Genesis 23:3

Posted on January 23, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 23:3 Cumque surrexisset ab officio funeris, locutus est ad filios Heth, dicens:

And when he had risen from the duty of the funeral, he spoke to the sons of Heth, saying:

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Cumque and when CONJ + ENCLITIC -QUE
2 surrexisset had risen 3SG.PLUPERF.ACT.SUBJ
3 ab from PREP+ABL
4 officio duty / service ABL.SG.N
5 funeris of the funeral GEN.SG.N
6 locutus having spoken PERF.PASS.PTCP.NOM.SG.M (DEPONENT)
7 est has (spoken) 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND (AUX)
8 ad to / toward PREP+ACC
9 filios sons ACC.PL.M
10 Heth of Heth GEN.SG.M (INDECL.NAME)
11 dicens saying PRES.ACT.PTCP.NOM.SG.M

Syntax

Temporal Subordinate: Cumque surrexisset ab officio funeris — “and when he had risen from the duty of the funeral”; cum + subjunctive (surrexisset) marks a prior, completed circumstance; ab officio funeris is a prepositional phrase indicating separation/source (“from the funeral service”).
Main Clause: locutus est ad filios Heth — deponent perfect (“he spoke”) governing a prepositional object ad filios Heth (“to the sons of Heth”).
Participial Link to Direct Speech: dicens — present participle introducing the quotation that follows in the next verse.

Morphology

  1. Cumque — Lemma: cum + que; Part of Speech: subordinating conjunction with enclitic; Form: indeclinable; Function: introduces a temporal clause linked to the previous narrative; Translation: “and when”; Notes: Enclitic -que ties the subordinate clause cohesively to the ongoing discourse.
  2. surrexisset — Lemma: surgo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: pluperfect active subjunctive third person singular; Function: verb of temporal clause after cum; Translation: “had risen”; Notes: Pluperfect marks action completed before the main clause; classical usage with cum + subjunctive for circumstantial time.
  3. ab — Lemma: ab; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs ablative; Function: expresses separation or source; Translation: “from”; Notes: Preferred with motion away or removal; contrasts with ex when emphasis is on “out of.”
  4. officio — Lemma: officium; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative neuter singular; Function: object of ab, specifying the rite; Translation: “duty / service”; Notes: Here denotes formal funerary obligations, not merely emotion.
  5. funeris — Lemma: funus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive neuter singular; Function: genitive of specification with officio; Translation: “of the funeral”; Notes: The genitive narrows the kind of duty (i.e., burial/mourning rites for Sarah).
  6. locutus — Lemma: loquor; Part of Speech: participle (deponent); Form: perfect participle nominative masculine singular; Function: with auxiliary est to form perfect; Translation: “having spoken / spoke”; Notes: Deponent: passive in form, active in meaning; perfect denotes completed speech act initiating negotiation.
  7. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: auxiliary verb; Form: present indicative active third person singular; Function: auxiliary completing the perfect periphrasis; Translation: “has (spoken)”; Notes: Supplies tense/aspect for the deponent participle.
  8. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: marks direction/recipient; Translation: “to / toward”; Notes: Regular with verbs of speaking when the addressee is expressed.
  9. filios — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative masculine plural; Function: object of ad (addressees); Translation: “sons”; Notes: Collective civic body representing the Hittite community.
  10. Heth — Lemma: Heth; Part of Speech: proper noun (indeclinable Hebraism); Form: genitive singular (formal indeclinable); Function: dependent genitive after filios; Translation: “of Heth”; Notes: Designates the Hittite group by eponymous ancestor; Latin transcriptions often treat such names as indeclinable.
  11. dicens — Lemma: dico; Part of Speech: participle; Form: present active participle nominative masculine singular; Function: introduces direct speech to follow; Translation: “saying”; Notes: Narrative participle signaling the onset of quoted negotiation formulae.

 

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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