Exodus 8:24

Posted on February 27, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Ex 8:24 Fecitque Dominus ita. Et venit musca gravissima in domos Pharaonis et servorum eius, et in omnem Terram Ægypti: corruptaque est terra ab huiuscemodi muscis.

And the LORD did so. And a very grievous fly came into the houses of Pharao and of his servants and into all the Land of Egypt, and the land was corrupted by flies of this kind.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Fecitque and he did 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND + -QUE
2 Dominus LORD NOM.SG.M
3 ita so ADV
4 Et and CONJ
5 venit came 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
6 musca fly NOM.SG.F
7 gravissima very grievous NOM.SG.F.SUPERL.ADJ
8 in into PREP+ACC
9 domos houses ACC.PL.F
10 Pharaonis of Pharaoh GEN.SG.M
11 et and CONJ
12 servorum of the servants GEN.PL.M
13 eius of him GEN.SG.PRON
14 et and CONJ
15 in into PREP+ACC
16 omnem all ACC.SG.F.ADJ
17 Terram Land ACC.SG.F
18 Ægypti of Egypt GEN.SG.F
19 corruptaque and corrupted NOM.SG.F.PERF.PASS.PTCP + -QUE
20 est was 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND
21 terra land NOM.SG.F
22 ab by PREP+ABL
23 huiuscemodi of this kind ABL.PL.ADJ
24 muscis flies ABL.PL.F

Syntax

Clause 1:
Fecitque Dominus ita
– Subject: Dominus (the LORD).
– Verb: Fecitque (perfect, completed action).
– Adverbial complement: ita (“so, in this manner”), referring back to the divine threat just uttered.

Clause 2:
Et venit musca gravissima
– Conjunction: Et joins this clause to the previous one in narrative sequence.
– Verb: venit (perfect) expresses the arrival of the plague.
– Subject: musca gravissima, grammatically singular but functioning as a collective, “a very grievous fly” in the sense of a heavy infestation.

Prepositional expansions of Clause 2:
– in domos Pharaonis
– Preposition in with accusative expresses motion into.
– Object domos with genitive Pharaonis specifies the target: the houses of Pharaoh.
– et servorum eius
– Coordinating et adds another genitive: servorum eius, “of his servants,” implying their houses as well.
– et in omnem Terram Ægypti
– Second et coordinates an additional prepositional phrase.
– in omnem Terram Ægypti extends the scope to the whole land of Egypt.

Clause 3:
corruptaque est terra ab huiuscemodi muscis
– Predicate: corrupta est (expressed as corruptaque est), a periphrastic passive “was corrupted.”
– Subject: terra, “the land,” referring to Egypt.
– Prepositional phrase of agency/cause: ab huiuscemodi muscis, “by flies of this kind,” explaining the means by which the land was ruined.

