Exodus 28:9

Posted on March 19, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 28:9 Sumesque duos lapides onychinos, et sculpes in eis nomina filiorum Israel:

And you shall take two onyx stones, and you shall engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel;

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Sumesque and you shall take 2SG.FUT.ACT.IND, 3RD CONJ
2 duos two ACC.PL.M, ADJ, POS
3 lapides stones ACC.PL.M, 3RD DECL, NOUN
4 onychinos onyx ACC.PL.M, ADJ, POS
5 et and CONJ
6 sculpes you shall engrave 2SG.FUT.ACT.IND, 3RD CONJ
7 in on PREP+ABL
8 eis them ABL.PL.M, PRON, DEM
9 nomina names ACC.PL.N, 3RD DECL, NOUN
10 filiorum of the sons GEN.PL.M, 2ND DECL, NOUN
11 Israel Israel GEN.SG.M, NOUN, INDECL

Syntax

First main clause:
Sumesque — main verb (“and you shall take”), future indicative addressed to Moses.
duos lapides onychinos — direct object phrase: numeral + noun + adjective (“two onyx stones”).

Second main clause:
et sculpes — coordinated future verb (“and you shall engrave”).
in eis — prepositional phrase with ablative (“on them”), referring to the two stones.
nomina filiorum Israel — direct object (“the names of the sons of Israel”), with filiorum Israel as dependent genitives specifying whose names.

No subordinate clauses; it is a twin series of future directives with coordinated verbs.

Morphology

  1. Sumesque — Lemma: sumo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 2nd person singular future active indicative, with enclitic -que attached; Function: main verb of the first clause; Translation: and you shall take; Notes: enclitic -que links this command to the previous instructions, continuing the sequence of cultic directions.
  2. duos — Lemma: duo; Part of Speech: adjective (numeral); Form: accusative plural masculine, positive degree; Function: modifies lapides; Translation: two; Notes: masculine to agree with lapides; the numeral is treated syntactically like an adjective.
  3. lapides — Lemma: lapis; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine, 3rd declension; Function: direct object of Sumesque; Translation: stones; Notes: the physical objects to be taken for engraving.
  4. onychinos — Lemma: onychinus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative plural masculine, positive degree; Function: modifies lapides; Translation: onyx; Notes: specifies the material/type of the stones (onyx stones).
  5. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: coordinates the two future verbs Sumesque and sculpes; Translation: and; Notes: simple additive connector within the command sequence.
  6. sculpes — Lemma: sculpo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: 2nd person singular future active indicative; Function: main verb of the second clause; Translation: you shall engrave; Notes: continues the instructions, focusing now on the work done to the stones.
  7. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs ablative; Function: introduces a prepositional phrase of location/surface; Translation: on; Notes: here the sense is “on” the stones rather than “in” them.
  8. eis — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: ablative plural masculine; Function: object of the preposition in; Translation: them; Notes: refers back to duos lapides onychinos, maintaining agreement in number and gender by sense.
  9. nomina — Lemma: nomen; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural neuter, 3rd declension; Function: direct object of sculpes; Translation: names; Notes: what is to be engraved upon the stones.
  10. filiorum — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive plural masculine, 2nd declension; Function: dependent genitive modifying nomina; Translation: of the sons; Notes: indicates whose names these are, preparing for the specification of Israel as the father.
  11. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: genitive singular masculine (indeclinable in form); Function: genitive in apposition to filiorum, forming the phrase “sons of Israel”; Translation: of Israel; Notes: Hebrew proper name treated as indeclinable in Latin; case is inferred from its genitive relationship to filiorum.

 

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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