Leviticus 24:17

Posted on April 24, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Lv 24:17 Qui percusserit, et occiderit hominem, morte moriatur.

Whoever strikes and kills a man, shall surely be put to death.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Qui whoever NOM.SG.M REL
2 percusserit has struck 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND
3 et and CONJ
4 occiderit has killed 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND
5 hominem a man ACC.SG.M
6 morte by death ABL.SG.F
7 moriatur let him die 3SG.PRES.SUBJ.DEP

Syntax

Legal Subject: Qui — relative pronoun introducing a general legal condition.

Compound Offense: percusserit et occiderit hominem — two coordinated future-perfect verbs defining the act resulting in death.

Penalty Formula: morte moriatur — emphatic legal sentence using cognate ablative with a jussive subjunctive.

Morphology

  1. Qui — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: relative pronoun; Form: nominative masculine singular; Function: introduces a universal legal subject; Translation: whoever; Notes: applies the statute without exception.
  2. percusserit — Lemma: percutio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular future perfect indicative active; Function: first verb of the legal condition; Translation: has struck; Notes: future perfect frames the act as completed prior to judgment.
  3. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating conjunction; Function: links the two actions; Translation: and; Notes: joins cause and fatal result.
  4. occiderit — Lemma: occido; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular future perfect indicative active; Function: second verb completing the offense; Translation: has killed; Notes: specifies the lethal outcome.
  5. hominem — Lemma: homo; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative masculine singular, third declension; Function: direct object of occiderit; Translation: a man; Notes: generic term encompassing any human being.
  6. morte — Lemma: mors; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative feminine singular; Function: cognate ablative intensifying the penalty; Translation: by death; Notes: standard juridical emphasis.
  7. moriatur — Lemma: morior; Part of Speech: verb (deponent); Form: third person singular present subjunctive; Function: jussive expressing mandatory sentence; Translation: let him die; Notes: formal legal imperative closing the statute.

 

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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