Exodus 1:13

Posted on February 20, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 1:13 oderantque filios Israel Ægyptii, et affligebant illudentes eis:

and the Egyptians hated the sons of Israel, and they afflicted them, mocking them.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 oderantque and they hated 3PL.IMPERF.ACT.IND + -QUE
2 filios sons ACC.PL.M
3 Israel Israel GEN.SG.INVAR
4 Ægyptii Egyptians NOM.PL.M
5 et and CONJ
6 affligebant they afflicted 3PL.IMPERF.ACT.IND
7 illudentes mocking NOM.PL.M PRES.ACT.PART
8 eis them DAT.PL.M

Syntax

Main Coordinated Clause 1: oderantque filios Israel Ægyptii — “and the Egyptians hated the sons of Israel”; subject after verb for emphasis.
Main Coordinated Clause 2: et affligebant illudentes eis — “and they afflicted them, mocking them.”
Participial Construction: illudentes eis — modal participle, expressing manner (“mockingly”).
Function: Depicts increasing hostility and cruel behavior of the Egyptians toward Israel.

Morphology

  1. oderantque — Lemma: odi; Part of Speech: defective verb; Form: 3rd person plural imperfect active indicative with enclitic -que; Function: main verb of first clause; Translation: “and they hated”; Notes: Imperfect shows ongoing hatred.
  2. filios — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: direct object; Translation: “sons”; Notes: Refers to Israelites as a collective lineage.
  3. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: genitive singular invariable; Function: genitive modifier of “filios”; Translation: “of Israel”; Notes: Treated as indeclinable in Latin.
  4. Ægyptii — Lemma: Ægyptius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: subject; Translation: “Egyptians”; Notes: Deferred subject after verb emphasizes the hostility.
  5. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: links coordinated clauses; Translation: “and”; Notes: Connects with equal weight.
  6. affligebant — Lemma: affligo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd person plural imperfect active indicative; Function: main verb of the second clause; Translation: “they afflicted”; Notes: Imperfect shows continual oppression.
  7. illudentes — Lemma: illudo; Part of Speech: participle; Form: nominative plural masculine present active participle; Function: modal participle modifying implicit subject (“they”); Translation: “mocking”; Notes: Shows cruel manner of affliction.
  8. eis — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: dative plural masculine; Function: indirect object; Translation: “them”; Notes: Refers to the Israelites, victims of mockery.

 

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 Exodus. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.