Numeri 2:4 (Numbers 2:4)

Posted on April 29, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 2:4 et omnis de stirpe eius summa pugnantium, septuaginta quattuor millia sexcenti.

And all the total of the fighting men from his stock: seventy-four thousand six hundred.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 et and CONJ
2 omnis all ADJ.NOM.SG.F
3 de from PREP+ABL
4 stirpe stock / lineage NOUN.ABL.SG.F.3RD DECL
5 eius his PRON.GEN.SG.POSS
6 summa sum / total NOUN.NOM.SG.F.1ST DECL
7 pugnantium of those fighting PTCP.GEN.PL.M/F/N.PRES.ACT.3RD CONJ
8 septuaginta seventy ADJ.INDECL
9 quattuor four ADJ.INDECL
10 millia thousand NOUN.ACC.PL.N.2ND DECL
11 sexcenti six hundred ADJ.NOM.PL.M

Syntax

Main Clause: This is an elliptical census statement with an implied verb such as sunt. summa functions as the core subject, modified by the genitival dependent pugnantium.

Phrase: de stirpe eius is a prepositional phrase expressing source or tribal descent, “from his stock” or “from his lineage.”

Phrase: omnis summa pugnantium forms the nominal census expression, “all the total of the fighting men.”

Object(s): septuaginta quattuor millia sexcenti is the numerical predicate giving the amount of the total. millia carries the thousands value, while sexcenti adds the remaining six hundred.

Clause Function: The whole unit serves as a formal registration formula summarizing the enrolled fighting strength of the tribe or family line under discussion.

Morphology

  1. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating conjunction; Function: links this census total to the preceding statement; Translation: and; Notes: It continues the sequence of tribal enrollment formulas.
  2. omnis — Lemma: omnis; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: nominative singular feminine; Function: modifies summa; Translation: all / whole; Notes: It emphasizes the completeness of the total being reported.
  3. de — Lemma: de; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: preposition governing the ablative; Function: introduces a phrase of source or descent; Translation: from / of; Notes: Here it marks tribal or genealogical derivation.
  4. stirpe — Lemma: stirps; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular feminine, third declension; Function: object of the preposition de; Translation: stock / lineage; Notes: The term refers to a family line or tribal branch.
  5. eius — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: genitive singular; Function: possessive modifier of stirpe; Translation: his / its; Notes: It points back to the tribe or ancestor already identified in the broader context.
  6. summa — Lemma: summa; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular feminine, first declension; Function: head noun of the census expression and implied subject of the elliptical clause; Translation: total / sum; Notes: This word is central to the numerical summary formula.
  7. pugnantium — Lemma: pugno; Part of Speech: participle; Form: genitive plural present active participle; Function: dependent genitive modifying summa; Translation: of those fighting; Notes: It specifies that the total concerns men fit for battle or actively counted as warriors.
  8. septuaginta — Lemma: septuaginta; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: indeclinable cardinal numeral; Function: first element of the compound number; Translation: seventy; Notes: As an indeclinable numeral, it does not change form for case or gender.
  9. quattuor — Lemma: quattuor; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: indeclinable cardinal numeral; Function: second element of the compound number; Translation: four; Notes: Together with septuaginta, it yields seventy-four.
  10. millia — Lemma: mille; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural neuter, second declension; Function: expresses the thousands unit in the numerical total; Translation: thousand; Notes: In plural usage, milia behaves as a substantive numeral. The spelling millia reflects an orthographic variant found in older texts.
  11. sexcenti — Lemma: sescenti / sexcenti; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: nominative plural masculine cardinal numeral; Function: adds the remaining six hundred to the thousands total; Translation: six hundred; Notes: The form agrees with an understood masculine plural noun such as “men,” which is implied rather than repeated.

 

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.
This entry was posted in Numeri. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.