Morphology

  1. Fecitque — Lemma: facio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect active indicative 3rd person singular with enclitic -que; Function: main finite verb of the first clause, reporting that the LORD carried out what he had promised; Translation: “and he did”; Notes: the enclitic -que links this completed divine action closely to the preceding divine speech, showing immediate obedience to the previously declared intention.
  2. Dominus — Lemma: Dominus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of Fecitque; Translation: “LORD”; Notes: refers to YHWH and must be rendered “LORD” according to your convention, emphasizing the covenant name behind the action.
  3. ita — Lemma: ita; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: invariable; Function: adverbial complement modifying Fecitque, indicating manner; Translation: “so” or “thus”; Notes: points back to the precise form of judgment previously announced, stressing that the LORD fulfilled his word exactly.
  4. Et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating conjunction; Function: connects the first statement of divine action with the description of the resulting plague; Translation: “and”; Notes: the simple connective keeps the narrative flowing step by step without a break.
  5. venit — Lemma: venio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect active indicative 3rd person singular; Function: main verb of the second clause, describing the arrival of the plague; Translation: “came”; Notes: the perfect tense presents the coming of the swarm as a completed event that followed upon the LORD’s action.
  6. musca — Lemma: musca; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular feminine; Function: grammatical subject of venit; Translation: “fly”; Notes: although singular in form, it functions collectively in context, representing the plague-swarm of flies descending upon Egypt.
  7. gravissima — Lemma: gravissimus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: nominative singular feminine superlative, agreeing with musca; Function: attributive modifier of musca, intensifying its quality; Translation: “very grievous” or “most burdensome”; Notes: the superlative underscores the severity and oppressive character of this particular plague.
  8. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: used with the accusative in this phrase; Function: introduces a prepositional phrase of motion toward, specifying where the flies went; Translation: “into”; Notes: the prepositional use with accusative case marks direction rather than static location.
  9. domos — Lemma: domus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural feminine; Function: object of the preposition in, giving the destination of the plague-swarm; Translation: “houses”; Notes: refers to the dwellings affected by the flies, beginning with Pharaoh’s household.
  10. Pharaonis — Lemma: Pharao; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: possessive genitive modifying domos, indicating whose houses these are; Translation: “of Pharaoh”; Notes: places the king himself under the direct impact of the plague by specifying his residences.
  11. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating conjunction; Function: links the possession of Pharaoh with that of his servants in the same construction; Translation: “and”; Notes: widens the scope from the king alone to his entire administrative circle.
  12. servorum — Lemma: servus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive plural masculine; Function: possessive genitive, syntactically dependent on the implied domos in the phrase “domos Pharaonis et servorum eius”; Translation: “of the servants”; Notes: indicates that the houses of Pharaoh’s servants are equally invaded by the flies.
  13. eius — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: genitive singular; Function: possessive pronoun modifying servorum, clarifying whose servants they are; Translation: “of him”; Notes: refers back to Pharaoh, building the phrase “the houses of Pharaoh and of his servants.”
  14. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating conjunction; Function: adds a further prepositional phrase, expanding the reach of the plague; Translation: “and”; Notes: joins the invasion of specific houses to the invasion of the entire land.
  15. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: used with the accusative; Function: introduces a second prepositional phrase of motion toward; Translation: “into”; Notes: parallels the earlier in domos and keeps the syntax balanced.
  16. omnem — Lemma: omnis; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: attributive adjective modifying Terram, expressing the totality of the territory; Translation: “all” or “the whole”; Notes: stresses that no part of the land of Egypt was exempt from the infestation.
  17. Terram — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of the preposition in, giving the larger destination of the flies; Translation: “Land”; Notes: the capital letter reflects its use as a quasi-proper designation for the land as a whole.
  18. Ægypti — Lemma: Ægyptus; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: genitive singular feminine; Function: possessive or descriptive genitive modifying Terram; Translation: “of Egypt”; Notes: identifies the specific land being overrun, maintaining the classical spelling with Æ.
  19. corruptaque — Lemma: corrumpo; Part of Speech: participle; Form: nominative singular feminine perfect passive participle with enclitic -que; Function: predicative participle joined to est to form a passive verbal idea “was corrupted,” and coordinated to the previous actions by -que; Translation: “and was corrupted”; Notes: agrees with terra and presents the land’s ruined state as the result of the preceding infestation.
  20. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active indicative 3rd person singular; Function: auxiliary or copular verb with corrupta, completing the passive sense; Translation: “was”; Notes: although present in form, in this narrative context it functions as part of a perfect passive construction describing the resultant state.
  21. terra — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular feminine; Function: subject of the verb phrase corrupta est; Translation: “land”; Notes: here refers collectively to the land of Egypt, which has been rendered foul and uninhabitable by the flies.
  22. ab — Lemma: ab; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: used with the ablative; Function: introduces a prepositional phrase of agency or efficient cause; Translation: “by”; Notes: marks the flies as the immediate cause or agent through which the land is corrupted.
  23. huiuscemodi — Lemma: huiuscemodi; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: ablative plural (common for all genders in this form); Function: attributive modifier of muscis within the prepositional phrase; Translation: “of this kind”; Notes: characterizes the flies as belonging to a specific, particularly noxious type that has just been described.
  24. muscis — Lemma: musca; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative plural feminine; Function: object of the preposition ab, indicating the agents by which the land was corrupted; Translation: “flies”; Notes: these are the same grievous flies mentioned earlier, now explicitly identified as the cause of the land’s corruption.

 

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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