Exodus 32:28

Posted on March 23, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 32:28 Feceruntque filii iuxta sermonem Moysi, cecideruntque in die illa quasi viginti tria millia hominum.

And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moyses, and on that day there fell about twenty-three thousand men.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Feceruntque and they did 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND 3RD CONJ
2 filii sons NOM.PL.M NOUN 2ND DECL
3 iuxta according to PREP+ACC
4 sermonem word ACC.SG.M NOUN 3RD DECL
5 Moysi of Moses GEN.SG.M NOUN 2ND DECL
6 cecideruntque and they fell 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND 3RD CONJ
7 in in PREP+ABL
8 die day ABL.SG.F NOUN 5TH DECL
9 illa that ABL.SG.F PRON DEM
10 quasi about ADV INDECL
11 viginti twenty ADJ INDECL
12 tria three ADJ INDECL
13 millia thousands ACC.PL.N NOUN 3RD DECL
14 hominum of men GEN.PL.M NOUN 3RD DECL

Syntax

First Main Clause: Feceruntque filii iuxta sermonem Moysi — “And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses.”
• Feceruntque = perfect active indicative, narrative past, with enclitic -que linking to the previous verse.
• filii = nominative plural subject (“the sons [of Levi]”).
• iuxta sermonem Moysi = prepositional phrase expressing conformity (“according to the word of Moses”).

Second Main Clause: cecideruntque in die illa quasi viginti tria millia hominum — “and on that day there fell about twenty-three thousand men.”
• cecideruntque = perfect active indicative, narrative verb of result (“and they fell”).
• in die illa = ablative of time when (“on that day”).
• quasi = adverb of approximation (“about”).
• viginti tria millia hominum = accusative phrase of measure/extent with partitive genitive (“twenty-three thousand men”).

Morphology

  1. Feceruntque — Lemma: facio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person plural perfect active indicative; Function: main narrative verb describing the Levites’ obedience; Translation: and they did; Notes: Perfect tense marks completed action, with enclitic -que linking this clause to the preceding command.
  2. filii — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural masculine, second declension; Function: subject of Feceruntque; Translation: sons; Notes: Contextually “sons of Levi,” the group executing the commanded judgment.
  3. iuxta — Lemma: iuxta; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: introduces a phrase of conformity or standard; Translation: according to; Notes: Common in juridical and ritual language for acting in line with a norm or word.
  4. sermonem — Lemma: sermo; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular masculine, third declension; Function: object of the preposition iuxta; Translation: word; Notes: Indicates an authoritative utterance or command rather than casual “speech.”
  5. Moysi — Lemma: Moyses; Part of Speech: noun (proper); Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: dependent genitive with sermonem; Translation: of Moses; Notes: Marks Moses as the human source of the directive which the Levites obey.
  6. cecideruntque — Lemma: cado; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person plural perfect active indicative; Function: main verb of the second clause; Translation: and they fell; Notes: “Fell” functions as a conventional euphemism for being killed or dying in judgment, with -que continuing the narrative chain.
  7. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: used with ablative here; Function: introduces ablative of time; Translation: in; Notes: With time expressions, in + ablative gives “on” or “during” a given day.
  8. die — Lemma: dies; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular feminine, fifth declension; Function: ablative of time when; Translation: day; Notes: Linked with in and illa to specify the exact occasion of the slaughter.
  9. illa — Lemma: ille; Part of Speech: pronoun (demonstrative); Form: ablative singular feminine; Function: modifier of die; Translation: that; Notes: Deictic, pointing back to the unique, climactic day of judgment just narrated.
  10. quasi — Lemma: quasi; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: invariable; Function: adverb of approximation; Translation: about; Notes: Signals that the number which follows is approximate rather than mathematically exact.
  11. viginti — Lemma: viginti; Part of Speech: adjective (numeral, indeclinable); Form: invariable; Function: first part of the compound numeral modifying millia; Translation: twenty; Notes: Indeclinable cardinal numeral, here part of “twenty-three thousand.”
  12. tria — Lemma: tres; Part of Speech: adjective (numeral); Form: accusative plural neuter; Function: second element of the numeral phrase with viginti modifying millia; Translation: three; Notes: Neuter plural form used because it agrees with the neuter plural millia.
  13. millia — Lemma: mille; Part of Speech: noun (substantivized numeral); Form: accusative plural neuter, third declension pattern; Function: accusative of measure/count with ceciderunt; Translation: thousands; Notes: Takes a partitive genitive (hominum) to express “thousands of men.”
  14. hominum — Lemma: homo; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive plural masculine, third declension; Function: genitive of the whole with millia; Translation: of men; Notes: Completes the quantitative phrase “twenty-three thousand men,” clarifying that the count refers to human lives lost.

 

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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