Exodus 33:4

Posted on March 24, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 33:4 Audiensque populus sermonem hunc pessimum, luxit: et nullus ex more indutus est cultu suo.

And the people, hearing this very bad word, mourned, and no one, according to custom, was clothed with his adornment.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Audiensque and hearing PTCP.PRES.ACT.NOM.SG.M 4TH CONJ
2 populus people NOM.SG.M 2ND DECL
3 sermonem word ACC.SG.M 3RD DECL
4 hunc this ACC.SG.M DEM.PRON
5 pessimum very bad ACC.SG.M ADJ SUPER
6 luxit mourned 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND 2ND CONJ
7 et and CONJ
8 nullus no one NOM.SG.M INDEF.PRON
9 ex according to PREP+ABL
10 more custom ABL.SG.M 3RD DECL
11 indutus clothed PTCP.PERF.PASS.NOM.SG.M 3RD CONJ
12 est was 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND
13 cultu with attire ABL.SG.M 4TH DECL
14 suo his ABL.SG.M POSS.PRON

Syntax

Initial Participial Construction: Audiensque populus sermonem hunc pessimum — circumstantial participial phrase, “the people, hearing this very bad word”.
Main Verb (first part): luxit — the people as subject, mourning in response to the message.
Coordinated Clause: introduced by et, with new subject nullus and verb phrase indutus est.
Adverbial Phrase: ex more — “according to custom”, qualifying how they would normally be clothed.
Prepositional Ablative Phrase: cultu suo — “with his adornment/attire”, showing manner or accompaniment with the verb “was clothed”.

Morphology

  1. Audiensque — Lemma: audio; Part of Speech: participle; Form: present active participle nominative singular masculine; Function: modifies populus, expressing attendant circumstance; Translation: and hearing; Notes: enclitic -que joins this participle to the previous context, keeping narrative flow.
  2. populus — Lemma: populus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of luxit; Translation: people; Notes: refers to the congregation of Israel as a single collective.
  3. sermonem — Lemma: sermo; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: direct object of audiens; Translation: word; Notes: here in the sense of message or utterance.
  4. hunc — Lemma: hic; Part of Speech: demonstrative pronoun/adjective; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: modifies sermonem; Translation: this; Notes: deictic, pointing to the specific word just spoken.
  5. pessimum — Lemma: pessimus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative singular masculine superlative; Function: modifies sermonem; Translation: very bad; Notes: superlative of malus, conveying “worst / extremely bad” tone.
  6. luxit — Lemma: lugeo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular perfect active indicative; Function: main finite verb of the first clause; Translation: mourned; Notes: perfect aspect presents the mourning as a completed reaction.
  7. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: coordinates the second clause to the first; Translation: and; Notes: connects the communal mourning with the individual response.
  8. nullus — Lemma: nullus; Part of Speech: indefinite pronoun/adjectival; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of indutus est; Translation: no one; Notes: grammatically singular but semantically generic, covering all individuals.
  9. ex — Lemma: ex; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs ablative; Function: forms idiom ex more; Translation: according to; Notes: literally “out of”, but with mos gives customary sense.
  10. more — Lemma: mos; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular masculine; Function: object of ex; Translation: custom; Notes: ablative with ex creates the idiom “according to custom”.
  11. indutus — Lemma: induo; Part of Speech: participle; Form: perfect passive participle nominative singular masculine; Function: part of the passive periphrastic with est, predicative to nullus; Translation: clothed; Notes: describes resulting state, not the act of dressing itself.
  12. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular present active indicative; Function: auxiliary verb with indutus; Translation: was; Notes: present-tense form in narrative context, giving vividness to the description.
  13. cultu — Lemma: cultus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular masculine; Function: ablative of means or respect with indutus est; Translation: with attire; Notes: can suggest ornament, finery, or ceremonial dress.
  14. suo — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: possessive pronoun/adjective; Form: ablative singular masculine; Function: modifies cultu; Translation: his; Notes: reflexive possession referring back to each person understood under nullus.

 

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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