Ex 13:4 Hodie egredimini mense novarum frugum.
Today you are going out, in the month of new produce.
| # |
Latin |
Gloss |
Grammar Tag |
| 1 |
Hodie |
today |
ADV |
| 2 |
egredimini |
you go out |
2PL.PRES.DEP.IND |
| 3 |
mense |
in the month |
NOUN.ABL.SG.M |
| 4 |
novarum |
of new |
ADJ.GEN.PL.F |
| 5 |
frugum |
of produce |
NOUN.GEN.PL.F |
Syntax
Main clause: Hodie egredimini — adverb Hodie modifies the deponent verb egredimini (“you are going out”).
Prepositional/ablative phrase: mense novarum frugum — ablative of time, “in the month of new produce,” specifying the season of the departure.
Genitive relation: novarum frugum — adjective + noun in the genitive plural describing the month.
Morphology
- Hodie — Lemma: hodie; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: indeclinable; Function: indicates the temporal setting of the action; Translation: “today”; Notes: emphasizes immediacy of the event.
- egredimini — Lemma: egredior; Part of Speech: deponent verb; Form: present indicative second person plural; Function: main verb; Translation: “you go out”; Notes: deponent with active meaning; refers to the Exodus departure.
- mense — Lemma: mensis; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular masculine; Function: ablative of time; Translation: “in the month”; Notes: time marker for the redemptive event.
- novarum — Lemma: novus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: genitive plural feminine; Function: modifies frugum; Translation: “of new”; Notes: refers to new produce or first fruits.
- frugum — Lemma: frux; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive plural feminine; Function: complements novarum; Translation: “of produce”; Notes: indicates early harvest season.
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.