Genesis 27:42

Posted on January 27, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 27:42 Nunciata sunt hæc Rebeccæ: quæ mittens et vocans Iacob filium suum, dixit ad eum: Ecce Esau frater tuus minatur ut occidat te.

These things were reported to Rebekah. She, sending and calling her son Jacob, said to him: “Behold, Esau your brother threatens that he will kill you.

# Latin Gloss GRAMMAR TAG
1 Nunciata reported PERFECT PASSIVE PARTICIPLE NOMINATIVE SINGULAR NEUTER
2 sunt are/were 3RD PERSON PLURAL PRESENT/IMPERFECT SUPPORTING PASSIVE
3 hæc these things NOMINATIVE/ACCUSATIVE PLURAL NEUTER DEMONSTRATIVE
4 Rebeccæ to Rebekah GENITIVE OR DATIVE SINGULAR PROPER NAME (CONTEXT: DATIVE)
5 quæ who/which NOMINATIVE SINGULAR FEMININE RELATIVE PRONOUN
6 mittens sending PRESENT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE NOMINATIVE SINGULAR FEMININE
7 et and COORDINATING CONJUNCTION
8 vocans calling PRESENT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE NOMINATIVE SINGULAR FEMININE
9 Iacob Jacob ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR PROPER NOUN (OBJECT OF MITTENS/VOCANS)
10 filium son ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR MASCULINE NOUN
11 suum her ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR MASCULINE POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE
12 dixit said 3RD PERSON SINGULAR PERFECT ACTIVE INDICATIVE
13 ad to PREPOSITION + ACCUSATIVE
14 eum him ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR MASCULINE PERSONAL PRONOUN
15 Ecce behold INTERJECTION/DEMOSTRATIVE PARTICLE
16 Esau Esau NOMINATIVE SINGULAR PROPER NOUN (SUBJECT OF MINATUR)
17 frater brother NOMINATIVE SINGULAR MASCULINE NOUN (APPOSITIVE)
18 tuus your NOMINATIVE SINGULAR MASCULINE POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE (AGREES WITH FRATER)
19 minatur threatens 3RD PERSON SINGULAR PRESENT DEPOENDENT/DEPONENT-LIKE PASSIVE FORM WITH ACTIVE MEANING (DEPOUND)
20 ut that / so that SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION INTRODUCING PURPOSE/RESULT CLAUSE
21 occidat he may kill / he will kill 3RD PERSON SINGULAR PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE (SUBORDINATE CLAUSE)
22 te you ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR SECOND PERSON PERSONAL PRONOUN (OBJECT OF OCCIDAT)

Syntax

Main Clause: Nunciata sunt hæc Rebeccæ — “These things were reported to Rebekah.” A passive periphrasis places focus on the news as received by Rebekah.
Relative Clause (participial): quæ mittens et vocans Iacob filium suum — A fused relative construction where the relative pronoun introduces a feminine subject (Rebeccæ understood) described by two present participles “sending” and “calling” which govern the accusative object “Iacob filium suum.” The participles indicate simultaneous action accompanying Rebekah’s response.
Speech Clause: dixit ad eum: Ecce … — Direct speech follows the verb of saying; “ad eum” marks Jacob as the addressee.
Apposition: Esau frater tuus — “Esau your brother” places the proper name and appositive noun together for emphasis.
Reported Threat Clause: minatur ut occidat te — The verb of threatening governs a subordinate clause introduced by “ut,” with the subjunctive “occidat” conveying the content of the threat (intended result or purpose/intent of the threat). The construction reports intention/threat rather than factual occurrence.

