Exodus 23:14

Posted on March 14, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 23:14 Tribus vicibus per singulos annos mihi festa celebrabitis.

Three times each year you shall celebrate feasts to Me.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Tribus three ABL.PL.F NUM INDECL
2 vicibus times ABL.PL.F 3RD DECL
3 per through / each PREP+ACC
4 singulos each ACC.PL.M ADJ POS 1ST/2ND DECL
5 annos years ACC.PL.M 2ND DECL
6 mihi to Me DAT.SG.PRON PERS
7 festa feasts ACC.PL.N 2ND DECL
8 celebrabitis you will celebrate 2PL.FUT.ACT.IND

Syntax

Temporal/Quantitative Phrase:
Tribus vicibus — ablative of time-frequency: “three times.”

Distributive Phrase:
per singulos annos — literally “through each year,” meaning “each year.”

Main Clause:
mihi festa celebrabitis — “you shall celebrate feasts to Me,” with
• mihi as the dative of advantage (“to Me”),
• festa as direct object of celebrabitis.

Morphology

  1. Tribus — Lemma: tres; Part of Speech: numeral; Form: ablative plural feminine; Function: ablative of time-frequency; Translation: three; Notes: feminine because vices is feminine.
  2. vicibus — Lemma: vicis; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative plural feminine, 3rd declension; Function: object of numerical ablative; Translation: times; Notes: technical word for “occurrences” or “instances.”
  3. per — Lemma: per; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: distributive expression; Translation: through / each; Notes: “per singulos annos” = “each year.”
  4. singulos — Lemma: singulus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: modifies annos; Translation: each; Notes: distributive adjective.
  5. annos — Lemma: annus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine, 2nd declension; Function: object of per; Translation: years; Notes: indicates repetition every year.
  6. mihi — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: dative singular; Function: dative of advantage; Translation: to Me; Notes: God is the beneficiary of the celebration.
  7. festa — Lemma: festum; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural neuter, 2nd declension; Function: direct object of celebrabitis; Translation: feasts; Notes: refers to appointed holy festivals.
  8. celebrabitis — Lemma: celebro; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future active indicative, 2nd plural; Function: main verb; Translation: you will celebrate; Notes: future indicative used legally as a binding command.

 

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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