Genesis 7:12

Posted on January 7, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 7:12 et facta est pluvia super terram quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus.

And the rain was made upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 et and CONJ
2 facta was made / came to be PART.PERF.NOM.SG.F
3 est was VERB.3SG.PRES.ACT.IND (AUX)
4 pluvia rain NOUN.NOM.SG.F
5 super upon / over PREP+ACC
6 terram earth NOUN.ACC.SG.F
7 quadraginta forty NUM.INDECL
8 diebus days NOUN.ABL.PL.M
9 et and CONJ
10 quadraginta forty NUM.INDECL
11 noctibus nights NOUN.ABL.PL.F

Syntax

The verse opens with et facta est pluvia, a perfect passive periphrastic expression meaning “and the rain came to be.”
Here, pluvia functions as the nominative subject, while facta est (from fio, “to happen, to become”) expresses the occurrence of the rain event.
The prepositional phrase super terram (“upon the earth”) defines the location of the rainfall.
The ablative phrases quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus (“for forty days and forty nights”) employ the ablative of duration, emphasizing continuous rainfall over a fixed period.
This structure mirrors the rhythm of Hebrew narrative repetition, intensifying the cataclysmic scope of the deluge.

Morphology

  1. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: connects with previous sentence; Translation: and; Notes: marks sequential continuity.
  2. facta — Lemma: fio; Part of Speech: Participle (used as verb in passive form); Form: perfect nominative singular feminine; Function: predicate complement with est; Translation: was made / came to be; Notes: expresses resultative state of event initiation.
  3. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: Verb (Auxiliary); Form: third person singular present indicative active; Function: auxiliary forming perfect passive; Translation: was; Notes: completes periphrastic tense “facta est.”
  4. pluvia — Lemma: pluvia; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: nominative singular feminine; Function: subject; Translation: rain; Notes: central noun of the clause, agent of deluge.
  5. super — Lemma: super; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: spatial relation; Translation: upon / over; Notes: indicates direction of rainfall.
  6. terram — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of “super”; Translation: earth; Notes: the inhabited world receiving the flood.
  7. quadraginta — Lemma: quadraginta; Part of Speech: Numeral; Form: indeclinable; Function: numerical modifier; Translation: forty; Notes: symbolic duration of testing or judgment.
  8. diebus — Lemma: dies; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: ablative plural masculine; Function: ablative of duration; Translation: days; Notes: expresses time span of rainfall.
  9. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: connects coordinate time expressions; Translation: and; Notes: adds second duration phrase.
  10. quadraginta — Lemma: quadraginta; Part of Speech: Numeral; Form: indeclinable; Function: numerical modifier of “noctibus”; Translation: forty; Notes: parallel duration term reinforcing symmetry.
  11. noctibus — Lemma: nox; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: ablative plural feminine; Function: ablative of duration; Translation: nights; Notes: completes the temporal pair “forty days and forty nights.”

 

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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