Genesis 19:37

Posted on January 19, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

37 Peperitque maior filium, et vocavit nomen eius Moab: ipse est pater Moabitarum usque in præsentem diem.

And the elder bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this present day.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Peperitque and she bore 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND + CONJ
2 maior the elder NOM.SG.F
3 filium a son ACC.SG.M
4 et and CONJ
5 vocavit she called 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
6 nomen name ACC.SG.N
7 eius his GEN.SG.M.PRON
8 Moab Moab ACC.SG.M.PROPN
9 ipse he himself NOM.SG.M.PRON
10 est is 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND
11 pater father NOM.SG.M
12 Moabitarum of the Moabites GEN.PL.M
13 usque even / up to PREP+ACC
14 in into / in PREP+ACC
15 præsentem present ACC.SG.F.ADJ
16 diem day ACC.SG.F

Syntax

Main Clause 1: Peperitque maior filium — The perfect verb Peperit (“bore”) with subject maior (“the elder”) and object filium (“a son”) narrates the birth. The enclitic -que links this to the following clause.
Main Clause 2: et vocavit nomen eius Moab — Perfect verb vocavit introduces naming, with nomen eius as object (“his name”) and Moab as the predicate complement.
Independent Declarative Clause: ipse est pater Moabitarum — Present tense est states enduring identity.
Prepositional Phrase: usque in præsentem diem — Adverbial phrase indicating continuation “up to the present day,” emphasizing historical persistence of the Moabite line.

Morphology

  1. Peperitque — Lemma: pario; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect indicative active, third person singular + enclitic -que; Function: main verb; Translation: “and she bore”; Notes: Describes the elder daughter’s childbirth; -que connects it with the following action.
  2. maior — Lemma: magnus; Part of Speech: adjective (comparative used substantively); Form: nominative singular feminine; Function: subject of “Peperit”; Translation: “the elder”; Notes: Refers to Lot’s elder daughter.
  3. filium — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: direct object of “Peperit”; Translation: “a son”; Notes: Indicates the offspring born of incestuous union.
  4. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating; Function: connects main verbs; Translation: “and”; Notes: Joins consecutive narrative actions.
  5. vocavit — Lemma: voco; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect indicative active, third person singular; Function: main verb; Translation: “she called”; Notes: Denotes naming after birth.
  6. nomen — Lemma: nomen; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular neuter; Function: direct object of “vocavit”; Translation: “name”; Notes: Object of the naming action.
  7. eius — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: possessive genitive modifying “nomen”; Translation: “his”; Notes: Refers to the newborn son.
  8. Moab — Lemma: Moab; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: accusative singular masculine (indeclinable foreign name); Function: predicate complement of “vocavit”; Translation: “Moab”; Notes: Etymologically, from Hebrew “mē-’āb” (מֵאָב) meaning “from [the] father.”
  9. ipse — Lemma: ipse; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of “est”; Translation: “he himself”; Notes: Emphatic pronoun marking identity of Moab as founder of a nation.
  10. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present indicative active, third person singular; Function: copula; Translation: “is”; Notes: Present tense expresses ongoing truth.
  11. pater — Lemma: pater; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: predicate nominative; Translation: “father”; Notes: Denotes progenitor or founder of a people.
  12. Moabitarum — Lemma: Moabita; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive plural masculine; Function: objective genitive modifying “pater”; Translation: “of the Moabites”; Notes: Identifies ethnic descendants of Moab.
  13. usque — Lemma: usque; Part of Speech: preposition/adverb; Form: governs accusative; Function: expresses extent of time; Translation: “up to / even until”; Notes: Marks temporal continuity.
  14. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: complements “usque”; Translation: “into / to / until”; Notes: Forms idiomatic phrase “usque in.”
  15. præsentem — Lemma: praesens; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: modifies “diem”; Translation: “present”; Notes: Temporal adjective specifying current time.
  16. diem — Lemma: dies; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of “usque in”; Translation: “day”; Notes: Completes the phrase “usque in præsentem diem,” denoting enduring reality.

 

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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