Exodus 21:19

Posted on March 12, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 21:19 si surrexerit, et ambulaverit foris super baculum suum, innocens erit qui percusserit, ita tamen ut operas eius, et impensas in medicos restituat.

if he rises and walks outside on his staff, he who struck him shall be innocent, only so that he restores his work and the expenses for the physicians.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 si if CONJ INDECL
2 surrexerit has risen 3SG.FUTP.ACT.SUBJ VERB
3 et and CONJ INDECL
4 ambulaverit has walked 3SG.FUTP.ACT.SUBJ VERB
5 foris outside ADV INDECL
6 super upon PREP+ACC PREP
7 baculum staff ACC.SG.N 2ND DECL NOUN
8 suum his ACC.SG.N POSS.ADJ
9 innocens innocent NOM.SG.C ADJ 3RD DECL
10 erit will be 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND VERB
11 qui he who NOM.SG.M REL.PRON
12 percusserit has struck 3SG.FUTP.ACT.SUBJ VERB
13 ita so ADV INDECL
14 tamen however ADV INDECL
15 ut that CONJ INDECL
16 operas work ACC.PL.F 1ST DECL NOUN
17 eius his GEN.SG.M PRON
18 et and CONJ INDECL
19 impensas expenses ACC.PL.F 1ST DECL NOUN
20 in for PREP+ACC PREP
21 medicos physicians ACC.PL.M 2ND DECL NOUN
22 restituat may restore 3SG.PRES.ACT.SUBJ VERB

Syntax

Conditional protasis:
si surrexerit, et ambulaverit foris super baculum suum — “if he has risen and has walked outside on his staff.”
• si introduces the legal condition.
• surrexerit and ambulaverit are future perfect active subjunctives, the usual tense in Latin legal style for a completed future condition.
• foris is an adverb (“outside”), specifying location.
• super baculum suum (“upon his staff”) is a prepositional phrase expressing support and partial recovery — he can move, but still needs a staff.

Main legal declaration:
innocens erit qui percusserit — “he who struck him shall be innocent.”
• innocens is a predicate adjective describing legal status.
• erit (future indicative) gives the binding legal outcome.
• qui percusserit is a relative clause identifying the person acquitted — the one who struck the injured man.

Restricting clause of obligation:
ita tamen ut… restituat — “yet so, on the condition that he restores…”.
• ita tamen (“yet so”) limits the absolution: innocence is not absolute; compensation is still due.
• ut … restituat is a subjunctive clause of result/obligatory condition.

Objects of restitution:
operas eius — “his work,” i.e., lost labor or wages.
et impensas in medicos — “and the expenses for the physicians,” i.e., medical costs.
Both operas and impensas are direct objects of restituat, and in medicos specifies the purpose of those expenses.

Morphology

  1. si — Lemma: si; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: introduces the conditional legal scenario (protasis); Translation: if; Notes: standard case-law opening marker.
  2. surrexerit — Lemma: surgo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future perfect active subjunctive 3rd person singular; Function: first verb of the conditional clause, describing completed rising; Translation: has risen; Notes: future perfect subjunctive is typical for hypothetical future cases in legal Latin.
  3. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates a second action with surrexerit; Translation: and; Notes: links successive conditions within the same protasis.
  4. ambulaverit — Lemma: ambulo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future perfect active subjunctive 3rd person singular; Function: second verb in the protasis, describing subsequent walking; Translation: has walked; Notes: indicates regained mobility after lying in bed.
  5. foris — Lemma: foris; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: indeclinable; Function: adverbial modifier of ambulaverit; Translation: outside; Notes: indicates that the injured man is able to go out of the house.
  6. super — Lemma: super; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative here; Function: introduces the phrase expressing physical support; Translation: upon; Notes: shows that although walking, he still leans on a staff.
  7. baculum — Lemma: baculum; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular neuter 2nd declension; Function: object of super; Translation: staff; Notes: a walking stick, sign of partial but not full recovery.
  8. suum — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: accusative singular neuter; Function: modifies baculum; Translation: his; Notes: reflexive possessive, referring to the injured man’s own staff.
  9. innocens — Lemma: innocens; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: nominative singular common gender 3rd declension; Function: predicate adjective with erit; Translation: innocent; Notes: technical legal term for being free of bloodguilt.
  10. erit — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future active indicative 3rd person singular; Function: main verb stating legal status; Translation: will be; Notes: future tense expresses the general rule: “shall be innocent.”
  11. qui — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: relative pronoun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of percusserit in the relative clause; Translation: he who; Notes: identifies the assailant whose status is being regulated.
  12. percusserit — Lemma: percutio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future perfect active subjunctive 3rd person singular; Function: verb of the relative clause; Translation: has struck; Notes: same legal tense system, referring back to the blow in the previous verse.
  13. ita — Lemma: ita; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: indeclinable; Function: modifies the clause introduced by ut, indicating degree/condition; Translation: so; Notes: paired with tamen to mean “yet so, on this condition.”
  14. tamen — Lemma: tamen; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: indeclinable; Function: introduces a limitation or restriction; Translation: however; Notes: signals that innocence does not remove the duty of compensation.
  15. ut — Lemma: ut; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: introduces a subjunctive clause of result/obligatory condition; Translation: that; Notes: here with normative force: “on condition that he restore…”.
  16. operas — Lemma: opera; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural feminine 1st declension; Function: direct object of restituat; Translation: work; Notes: refers to the man’s lost labor or wages during convalescence.
  17. eius — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: possessive genitive modifying operas; Translation: his; Notes: refers to the injured man — the work that belonged to him.
  18. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates a second direct object with operas; Translation: and; Notes: joins economic obligations together.
  19. impensas — Lemma: impensa; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural feminine 1st declension; Function: coordinated direct object of restituat; Translation: expenses; Notes: refers to monetary outlays, here specifically medical costs.
  20. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative in this phrase; Function: indicates purpose or reference; Translation: for; Notes: “expenses for the physicians,” not merely spatial.
  21. medicos — Lemma: medicus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine 2nd declension; Function: object of in; Translation: physicians; Notes: the professionals whose fees must be reimbursed.
  22. restituat — Lemma: restituo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active subjunctive 3rd person singular; Function: verb of the ut-clause expressing obligatory result/condition; Translation: may restore / shall restore; Notes: subjunctive with ut carries normative force: he is legally bound to make full restitution.

 

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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