Exodus 20:18

Posted on March 11, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 20:18 Cunctus autem populus videbat voces et lampades, et sonitum buccinæ, montemque fumantem: et perterriti ac pavore concussi, steterunt procul,

And all the people saw the voices and the torches, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and terrified and shaken with fear, they stood far off,

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Cunctus all NOM.SG.M ADJ POS
2 autem however CONJ INDECL
3 populus people NOM.SG.M 2ND DECL
4 videbat was seeing 3SG.IMP.ACT.IND
5 voces voices ACC.PL.F 3RD DECL
6 et and CONJ INDECL
7 lampades torches ACC.PL.F 3RD DECL
8 et and CONJ INDECL
9 sonitum sound ACC.SG.M 4TH DECL
10 buccinæ of the trumpet GEN.SG.F 1ST DECL
11 montemque and the mountain ACC.SG.M 3RD DECL
12 fumantem smoking ACC.SG.M PTCP.PRES.ACT
13 et and CONJ INDECL
14 perterriti terrified NOM.PL.M PTCP.PERF.PASS
15 ac and CONJ INDECL
16 pavore by fear ABL.SG.M 3RD DECL
17 concussi shaken NOM.PL.M PTCP.PERF.PASS
18 steterunt stood 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
19 procul far off ADV INDECL

Syntax

Main descriptive clause: Cunctus autem populus videbat voces et lampades, et sonitum buccinæ, montemque fumantem — subject Cunctus populus, verb videbat, a series of coordinated direct objects (voces, lampades, sonitum buccinæ, montem… fumantem).

Participial phrase: montemque fumantem — accusative noun montem modified by present participle fumantem, both part of what the people “were seeing.”

Resulting-state clause: et perterriti ac pavore concussi, steterunt procul — nominative plural participles perterriti and concussi describe the state of the same subject; finite verb steterunt gives the resulting action; adverb procul expresses the distance.

Morphology

  1. Cunctus — Lemma: cunctus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: nominative singular masculine, positive degree; Function: attributive adjective modifying populus; Translation: “all,” “the whole”; Notes: Emphasizes that the entire people, as a single collective body, witnessed the phenomena.
  2. autem — Lemma: autem; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable postpositive coordinating conjunction; Function: adds a slight contrast or continuation from the preceding context; Translation: “however,” “now”; Notes: Typically appears in second position in the clause, as here after Cunctus.
  3. populus — Lemma: populus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine, 2nd declension; Function: grammatical subject of videbat; Translation: “people”; Notes: Refers to the assembled nation as one corporate entity.
  4. videbat — Lemma: video; Part of Speech: verb; Form: imperfect indicative active, third person singular; Function: main finite verb of the first clause; Translation: “was seeing,” “saw (continually)”; Notes: Imperfect tense portrays an ongoing perception of the theophanic events.
  5. voces — Lemma: vox; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural feminine, 3rd declension; Function: direct object of videbat; Translation: “voices”; Notes: Literally “voices,” but in biblical usage (following Hebrew qolot) this often denotes thunderings or thunder-claps, experienced as visible and audible phenomena together with lightning.
  6. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable coordinating conjunction; Function: links voces and lampades as co-objects of videbat; Translation: “and”; Notes: Simple additive connector in the object series.
  7. lampades — Lemma: lampas; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural feminine, 3rd declension; Function: direct object of videbat; Translation: “torches”; Notes: Likely visualizes lightning-flashes or fiery lights associated with the theophany.
  8. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: coordinates lampades with sonitum buccinæ as further objects; Translation: “and”; Notes: Continues the cumulative list of phenomena.
  9. sonitum — Lemma: sonitus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular masculine, 4th declension; Function: direct object of videbat; Translation: “sound”; Notes: Together with buccinæ specifies the sound as that of a trumpet or horn.
  10. buccinæ — Lemma: buccina; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular feminine, 1st declension; Function: genitive of source or specification with sonitum; Translation: “of the trumpet”; Notes: Identifies the sound as the blast of a trumpet or horn, a common theophanic motif.
  11. montemque — Lemma: mons; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular masculine, 3rd declension (with enclitic -que); Function: coordinated direct object of videbat; Translation: “and the mountain”; Notes: Enclitic -que attaches to montem but syntactically functions as “and,” joining this object closely to the preceding series.
  12. fumantem — Lemma: fumo; Part of Speech: participle; Form: present active participle accusative singular masculine; Function: attributive participle modifying montem; Translation: “smoking”; Notes: Describes the mountain’s continuous state as it is being seen, contributing to the terrifying scene.
  13. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable coordinating conjunction; Function: links the first descriptive clause with the following result-state clause; Translation: “and”; Notes: Simple coordinator that shifts focus from what was seen to how the people reacted.
  14. perterriti — Lemma: perterreo; Part of Speech: participle; Form: nominative plural masculine perfect passive participle; Function: circumstantial or predicate participle describing the subject’s condition; Translation: “terrified”; Notes: Perfect participle indicates a state resulting from being thoroughly frightened.
  15. ac — Lemma: ac; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable coordinating conjunction; Function: links perterriti with concussi as twin descriptions; Translation: “and”; Notes: Slightly more emphatic or closely connective than et, but functionally similar.
  16. pavore — Lemma: pavor; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular masculine, 3rd declension; Function: ablative of cause modifying concussi (and contextually perterriti); Translation: “by fear,” “with fear”; Notes: Expresses the cause or instrument by which they were shaken.
  17. concussi — Lemma: concutio; Part of Speech: participle; Form: nominative plural masculine perfect passive participle; Function: second circumstantial participle describing the subject’s physical and emotional state; Translation: “shaken”; Notes: Suggests violent trembling or agitation produced by fear of the theophany.
  18. steterunt — Lemma: sto; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect indicative active, third person plural; Function: main verb of the second clause; Translation: “they stood”; Notes: Perfect tense presents their reaction as a completed act in response to what they saw and felt.
  19. procul — Lemma: procul; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: invariable adverb of place; Function: modifies steterunt, indicating spatial distance; Translation: “far off”; Notes: Summarizes their physical separation from the mountain, corresponding to their terror.

 

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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