Exodus 12:6

Posted on March 3, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 12:6 Et servabitis eum usque ad quartam decimam diem mensis huius: immolabitque eum universa multitudo filiorum Israel ad vesperam.

And you shall keep him until the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole multitude of the sons of Israel shall sacrifice him in the evening.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Et and CONJ
2 servabitis you shall keep 2PL.FUT.ACT.IND
3 eum him ACC.SG.M.PRON
4 usque until PREP+ACC
5 ad to PREP+ACC
6 quartam fourteenth ACC.SG.F
7 decimam tenth ACC.SG.F
8 diem day ACC.SG.F
9 mensis of the month GEN.SG.M
10 huius of this GEN.SG.M/GEN.SG.N.DEM
11 immolabitque and shall sacrifice 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND + ENCLITIC -QUE
12 eum him ACC.SG.M.PRON
13 universa the whole NOM.SG.F
14 multitudo multitude NOM.SG.F
15 filiorum of the sons GEN.PL.M
16 Israel Israel GEN.SG.M.INV
17 ad at PREP+ACC
18 vesperam evening ACC.SG.F

Syntax

Main Imperative/Future Directive: servabitis eum — “you shall keep him,” with eum as direct object.
Temporal Limit: usque ad quartam decimam diem mensis huius — “until the fourteenth day of this month,” ablative-genitive structure specifying the exact date.

Second Clause: immolabitque eum universa multitudo filiorum Israel — future indicative describing communal action.
universa multitudo is the subject; eum remains the object.

Temporal Phrase: ad vesperam — “at evening,” accusative of time expressing point in time.

Morphology

  1. Et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: connects sequential directives; Translation: “and”; Notes: simple additive connector.
  2. servabitis — Lemma: servo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future active indicative second plural; Function: main directive; Translation: “you shall keep”; Notes: addresses Israel collectively.
  3. eum — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: direct object; Translation: “him”; Notes: refers to the chosen lamb.
  4. usque — Lemma: usque; Part of Speech: preposition/adverb; Form: governs accusative; Function: expresses temporal limit; Translation: “until”; Notes: often paired with ad.
  5. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: forms part of temporal construction; Translation: “to”; Notes: directional nuance in time expressions.
  6. quartam — Lemma: quartus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: modifies diem; Translation: “fourth”; Notes: forms compound ordinal with decimam.
  7. decimam — Lemma: decimus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: modifies diem; Translation: “tenth”; Notes: with quartam, yields “fourteenth.”
  8. diem — Lemma: dies; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of ad; Translation: “day”; Notes: feminine in singular biblical Latin.
  9. mensis — Lemma: mensis; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: genitive of specification; Translation: “of the month”; Notes: defines which fourteenth day.
  10. huius — Lemma: hic; Part of Speech: demonstrative pronoun; Form: genitive singular; Function: modifies mensis; Translation: “of this”; Notes: deictic precision.
  11. immolabitque — Lemma: immolo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future active indicative third singular with enclitic -que; Function: main verb of second clause; Translation: “and shall sacrifice”; Notes: -que links to prior instructions.
  12. eum — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: direct object of immolabit; Translation: “him”; Notes: lamb again referenced.
  13. universa — Lemma: universus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: nominative singular feminine; Function: modifies multitudo; Translation: “the whole”; Notes: emphasizes total participation.
  14. multitudo — Lemma: multitudo; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular feminine; Function: subject of immolabit; Translation: “multitude”; Notes: collective term for Israel.
  15. filiorum — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive plural masculine; Function: dependent genitive; Translation: “of the sons”; Notes: marks identity of the multitude.
  16. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: indeclinable genitive; Function: modifies filiorum; Translation: “Israel”; Notes: indeclinable in Vulgate usage.
  17. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: expresses time of sacrifice; Translation: “at”; Notes: temporal nuance.
  18. vesperam — Lemma: vespera; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of ad; Translation: “evening”; Notes: time of Passover sacrifice.

 

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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