Exodus 35:2

Posted on March 26, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 35:2 Sex diebus facietis opus: septimus dies erit vobis sanctus, sabbatum, et requies Domini: qui fecerit opus in eo, occidetur.

For six days you shall do work; the seventh day shall be holy for you, a sabbath and a rest of the LORD. Whoever does work on it shall be put to death.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Sex six INDECL.NUM
2 diebus days ABL.PL.M 5TH DECL
3 facietis you shall make / do 2PL.FUT.ACT.IND 3RD CONJ
4 opus work ACC.SG.N 3RD DECL
5 septimus seventh NOM.SG.M ADJ 1ST/2ND DECL
6 dies day NOM.SG.M 5TH DECL
7 erit shall be 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND IRR
8 vobis for you DAT.PL.PERS.PRON
9 sanctus holy NOM.SG.M ADJ 1ST/2ND DECL
10 sabbatum sabbath NOM.SG.N 2ND DECL
11 et and CONJ
12 requies rest NOM.SG.F 5TH DECL
13 Domini of the LORD GEN.SG.M 2ND DECL
14 qui who NOM.SG.M REL.PRON
15 fecerit shall have done / does 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND 3RD CONJ
16 opus work ACC.SG.N 3RD DECL
17 in in PREP+ABL
18 eo it ABL.SG.N DEM.PRON
19 occidetur shall be put to death 3SG.FUT.PASS.IND 3RD CONJ

Syntax

First Instruction:
Sex diebus facietis opus — “For six days you shall do work.”
• Sex diebus = ablative of time within which.
• facietis = future indicative of command.

Second Instruction:
septimus dies erit vobis sanctus — “the seventh day shall be holy for you.”
• vobis = ethical/interest dative.

Apposition:
sabbatum, et requies Domini
• Two nouns renaming the seventh day.
• Domini = genitive of source (rest belonging to the LORD).

Conditional Threat:
qui fecerit opus in eo, occidetur
• qui = generic subject (“whoever”).
• fecerit = future-perfect with gnomic force → “whoever does.”
• occidetur = simple future passive → divine/legal penalty.

Morphology

  1. Sex — Lemma: sex; Part of Speech: numeral; Form: indeclinable; Function: modifies diebus; Translation: six; Notes: cardinal numerals above three are indeclinable.
  2. diebus — Lemma: diēs; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative plural masculine; Function: ablative of time within which; Translation: days; Notes: 5th declension anomaly (can be M or F).
  3. facietis — Lemma: faciō; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 2nd person plural future active indicative; Function: expresses command; Translation: you shall do; Notes: future used imperatively.
  4. opus — Lemma: opus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular neuter; Function: direct object; Translation: work; Notes: broad semantic range.
  5. septimus — Lemma: septimus; Part of Speech: adjective (ordinal); Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: modifies dies; Translation: seventh; Notes: ordinal adjectives decline regularly.
  6. dies — Lemma: diēs; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject; Translation: day; Notes: context decides gender.
  7. erit — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person singular future active indicative; Function: copula; Translation: shall be; Notes: future for binding stipulation.
  8. vobis — Lemma: vōs; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: dative plural; Function: dative of advantage; Translation: for you; Notes: audience-centered marker.
  9. sanctus — Lemma: sanctus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: predicate adjective; Translation: holy; Notes: refers to ritual consecration.
  10. sabbatum — Lemma: sabbatum; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular neuter; Function: in apposition to dies; Translation: sabbath; Notes: loanword from Hebrew šabbāt.
  11. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: coordinates nouns; Translation: and; Notes: simple connector.
  12. requies — Lemma: requiēs; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular feminine; Function: apposition to sabbatum; Translation: rest; Notes: 5th declension.
  13. Domini — Lemma: Dominus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: possessive genitive; Translation: of the LORD; Notes: refers to YHWH → must be translated as “LORD.”
  14. qui — Lemma: quī, quae, quod; Part of Speech: relative pronoun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: generic subject; Translation: whoever; Notes: introduces conditional threat.
  15. fecerit — Lemma: faciō; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person singular future-perfect active indicative; Function: verb of conditional clause; Translation: shall have done / does; Notes: future-perfect with gnomic/generalizing sense.
  16. opus — Lemma: opus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular neuter; Function: object of fecerit; Translation: work; Notes: repetition reinforces legal clarity.
  17. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs ablative; Function: expresses location; Translation: in; Notes: refers to the seventh day.
  18. eo — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: demonstrative pronoun; Form: ablative singular neuter; Function: object of in; Translation: it; Notes: refers to the seventh day.
  19. occidetur — Lemma: occīdō; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person singular future passive indicative; Function: expresses legal penalty; Translation: shall be put to death; Notes: divine judicial passive.

 

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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