Exodus 21:15

Posted on March 12, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 21:15 Qui percusserit patrem suum aut matrem, morte moriatur.

Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Qui whoever NOM.SG.M REL.PRON
2 percusserit strikes 3SG.FUTP.ACT.SUBJ VERB
3 patrem father ACC.SG.M 3RD DECL NOUN
4 suum his ACC.SG.M POSS.ADJ
5 aut or CONJ INDECL
6 matrem mother ACC.SG.F 3RD DECL NOUN
7 morte with death ABL.SG.F 3RD DECL NOUN
8 moriatur he shall die 3SG.PRES.SUBJ.DEP VERB

Syntax

Relative clause (legal subject):
Qui percusserit patrem suum aut matrem — “Whoever strikes his father or his mother.”
• percusserit = future perfect subjunctive in legal conditions.
• patrem … matrem are coordinated direct objects.
• suum is reflexive, modifying patrem (and, by sense, matrem).

Main legal judgment:
morte moriatur — “he shall die with death.”
• morte = ablative of means.
• moriatur = deontic subjunctive expressing mandatory execution.
• Formula indicates capital punishment for assaulting parents.

Morphology

  1. Qui — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: relative pronoun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of the legal statement; Translation: whoever; Notes: introduces a general category of offenders.
  2. percusserit — Lemma: percutio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future perfect active subjunctive 3rd singular; Function: verb of conditional legal protasis; Translation: strikes; Notes: typical legal tense for hypothetical future offenses.
  3. patrem — Lemma: pater; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular masculine 3rd declension; Function: direct object; Translation: father; Notes: victim of the assault.
  4. suum — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: modifies patrem; Translation: his; Notes: reflexive to the subject “whoever.”
  5. aut — Lemma: aut; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: joins alternatives; Translation: or; Notes: coordinates patrem with matrem.
  6. matrem — Lemma: mater; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine 3rd declension; Function: direct object; Translation: mother; Notes: second possible victim.
  7. morte — Lemma: mors; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular feminine 3rd declension; Function: ablative of means; Translation: with death; Notes: legal idiom introducing capital punishment.
  8. moriatur — Lemma: morior; Part of Speech: deponent verb; Form: present subjunctive 3rd singular; Function: main verb expressing legal mandate; Translation: he shall die; Notes: deontic subjunctive marking judicial penalty.

 

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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