Exodus 16:35

Posted on March 7, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 16:35 Filii autem Israel comederunt Man quadraginta annis, donec venirent in terram habitabilem: hoc cibo aliti sunt, usquequo tangerent fines terræ Chanaan.

But the sons of Israel ate the Man for forty years, until they came into an inhabitable land; by this food they were nourished, until they reached the borders of the land of Chanaan.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Filii sons NOM.PL.M
2 autem but CONJ
3 Israel Israel NOM.SG.M (INDECL)
4 comederunt ate 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
5 Man Manna ACC.SG.N (INDECL)
6 quadraginta forty INVAR (NUM)
7 annis years ABL.PL.M
8 donec until CONJ
9 venirent they came 3PL.IMP.SUBJ.ACT
10 in into PREP+ACC
11 terram land ACC.SG.F
12 habitabilem habitable ACC.SG.F (ADJ)
13 hoc this ABL.SG.N (DEM)
14 cibo with food ABL.SG.M
15 aliti nourished NOM.PL.M (PTCP.PERF.PASS)
16 sunt were 3PL.PRES.ACT.IND
17 usquequo until CONJ
18 tangerent they touched / reached 3PL.IMP.SUBJ.ACT
19 fines borders ACC.PL.M
20 terræ of the land GEN.SG.F
21 Chanaan Chanaan GEN.SG.F (INDECL)

Syntax

Main Clause: Filii autem Israel comederunt Man quadraginta annis — subject Filii Israel, verb comederunt, object Man; ablative of time quadraginta annis.
Temporal Clause: donec venirent in terram habitabilem — subjunctive with donec, marking anticipated condition.
Second Clause: hoc cibo aliti sunt — perfect passive periphrastic; subject understood from context.
Final Temporal Clause: usquequo tangerent fines terræ Chanaan — describes the endpoint of the manna provision.

Morphology

  1. Filii — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: subject; Translation: “sons”; Notes: tribal designation.
  2. autem — Lemma: autem; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: transitional; Translation: “but”; Notes: postpositive.
  3. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: noun; Form: indeclinable; Function: genitive dependent in sense, but nominative in Latin syntax; Translation: “Israel”; Notes: proper name.
  4. comederunt — Lemma: comedo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect active indicative, 3rd plural; Function: main verb; Translation: “ate”; Notes: completed action.
  5. Man — Lemma: Man; Part of Speech: noun; Form: indeclinable; Function: object; Translation: “Man”; Notes: manna.
  6. quadraginta — Lemma: quadraginta; Part of Speech: numeral; Form: invariable; Function: modifies annis; Translation: “forty”; Notes: large round numeral.
  7. annis — Lemma: annus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative plural masculine; Function: ablative of time; Translation: “years”; Notes: duration.
  8. donec — Lemma: donec; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: introduces temporal clause; Translation: “until”; Notes: usually with subjunctive of expectation.
  9. venirent — Lemma: venio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: imperfect active subjunctive, 3rd plural; Function: verb of temporal clause; Translation: “they came”; Notes: anticipated eventual arrival.
  10. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: motion toward; Translation: “into”; Notes: spatial shift.
  11. terram — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of in; Translation: “land”; Notes: territory.
  12. habitabilem — Lemma: habilis; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: modifies terram; Translation: “habitable”; Notes: contrasts wilderness.
  13. hoc — Lemma: hic; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: ablative singular neuter; Function: modifies cibo; Translation: “this”; Notes: demonstrative.
  14. cibo — Lemma: cibus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular masculine; Function: ablative of means; Translation: “with food”; Notes: refers to manna.
  15. aliti — Lemma: alo; Part of Speech: participle; Form: perfect passive participle, nominative plural masculine; Function: with sunt forms passive periphrastic; Translation: “nourished”; Notes: state among Israelites.
  16. sunt — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active indicative, 3rd plural; Function: auxiliary; Translation: “were”; Notes: forms perfect passive.
  17. usquequo — Lemma: usquequo; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: introduces final temporal limit; Translation: “until”; Notes: expresses end of provision.
  18. tangerent — Lemma: tango; Part of Speech: verb; Form: imperfect active subjunctive, 3rd plural; Function: verb of clause; Translation: “they reached”; Notes: metaphorical touching of borders.
  19. fines — Lemma: finis; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: object of tangerent; Translation: “borders”; Notes: territorial limits.
  20. terræ — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular feminine; Function: modifies fines; Translation: “of the land”; Notes: descriptive genitive.
  21. Chanaan — Lemma: Chanaan; Part of Speech: noun; Form: indeclinable; Function: dependent on terræ; Translation: “Chanaan”; Notes: ancient land name.

 

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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