Genesis 16:3

Posted on January 16, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 16:3 tulit Agar Ægyptiam ancillam suam post annos decem quam habitare cœperant in terra Chanaan: et dedit eam viro suo uxorem.

she took Agar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after ten years that they had begun to live in the land of Chanaan, and she gave her to her husband as a wife.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 tulit took 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
2 Agar Hagar ACC.SG.F PROPN
3 Ægyptiam Egyptian ACC.SG.F ADJ
4 ancillam maidservant ACC.SG.F
5 suam her ACC.SG.F POSS.ADJ
6 post after PREP+ACC
7 annos years ACC.PL.M
8 decem ten NUM INDECL
9 quam after (that) CONJ
10 habitare to live INF.PRES.ACT
11 cœperant they had begun 3PL.PLUPERF.ACT.IND
12 in in PREP+ABL
13 terra land ABL.SG.F
14 Chanaan Canaan ABL.SG.F PROPN
15 et and CONJ
16 dedit gave 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
17 eam her ACC.SG.F PRON
18 viro to (her) husband DAT.SG.M
19 suo her DAT.SG.M POSS.ADJ
20 uxorem wife ACC.SG.F

Syntax

Main Clause 1: tulit Agar Ægyptiam ancillam suam — the subject Sarai (implied from previous verse) acts as the agent of tulit (“she took”), with the compound object consisting of Agar Ægyptiam ancillam suam, appositive descriptors identifying Hagar as her Egyptian maidservant.
Temporal Clause: post annos decem quam habitare cœperant in terra Chanaan — adverbial clause marking the time after ten years of dwelling in Canaan; quam introduces the clause, with cœperant as its main verb and habitare the complementary infinitive.
Main Clause 2: et dedit eam viro suo uxorem — second independent clause joined by et, denoting subsequent action; dedit is the main verb, eam the direct object, and viro suo uxorem a double accusative construction (“gave her to her husband as a wife”).

Morphology

  1. tulit — Lemma: fero; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular; Function: Main verb; Translation: “she took”; Notes: Denotes deliberate action; perfect marks completed initiative by Sarai.
  2. Agar — Lemma: Agar; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine; Function: Direct object; Translation: “Hagar”; Notes: Egyptian handmaid central to the surrogate narrative.
  3. Ægyptiam — Lemma: Ægyptius; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Accusative singular feminine; Function: Modifies Agar / ancillam; Translation: “Egyptian”; Notes: Stresses foreign origin, recalling Abram’s Egyptian episode.
  4. ancillam — Lemma: ancilla; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine; Function: Apposition to Agar; Translation: “maidservant”; Notes: Reinforces social status of Hagar under Sarai’s authority.
  5. suam — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Accusative singular feminine; Function: Possessive modifier; Translation: “her”; Notes: Reflexive adjective indicating possession by Sarai.
  6. post — Lemma: post; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs accusative; Function: Marks temporal relation; Translation: “after”; Notes: Establishes the ten-year interval of waiting.
  7. annos — Lemma: annus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative plural masculine; Function: Object of post; Translation: “years”; Notes: Quantifies period since arrival in Canaan.
  8. decem — Lemma: decem; Part of Speech: Numeral; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Modifies annos; Translation: “ten”; Notes: Symbolically suggests completion or trial in biblical numerology.
  9. quam — Lemma: quam; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Introduces temporal clause; Translation: “since / after”; Notes: Used here with pluperfect verb to indicate time elapsed.
  10. habitare — Lemma: habito; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Present active infinitive; Function: Complementary infinitive with cœperant; Translation: “to dwell / live”; Notes: Denotes continuous residence.
  11. cœperant — Lemma: coepi; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Pluperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural; Function: Main verb of subordinate clause; Translation: “they had begun”; Notes: Refers to Abram and Sarai’s settled life in Canaan before the Hagar episode.
  12. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Indicates location; Translation: “in”; Notes: Spatial preposition of residence.
  13. terra — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular feminine; Function: Object of in; Translation: “land”; Notes: Refers to geographical Canaan, locus of promise.
  14. Chanaan — Lemma: Chanaan; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Ablative singular feminine; Function: Genitive apposition to terra; Translation: “Canaan”; Notes: Name of the promised land, maintaining Hebrew origin.
  15. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Joins clauses; Translation: “and”; Notes: Sequential conjunction linking two main actions.
  16. dedit — Lemma: do; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular; Function: Main verb of second clause; Translation: “gave”; Notes: Denotes formal transfer or arrangement, legal tone in ancient Near Eastern custom.
  17. eam — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Accusative singular feminine; Function: Direct object; Translation: “her”; Notes: Refers to Hagar as the given party.
  18. viro — Lemma: vir; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Dative singular masculine; Function: Indirect object; Translation: “to (her) husband”; Notes: Recipient of the act; grammatical complement of dedit.
  19. suo — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Dative singular masculine; Function: Possessive modifier; Translation: “her”; Notes: Reflexive, denoting Sarai’s relationship to Abram.
  20. uxorem — Lemma: uxor; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine; Function: Predicative complement; Translation: “wife”; Notes: Double accusative construction; designates new marital status of Hagar in narrative.

 

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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