONJ
21 tu you NOM.SG.PRON
22 dominaberis you shall rule 2SG.FUT.DEP.IND
23 illius of it / of him GEN.SG.M.PRON

Syntax

Conditional Clause 1: Nonne si bene egeris, recipies — future more vivid condition with rhetorical emphasis; si introduces protasis (“if you do well”), egeris (future perfect) anticipates recipies (future), the apodosis meaning “you will be accepted.”
Conditional Clause 2: sin autem male, statim in foribus peccatum aderit — the adversative sin autem introduces contrast (“but if you do ill”), the predicate peccatum aderit shows personified sin “lurking at the door.”
Concessive Clause: sed sub te erit appetitus eius, et tu dominaberis illius — contrasting promise; erit expresses subordination of sin’s desire, dominaberis (deponent future) expresses human mastery potential. The pronouns (eius, illius) maintain continuity with peccatum.

Morphology

  1. Nonne — Lemma: nonne; Part of Speech: Interrogative adverb; Form: Invariable; Function: Introduces rhetorical question expecting a positive answer; Translation: “surely / is it not?”; Notes: Signals divine reasoning appealing to Cain’s conscience.
  2. si — Lemma: si; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Introduces protasis; Translation: “if”; Notes: Conditional marker.
  3. bene — Lemma: bene; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Invariable; Function: Modifies egeris; Translation: “well”; Notes: Indicates moral or proper conduct.
  4. egeris — Lemma: ago; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Future perfect active indicative, 2nd person singular; Function: Verb of protasis; Translation: “you will have acted”; Notes: Denotes completed action prior to result.
  5. recipies — Lemma: recipio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Future active indicative, 2nd person singular; Function: Verb of apodosis; Translation: “you will be accepted / receive”; Notes: Suggests divine acceptance or favor.
  6. sin — Lemma: sin; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Introduces contrasting conditional; Translation: “but if”; Notes: Shortened from si in.
  7. autem — Lemma: autem; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Strengthens contrast; Translation: “however”; Notes: Emphasizes opposition between outcomes.
  8. male — Lemma: male; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Invariable; Function: Modifies egeris understood; Translation: “badly / ill”; Notes: Moral opposite of bene.
  9. statim — Lemma: statim; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Invariable; Function: Temporal modifier; Translation: “immediately”; Notes: Marks urgency of sin’s approach.
  10. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Locative; Translation: “in / at”; Notes: Expresses position rather than motion.
  11. foribus — Lemma: fores; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative plural feminine; Function: Object of in; Translation: “doors”; Notes: Figurative for threshold of human action.
  12. peccatum — Lemma: peccatum; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative singular neuter; Function: Subject of aderit; Translation: “sin”; Notes: Personified as a predator near the door.
  13. aderit — Lemma: adsum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Future active indicative, 3rd person singular; Function: Predicate verb; Translation: “will be present”; Notes: Predicts imminent moral danger.
  14. sed — Lemma: sed; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Adversative connector; Translation: “but / yet”; Notes: Introduces reassurance and dominion clause.
  15. sub — Lemma: sub; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Expresses subjection; Translation: “under”; Notes: Denotes submission or control.
  16. te — Lemma: tu; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Ablative singular; Function: Object of sub; Translation: “you”; Notes: Indicates Cain’s potential mastery over sin.
  17. erit — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Future active indicative, 3rd person singular; Function: Verb of being; Translation: “will be”; Notes: Expresses state of submission.
  18. appetitus — Lemma: appetitus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative singular masculine; Function: Subject of erit; Translation: “desire”; Notes: Abstract noun personifying sin’s inclination.
  19. eius — Lemma: eius; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Genitive singular masculine; Function: Possessive modifier of appetitus; Translation: “its”; Notes: Refers back to peccatum.
  20. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Links clauses; Translation: “and”; Notes: Balances the two promises of control.
  21. tu — Lemma: tu; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Nominative singular; Function: Subject of dominaberis; Translation: “you”; Notes: Emphatic by position.
  22. dominaberis — Lemma: dominor; Part of Speech: Verb (deponent); Form: Future indicative, 2nd person singular; Function: Main verb of the final clause; Translation: “you shall rule”; Notes: Deponent form expressing active meaning.
  23. illius — Lemma: ille; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Genitive singular masculine; Function: Object of control; Translation: “of it”; Notes: Refers back to peccatum, the entity to be mastered.

 

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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