Morphology

  1. Nunciata — Lemma: nuncio; Part of Speech: participle; Form: perfect passive participle, nominative singular neuter; Function: predicate nominative in passive periphrasis with “sunt”; Translation: “reported / having been announced”; Notes: The neuter plural sense (hæc) is typical: “these things having been announced”; emphasizes the reception of news rather than the agent.
  2. sunt — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: auxiliary verb; Form: third person plural present indicative (used with perfect participle to form perfect passive); Function: completes the passive verbal idea “have been announced / were announced”; Translation: “were / have been”; Notes: Combines with “nunciata” to create a passive perfect idea in Latin narrative, focusing on the state resulting from the announcement.
  3. hæc — Lemma: hic/haec/hoc; Part of Speech: demonstrative pronoun; Form: neuter plural nominative (often written as singular neuter but referring to plural “these things”); Function: subject of the passive periphrasis; Translation: “these things”; Notes: Anaphoric: refers back to the preceding reportable events; use of neuter plural is common to indicate “the matters/what happened.”
  4. Rebeccæ — Lemma: Rebecca; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: dative singular (contextually); Function: indirect object/recipient of the announcement; Translation: “to Rebekah”; Notes: Although orthography may appear genitive in some manuscripts, context makes dative reading appropriate: “these things were reported to Rebekah.”
  5. quæ — Lemma: qui/qua/quid; Part of Speech: relative pronoun; Form: nominative singular feminine agreeing with understood antecedent (Rebeccæ); Function: introduces relative clause describing Rebekah’s action; Translation: “who / who then”; Notes: The relative connects the passive main clause to Rebekah’s responsive actions.
  6. mittens — Lemma: mitto; Part of Speech: participle (present active); Form: nominative singular feminine present active participle; Function: verbal adjective modifying Rebeccæ: “sending”; Translation: “sending”; Notes: Indicates the contemporaneous action by Rebekah — she sent (someone or sent word) as part of her response; participle stresses ongoing action.
  7. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariant; Function: coordinates two participles; Translation: “and”; Notes: Joins “mittens” and “vocans,” indicating two simultaneous actions.
  8. vocans — Lemma: voco; Part of Speech: participle (present active); Form: nominative singular feminine present active participle; Function: modifies Rebeccæ: “calling”; Translation: “calling”; Notes: Often implies she called Jacob herself or summoned him; pairs with “mittens” to show initiative.
  9. Iacob — Lemma: Iacob; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: accusative singular; Function: direct object of the participles (the one sent/called); Translation: “Jacob”; Notes: Orthographic accent typical for Latin Vulgate proper names; here he is the immediate addressee of Rebekah’s words.
  10. filium — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: appositive to Iacob or clarifying direct object (“her son Jacob”); Translation: “son”; Notes: Apposition clarifies relationship — Rebekah is calling her son Jacob.
  11. suum — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: accusative singular masculine agreeing with filium/Iacob; Function: possessive modifier; Translation: “her”; Notes: Reflexive possessive ties the son to Rebekah as owner/related person — “her son.”
  12. dixit — Lemma: dico; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular perfect indicative active; Function: verb of saying introducing direct speech; Translation: “said”; Notes: Narrative perfect marks the completed utterance; immediately followed by direct speech.
  13. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: marks the indirect object of the verb “dixit” (to whom she spoke); Translation: “to”; Notes: A standard preposition of direction toward the addressee of speech.
  14. eum — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: object of the preposition “ad”; Translation: “him”; Notes: Refers back to Jacob, the immediate recipient of Rebekah’s words.
  15. Ecce — Lemma: ecce; Part of Speech: interjection/demonstrative particle; Form: invariant; Function: draws attention to the following announcement; Translation: “behold”; Notes: Strong demonstrative particle used to introduce an important or urgent statement; common in speech formulas.
  16. Esau — Lemma: Esau; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: nominative singular; Function: subject of the verb “minatur”; Translation: “Esau”; Notes: Name placed at start of clause for emphasis — the threatening party is named plainly.
  17. frater — Lemma: frater; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative singular masculine; Function: appositive to Esau, giving relational identification; Translation: “brother”; Notes: Apposition underscores the tragic kinship of the threatened relationship.
  18. tuus — Lemma: tuus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: nominative singular masculine agreeing with frater; Function: possessive modifier; Translation: “your”; Notes: Personalizes the statement: Esau is Jacob’s brother; intensifies the emotional stakes.
  19. minatur — Lemma: minitor (deponent); Part of Speech: deponent verb; Form: third person singular present indicative (deponent form with active meaning); Function: verb of threatening; Translation: “threatens”; Notes: Deponent verbs have passive forms but active meaning — here it reports ongoing or current threat by Esau against Jacob.
  20. ut — Lemma: ut; Part of Speech: subordinating conjunction; Form: invariant; Function: introduces subordinate clause expressing the content/intent of the threat (purpose/result); Translation: “that / so that / in order that”; Notes: With verbs of fearing/threatening, “ut” + subjunctive often expresses the intended or feared outcome.
  21. occidat — Lemma: occido; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular present subjunctive active; Function: verb in subordinate clause dependent on “minatur”; Translation: “(that) he kill / may kill”; Notes: Subjunctive marks reported intention or potential action rather than a factual statement — preserves the sense of a threat or plan.
  22. te — Lemma: tu; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: accusative singular second person; Function: direct object of “occidat”; Translation: “you”; