Exodus 2:17

Posted on February 21, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 2:17 Supervenere pastores, et eiecerunt eas: surrexitque Moyses, et defensis puellis, adaquavit oves earum.

But the shepherds came and drove them away; and Moyses rose up, and after defending the girls, he watered their sheep.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Supervenere they came upon 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
2 pastores shepherds NOM.PL.M
3 et and CONJ
4 eiecerunt drove away 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
5 eas them ACC.PL.F PRON
6 surrexitque and rose up 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND + -QUE
7 Moyses Moses NOM.SG.M
8 et and CONJ
9 defensis having defended ABL.PL.F PERF.PASS.PART
10 puellis the girls ABL.PL.F
11 adaquavit watered 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
12 oves sheep ACC.PL.F
13 earum their GEN.PL.F PRON

Syntax

Initial Main Clause:
Supervenere pastores — “The shepherds came upon them.”
• Sudden, disruptive arrival.
• pastores = subject.

Coordinated Clause:
et eiecerunt eas — “and drove them away.”
• eas refers to the seven daughters.
• Violent displacement from the watering site.

Second Narrative Sequence:
surrexitque Moyses — “and Moses rose up.”
• Immediate action to intervene.

Ablative Absolute:
defensis puellis — “when the girls had been defended.”
• Indicates completed protective action prior to the next verb.

Final Main Action:
adaquavit oves earum — “he watered their sheep.”
• earum = the daughters’ sheep, not Moses’ own.

Morphology

  1. Supervenere — Lemma: supervenio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd plural perfect active indicative; Function: main verb; Translation: “they came upon”; Notes: Compound verb intensifies suddenness and intrusion.
  2. pastores — Lemma: pastor; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: subject; Translation: “shepherds”; Notes: Local herdsmen who habitually bullied the daughters (implied by context).
  3. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: links actions; Translation: “and”; Notes: Joins the sequential narrative.
  4. eiecerunt — Lemma: eicio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd plural perfect active indicative; Function: main verb; Translation: “drove away”; Notes: Strong, forceful expulsion.
  5. eas — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: accusative plural feminine; Function: direct object; Translation: “them”; Notes: Refers explicitly to the seven daughters.
  6. surrexitque — Lemma: surgo + -que; Part of Speech: verb + enclitic; Form: 3rd singular perfect active indicative; Function: main narrative verb; Translation: “and rose up”; Notes: Indicates Moses’ readiness to intervene.
  7. Moyses — Lemma: Moyses; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject; Translation: “Moses”; Notes: Moses begins acting as a deliverer even before his calling.
  8. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: links ablative absolute; Translation: “and”; Notes: Marks transition from rising to the result.
  9. defensis — Lemma: defendo; Part of Speech: participle; Form: ablative plural feminine perfect passive participle; Function: ablative absolute; Translation: “after the girls were defended”; Notes: Indicates completed action before watering.
  10. puellis — Lemma: puella; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative plural feminine; Function: complement in ablative absolute; Translation: “girls”; Notes: The daughters rescued by Moses.
  11. adaquavit — Lemma: adaquo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 3rd singular perfect active indicative; Function: main verb; Translation: “watered”; Notes: Moses completes their interrupted task.
  12. oves — Lemma: ovis; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural feminine; Function: direct object; Translation: “sheep”; Notes: The flocks the daughters were tending.
  13. earum — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: genitive plural feminine; Function: possessive genitive; Translation: “their”; Notes: Refers to the daughters; distinguishes from any other flocks.

 

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.