Exodus 21:33

Posted on March 12, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 21:33 Si quis aperuerit cisternam, et foderit, et non operuerit eam, cecideritque bos aut asinus in eam,

If anyone opens a cistern and digs it and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Si if CONJ
2 quis anyone PRON.NOM.SG.M/F.INDEF
3 aperuerit has opened 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND.4TH CONJ
4 cisternam cistern NOUN.ACC.SG.F.1ST DECL
5 et and CONJ
6 foderit has dug 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND.3RD CONJ
7 et and CONJ
8 non not ADV.INDECL
9 operuerit has covered 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND.4TH CONJ
10 eam it PRON.ACC.SG.F.PERS
11 cecideritque and falls 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND.3RD CONJ
12 bos ox NOUN.NOM.SG.M.3RD DECL
13 aut or CONJ
14 asinus donkey NOUN.NOM.SG.M.2ND DECL
15 in into PREP+ACC
16 eam it PRON.ACC.SG.F.PERS

Syntax

Complex Conditional Protasis: The whole sentence is the “if” part of a legal case, with the apodosis coming in the next verse.
Subject: quis — an indefinite “anyone,” the responsible party.
Chain of Negligent Actions:
– aperuerit cisternam — “has opened a cistern,” first action.
– et foderit — “and has dug (it),” further work on the pit (object understood from cisternam).
– et non operuerit eam — “and has not covered it,” failure to make it safe (eam refers back to cisternam).
Resulting Harm Clause: cecideritque bos aut asinus in eam — “and an ox or a donkey falls into it”;
subject = bos aut asinus, prepositional phrase in eam marks the cistern as the place of the fall.
The verse lists completed actions (future perfect) that together establish liability for whatever consequence follows.

Morphology

  1. Si — Lemma: si; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: introduces the conditional protasis; Translation: “if”; Notes: Standard legal particle opening a case law scenario.
  2. quis — Lemma: quis; Part of Speech: indefinite pronoun; Form: nominative singular masculine/feminine; Function: subject of the chain of verbs; Translation: “anyone,” “someone”; Notes: Generic subject, making the law universally applicable.
  3. aperuerit — Lemma: aperio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person singular future perfect active indicative, 4th conjugation; Function: first verb describing negligent action; Translation: “has opened,” “shall have opened”; Notes: Future perfect marks a completed act prior to the legal consequence.
  4. cisternam — Lemma: cisterna; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine, 1st declension; Function: direct object of aperuerit; Translation: “a cistern”; Notes: The pit that becomes the dangerous condition.
  5. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates successive verbs; Translation: “and”; Notes: Links the second negligent action to the first.
  6. foderit — Lemma: fodio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person singular future perfect active indicative, 3rd conjugation; Function: second verb in the conditional sequence; Translation: “has dug,” “shall have dug”; Notes: The object (cistern) is implied from context.
  7. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: adds a further coordinated action; Translation: “and”; Notes: Now joins the clause of negligence to the previous actions.
  8. non — Lemma: non; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: indeclinable; Function: negates the following verb; Translation: “not”; Notes: Expresses the failure to perform a required safeguard.
  9. operuerit — Lemma: operio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person singular future perfect active indicative, 4th conjugation; Function: verb of the third, explicitly negligent act; Translation: “has covered,” “shall have covered”; Notes: The use of future perfect maintains the legal pattern of completed action.
  10. eam — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: direct object of operuerit; Translation: “it”; Notes: Refers back to cisternam, avoiding repetition of the noun.
  11. cecideritque — Lemma: cado (+ enclitic -que); Part of Speech: verb with enclitic conjunction; Form: 3rd person singular future perfect active indicative, 3rd conjugation; Function: verb of the resulting harm clause; Translation: “and falls,” “and has fallen”; Notes: Enclitic -que links this result tightly to the preceding chain of acts.
  12. bos — Lemma: bos; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine, 3rd declension; Function: subject of cecideritque; Translation: “an ox”; Notes: One of the potential victim animals in the law.
  13. aut — Lemma: aut; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: introduces an exclusive alternative; Translation: “or”; Notes: Distinguishes between two possible victims without overlap.
  14. asinus — Lemma: asinus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine, 2nd declension; Function: alternative subject of cecideritque; Translation: “a donkey”; Notes: Another common domestic animal protected by the law.
  15. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: expresses motion into a place; Translation: “into”; Notes: With the accusative marks direction rather than location.
  16. eam — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of the preposition in; Translation: “it”; Notes: Again refers to the cistern, specifying the pit as the destination of the fall.

 

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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