Exodus 8:22

Posted on February 27, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 8:22 Faciamque mirabilem in die illa Terram Gessen, in qua populus meus est, ut non sint ibi muscæ: et scias quoniam ego Dominus in medio terræ.

And I will make wondrous on that day the Land of Gessen, in which My people is, so that there may not be flies there, and you may know that I, the LORD, am in the midst of the land.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Faciamque and I will make 1SG.FUT.ACT.IND
2 mirabilem wondrous ACC.SG.F.ADJ
3 in in PREP+ABL
4 die day ABL.SG.F
5 illa that ABL.SG.F.DEM
6 Terram land ACC.SG.F
7 Gessen Goshen ACC.SG.F.PROP
8 in in PREP+ABL
9 qua in which ABL.SG.F.REL
10 populus people NOM.SG.M
11 meus my NOM.SG.M.POSS
12 est is 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND
13 ut so that CONJ
14 non not ADV
15 sint may be 3PL.PRES.ACT.SUBJ
16 ibi there ADV
17 muscæ flies NOM.PL.F
18 et and CONJ
19 scias you may know 2SG.PRES.ACT.SUBJ
20 quoniam that CONJ
21 ego I NOM.SG.PRON
22 Dominus LORD NOM.SG.M
23 in in PREP+ABL
24 medio in the midst ABL.SG.N
25 terræ of the land GEN.SG.F

Syntax

Main clause:
• Faciamque mirabilem Terram Gessen — “And I will make the land of Goshen wondrous.”
• Subject: implied first person in Faciamque (“I”).
• Verb: Faciamque.
• Direct object: Terram Gessen.
• Object complement: mirabilem (“wondrous”).

Temporal phrase:
• in die illa — ablative of time when, “on that day.”

Relative clause of location:
• in qua populus meus est — “in which my people is.”
• Preposition: in.
• Relative pronoun: qua, referring back to Terram Gessen.
• Subject: populus meus.
• Verb: est.

Purpose / result clause 1:
• ut non sint ibi muscæ — “so that there may not be flies there.”
• Conjunction: ut.
• Negation: non.
• Verb: sint (subjunctive).
• Locative adverb: ibi.
• Subject: muscæ.

Purpose / result clause 2:
• et scias quoniam ego Dominus in medio terræ — “and you may know that I, the LORD, am in the midst of the land.”
• Coordinating conjunction: et.
• Verb (subjunctive): scias.
• Content conjunction: quoniam.
• Clause: ego Dominus in medio terræ.
– Subject: ego.
– Predicate noun: Dominus (“LORD”).
– Prepositional phrase: in medio terræ (“in the midst of the land”).

Morphology

  1. Faciamque — Lemma: facio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future active indicative first person singular with enclitic -que; Function: main finite verb expressing the LORD’s promised action, joined to the previous statement by -que; Translation: “and I will make”; Notes: the explicit first person underlines personal divine intervention in Goshen.
  2. mirabilem — Lemma: mirabilis; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: predicative complement of Terram, describing the resulting state of the land; Translation: “wondrous”; Notes: indicates something extraordinary or miraculous, setting Goshen apart from the rest of Egypt.
  3. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs the ablative case; Function: introduces an ablative of time phrase; Translation: “in”; Notes: here used in a temporal sense to mark “on that day.”
  4. die — Lemma: dies; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular feminine; Function: object of the preposition in in a temporal construction; Translation: “day”; Notes: treated as feminine in biblical Latin, specifying the time of the sign.
  5. illa — Lemma: ille; Part of Speech: demonstrative adjective; Form: ablative singular feminine; Function: modifies die, specifying a particular, notable day; Translation: “that”; Notes: points to the distinct eschatological or decisive day of the plague sign.
  6. Terram — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: direct object of Faciamque, the entity being made “wondrous”; Translation: “land”; Notes: refers specifically to the territory of Goshen, later clarified by the proper name.
  7. Gessen — Lemma: Gessen; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: proper name in apposition to Terram, identifying which land; Translation: “Goshen”; Notes: region assigned to Israel, contrasting their protection with Egypt’s judgment.
  8. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs the ablative case; Function: introduces the locative idea in the relative clause; Translation: “in”; Notes: here spatial, marking the place where the people reside.
  9. qua — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: relative pronoun; Form: ablative singular feminine; Function: object of in, referring back to Terram Gessen; Translation: “in which”; Notes: links the land of Goshen with the presence of God’s people.
  10. populus — Lemma: populus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of the verb est in the relative clause; Translation: “people”; Notes: denotes the covenant community, understood as Israel.
  11. meus — Lemma: meus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: modifies populus, marking divine ownership; Translation: “my”; Notes: strongly covenantal, emphasizing that this people belongs to the LORD.
  12. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active indicative third person singular; Function: copular verb in the relative clause “in qua populus meus est”; Translation: “is”; Notes: expresses simple existence and location of the people in Goshen.
  13. ut — Lemma: ut; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: subordinating conjunction introducing a purpose or result clause; Function: marks the aim of making Goshen wondrous; Translation: “so that”; Notes: typical with the subjunctive to express divine intention.
  14. non — Lemma: non; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: negative particle; Function: negates the verb sint in the ut-clause; Translation: “not”; Notes: simple clausal negation, highlighting Goshen’s exemption from the plague.
  15. sint — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active subjunctive third person plural; Function: verb of the purpose/result clause introduced by ut; Translation: “may be”; Notes: the subjunctive reflects intended or resultant state (“that there may not be…”).
  16. ibi — Lemma: ibi; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: invariable; Function: locative adverb specifying the place of the verb sint; Translation: “there”; Notes: refers contextually to the land of Goshen, not Egypt at large.
  17. muscæ — Lemma: musca; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural feminine; Function: subject of the verb sint; Translation: “flies”; Notes: the absence of flies in Goshen is the sign of divine protection contrasted with Egypt’s infestation.
  18. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating conjunction; Function: links the first purpose/result clause with a second one; Translation: “and”; Notes: shows that the sign has both protective and revelatory purposes.
  19. scias — Lemma: scio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active subjunctive second person singular; Function: verb of a second (implied) purpose/result clause, dependent on the main assertion; Translation: “you may know”; Notes: the subjunctive expresses the intended consequence that Pharaoh or the observer gain knowledge of the LORD.
  20. quoniam — Lemma: quoniam; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: subordinating conjunction; Function: introduces a content or causal clause explaining what is to be known; Translation: “that”; Notes: frequently used in biblical Latin to introduce theological assertions.
  21. ego — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: nominative singular; Function: explicit subject of the understood copula in the clause “ego Dominus in medio terræ”; Translation: “I”; Notes: emphatic first person, highlighting divine self-revelation.
  22. Dominus — Lemma: Dominus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: predicate noun in the assertion “ego Dominus,” identifying the speaker; Translation: “LORD”; Notes: here refers to YHWH, rendered as “LORD” according to your convention.
  23. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs the ablative case; Function: introduces the prepositional phrase expressing location; Translation: “in”; Notes: marks the sphere of the LORD’s presence.
  24. medio — Lemma: medius; Part of Speech: adjective used substantively; Form: ablative singular neuter; Function: object of the preposition in, forming the phrase “in medio”; Translation: “in the midst”; Notes: conveys central, active presence, not distant oversight.
  25. terræ — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular feminine; Function: genitive complement of medio, specifying whose midst; Translation: “of the land”; Notes: most naturally refers to the land of Egypt, over which the LORD shows sovereign control.

 

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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