Genesis 21:6

Posted on January 21, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 21:6 Dixitque Sara: Risum fecit mihi Deus: quicumque audierit, corridebit mihi.

And Sara said: “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Dixitque and said 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND + ENCLITIC -que
2 Sara Sarah NOM.SG.F
3 Risum laughter ACC.SG.M
4 fecit has made 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
5 mihi for me DAT.SG.F.PRON
6 Deus God NOM.SG.M
7 quicumque whoever NOM.SG.M.INDEF.REL.PRON
8 audierit will hear 3SG.FUT.PERF.ACT.IND
9 corridebit will laugh 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND
10 mihi with me DAT.SG.F.PRON

Syntax

Main Clause 1: Dixitque Sara — Introduces Sara’s declaration of joy.
Clause 2: Risum fecit mihi Deus — “God has made laughter for me.” Risum serves as the object of fecit, while mihi marks the beneficiary.
Clause 3: quicumque audierit, corridebit mihi — A future-oriented conditional statement: “whoever hears will laugh with me.” The subjacent tone expresses shared joy rather than mockery.

Morphology

  1. Dixitque — Lemma: dico; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect indicative active, third person singular + enclitic -que; Function: main verb; Translation: “and said”; Notes: The enclitic -que links this utterance to the preceding narrative, introducing Sara’s proclamation of faith and joy.
  2. Sara — Lemma: Sara; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular feminine; Function: subject of “dixit”; Translation: “Sara”; Notes: The matriarch, speaker of this joyful declaration, now acknowledges divine fulfillment.
  3. Risum — Lemma: risus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: direct object of “fecit”; Translation: “laughter”; Notes: The object represents both the literal laughter of joy and the figurative joy of divine promise realized in Isaac’s name (“he laughs”).
  4. fecit — Lemma: facio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect indicative active, third person singular; Function: main verb; Translation: “has made”; Notes: Expresses completed divine action—God transforming disbelief into joy.
  5. mihi — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: dative singular; Function: dative of advantage; Translation: “for me”; Notes: Indicates Sara as the recipient of God’s gracious act.
  6. Deus — Lemma: Deus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of “fecit”; Translation: “God”; Notes: Refers to YHWH, the source of fulfillment and joy.
  7. quicumque — Lemma: quicumque; Part of Speech: indefinite relative pronoun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of “audierit”; Translation: “whoever”; Notes: Expresses universality—anyone hearing of this event will share in laughter.
  8. audierit — Lemma: audio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future perfect indicative active, third person singular; Function: verb of subordinate conditional clause; Translation: “will have heard / hears”; Notes: Conveys certainty of future hearing about God’s miraculous work.
  9. corridebit — Lemma: corrido; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future indicative active, third person singular; Function: main verb of future clause; Translation: “will laugh”; Notes: Echoes Isaac’s name (“he laughs”), symbolizing communal joy and wonder at divine fulfillment.
  10. mihi — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: dative singular; Function: dative of association; Translation: “with me”; Notes: Expresses companionship in laughter—Sara foresees others rejoicing together with her in God’s faithfulness.

 

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.
This entry was posted in Genesis. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.