Exodus 23:6

Posted on March 14, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 23:6 Non declinabis in iudicium pauperis.

You shall not turn aside from the legal right of a poor man.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Non not ADV
2 declinabis you will turn aside 2SG.FUT.ACT.IND
3 in from / away from PREP+ACC
4 iudicium judgment / legal right ACC.SG.N 2ND DECL
5 pauperis of the poor man GEN.SG.M 3RD DECL

Syntax

Main Clause: Non declinabis — prohibition using future indicative.
in iudicium pauperis — literally “from the judgment of the poor man,” meaning
“from the legal claim/right due to the poor.”

The prepositional phrase functions idiomatically to mean:
Do not turn aside or distort the legal case of a poor man.

Morphology

  1. Non — Lemma: non; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: invariable; Function: negation; Translation: not; Notes: negates the command.
  2. declinabis — Lemma: declino; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future active indicative, 2nd person singular; Function: main verb; Translation: you shall turn aside; Notes: used legally for “pervert,” “distort,” or “turn away from justice.”
  3. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative here; Function: expresses movement “into/away from”; Translation: from (idiomatic); Notes: in legal Latin with verbs of deviation, in + acc means “away from.”
  4. iudicium — Lemma: iudicium; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular neuter, 2nd declension; Function: object of the preposition; Translation: legal right / judgment; Notes: refers to the rightful judicial claim of the poor man.
  5. pauperis — Lemma: pauper; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular masculine, 3rd declension; Function: possessive genitive; Translation: of the poor man; Notes: identifies whose legal right must not be distorted.

 

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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