Exodus 20:3

Posted on March 11, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 20:3 Non habebis deos alienos coram me.

You shall not have foreign gods before me.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Non not ADV INDECL
2 habebis you shall have 2SG.FUT.ACT.IND
3 deos gods ACC.PL.M 2ND DECL
4 alienos foreign ACC.PL.M ADJ POS
5 coram before PREP+ABL
6 me me ABL.SG.PERS

Syntax

Main Clause: Non (Negator) + habebis (Verb) + deos alienos (Direct Object).

Prepositional Phrase: coram me—expresses relational orientation “before me.”

The command prohibits possession or acknowledgment of other gods in the divine presence.

Morphology

  1. Non — Lemma: non; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: invariable; Function: negates the verb; Translation: “not”; Notes: Standard negator for indicative and future forms.
  2. habebis — Lemma: habeo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future indicative active second person singular; Function: main verb of prohibition; Translation: “you shall have”; Notes: Direct future used with negator non to express a strong prohibition.
  3. deos — Lemma: deus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine, 2nd declension; Function: direct object of habebis; Translation: “gods”; Notes: Plural used in context of forbidden idols.
  4. alienos — Lemma: alienus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: modifies deos; Translation: “foreign”; Notes: Indicates gods not belonging to YHWH.
  5. coram — Lemma: coram; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs ablative; Function: introduces phrase “before me”; Translation: “before”; Notes: Classical and liturgical preposition expressing presence.
  6. me — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: ablative singular; Function: object of coram; Translation: “me”; Notes: Refers to the LORD (YHWH) speaking.

 

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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