Exodus 16:17

Posted on March 7, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 16:17 Feceruntque ita filii Israel: et collegerunt, alius plus, alius minus.

And the sons of Israel did so: and they gathered, one more, another less.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Feceruntque and they did 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
2 ita thus ADV
3 filii sons NOM.PL.M
4 Israel Israel NOM.SG.M (INVAR)
5 et and CONJ
6 collegerunt they gathered 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
7 alius one NOM.SG.M (INDEF)
8 plus more ACC.SG.N (CMPR)
9 alius another NOM.SG.M (INDEF)
10 minus less ACC.SG.N (CMPR)

Syntax

Main Clause: Feceruntque ita filii Israel — perfect tense narrates completed obedience; filii Israel is the subject, Feceruntque the verb (“and they did”).
Coordinated Clause: et collegerunt — adds the specific action of gathering.
Distributive Expression: alius plus, alius minus — balanced parallelism indicating unequal amounts gathered by individuals: “one more, another less.”

Morphology

  1. Feceruntque — Lemma: facio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect active indicative, 3rd plural, with enclitic -que; Function: main narrative verb; Translation: “and they did”; Notes: -que links this clause to the preceding instruction.
  2. ita — Lemma: ita; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: indeclinable; Function: modifies Fecerunt; Translation: “thus”; Notes: indicates exact compliance.
  3. filii — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: subject; Translation: “sons”; Notes: refers to Israelites collectively.
  4. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine (INVAR); Function: apposition to filii; Translation: “Israel”; Notes: indeclinable proper name.
  5. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating; Function: links actions; Translation: “and”; Notes: additive.
  6. collegerunt — Lemma: colligo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect active indicative, 3rd plural; Function: main verb of second clause; Translation: “they gathered”; Notes: completed action.
  7. alius — Lemma: alius; Part of Speech: pronoun/adjective (indefinite); Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: distributive subject; Translation: “one”; Notes: contrasted with second alius.
  8. plus — Lemma: plus; Part of Speech: adjective/adverb (comparative); Form: accusative singular neuter; Function: object of implicit verb (“gathered”); Translation: “more”; Notes: comparative of multum.
  9. alius — Lemma: alius; Part of Speech: pronoun/adjective (indefinite); Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: second distributive subject; Translation: “another”; Notes: parallels first alius.
  10. minus — Lemma: minus; Part of Speech: adjective/adverb (comparative); Form: accusative singular neuter; Function: object of implied verb (“gathered”); Translation: “less”; Notes: comparative of parvum.

 

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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