Exodus 21:4

Posted on March 12, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 21:4 Sin autem dominus dederit illi uxorem, et pepererit filios et filias: mulier et liberi eius erunt domini sui, ipse vero exibit cum vestitu suo.

If however the lord will have given to him a wife, and she will have borne sons and daughters, the woman and her children will be her lord’s, but he himself will go out with his clothing.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Sin if however CONJ INDECL
2 autem however CONJ INDECL
3 dominus lord NOM.SG.M 2ND DECL NOUN
4 dederit will have given 3SG.FUTP.ACT.SUBJ VERB
5 illi to him DAT.SG.M PERS PRON
6 uxorem wife ACC.SG.F 3RD DECL NOUN
7 et and CONJ INDECL
8 pepererit will have borne 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND VERB
9 filios sons ACC.PL.M 2ND DECL NOUN
10 et and CONJ INDECL
11 filias daughters ACC.PL.F 1ST DECL NOUN
12 mulier woman NOM.SG.F 3RD DECL NOUN
13 et and CONJ INDECL
14 liberi children NOM.PL.M 2ND DECL NOUN
15 eius of her GEN.SG POSS PRON
16 erunt will be 3PL.FUT.ACT.IND VERB
17 domini of the lord GEN.SG.M 2ND DECL NOUN
18 sui of his GEN.SG.M REFL PRON
19 ipse he himself NOM.SG.M DEM PRON
20 vero however ADV INDECL
21 exibit will go out 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND VERB
22 cum with PREP+ABL PREP
23 vestitu clothing ABL.SG.M 4TH DECL NOUN
24 suo his ABL.SG.M POSS PRON

Syntax

Conditional Protasis:
Sin autem — conditional and adversative connectors introducing a new legal case.
dominus — subject of the protasis (the human master).
dederit — verb of giving in a future-perfect, hypothetical frame.
illi — indirect object (“to him”, the Hebrew servant).
uxorem — direct object (“a wife”) of dederit.

Subordinate Clause (result/content):
et pepererit — coordinated verb continuing the conditional scenario (“and she will have borne”).
filios et filias — coordinated direct objects (“sons and daughters”).

Main Legal Declaration:
mulier et liberi eius — compound subject (“the woman and her children”).
erunt — future copula stating legal status (“will be”).
domini sui — genitive phrase of possession functioning as predicate complement (“of her lord”).

Contrasting Clause of Release:
ipse vero — emphatic subject phrase (“but he himself however”), contrasting the servant with his family.
exibit — main verb (“will go out”, formula for being released).
cum vestitu suo — prepositional phrase with ablative of accompaniment (“with his clothing”), specifying what he may take when he leaves.

Morphology

  1. Sin — Lemma: sin; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable particle; Function: introduces a conditional clause; Translation: if however; Notes: typical in legal style to open an additional conditional case linked to the preceding law.
  2. autem — Lemma: autem; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: adversative or continuative connector; Translation: however; Notes: soft contrastive particle, often second in the sentence, signaling a shift to a related but distinct rule.
  3. dominus — Lemma: dominus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine 2nd declension; Function: subject of dederit; Translation: lord; Notes: denotes a human master, so rendered “lord” rather than the divine title “LORD.”
  4. dederit — Lemma: do; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future perfect active subjunctive 3rd person singular; Function: main verb of the conditional protasis; Translation: will have given; Notes: future-perfect subjunctive after sin expresses a hypothetical act completed before the legal consequence is applied.
  5. illi — Lemma: ille; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: dative singular masculine; Function: indirect object of dederit; Translation: to him; Notes: refers to the Hebrew servant in the surrounding context; dative marks the recipient of the wife.
  6. uxorem — Lemma: uxor; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine 3rd declension; Function: direct object of dederit; Translation: wife; Notes: the wife is provided by the master, which explains why her legal status differs from that of the servant.
  7. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates verbs and clauses; Translation: and; Notes: links the giving of the wife with the possibility of her bearing children.
  8. pepererit — Lemma: pario; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future perfect active indicative 3rd person singular; Function: verb of the subordinate clause; Translation: will have borne; Notes: indicates that the bearing of children is a completed action within the conditions of the law.
  9. filios — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine 2nd declension; Function: direct object of pepererit; Translation: sons; Notes: explicitly male offspring, paired with filias to cover the full range of children.
  10. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates direct objects; Translation: and; Notes: joins filios and filias into a single complex object phrase.
  11. filias — Lemma: filia; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural feminine 1st declension; Function: direct object of pepererit; Translation: daughters; Notes: balances the mention of sons so that the legal formulation clearly includes both male and female children.
  12. mulier — Lemma: mulier; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular feminine 3rd declension; Function: subject of erunt; Translation: woman; Notes: refers back to the wife given by the master; nominative case marks her as part of the compound subject.
  13. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates subjects; Translation: and; Notes: binds mulier and liberi eius into one plural subject phrase.
  14. liberi — Lemma: liber (liberi); Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural masculine 2nd declension; Function: subject coordinated with mulier; Translation: children; Notes: in classical Latin often “freeborn children,” here used more generally for offspring.
  15. eius — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: genitive singular; Function: possessive genitive modifying liberi; Translation: of her; Notes: contextually refers to the woman; marks the children as belonging to her.
  16. erunt — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future active indicative 3rd person plural; Function: copular verb of the main legal declaration; Translation: will be; Notes: future tense expresses the binding legal status once the condition has been fulfilled.
  17. domini — Lemma: dominus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular masculine 2nd declension; Function: genitive of possession with erunt; Translation: of the lord; Notes: specifies that ownership of the wife and children remains with the master.
  18. sui — Lemma: sui; Part of Speech: reflexive pronoun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: reflexive possessive genitive; Translation: of his; Notes: reflexively tied to the master, reinforcing that they are “of his” (the master’s), not of the servant.
  19. ipse — Lemma: ipse; Part of Speech: intensive demonstrative pronoun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: emphatic subject; Translation: he himself; Notes: highlights the contrast between the servant’s personal freedom and the continuing status of his family.
  20. vero — Lemma: vero; Part of Speech: adverb/particle; Form: indeclinable; Function: adversative particle modifying the whole clause; Translation: however; Notes: marks the clause as a contrasting statement of the servant’s outcome.
  21. exibit — Lemma: exeo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future active indicative 3rd person singular; Function: main verb of the final clause; Translation: will go out; Notes: standard legal verb for leaving service or exiting a contractual state.
  22. cum — Lemma: cum; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs ablative; Function: introduces ablative of accompaniment; Translation: with; Notes: sets up the phrase specifying what accompanies the servant as he departs.
  23. vestitu — Lemma: vestitus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular masculine 4th declension; Function: object of cum in an ablative phrase; Translation: clothing; Notes: the ablative with cum indicates what he may take with him.
  24. suo — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: reflexive possessive adjective; Form: ablative singular masculine; Function: agrees with vestitu; Translation: his; Notes: reflexive to the subject ipse, clarifying that the clothing belongs to the servant, not to the master.

 

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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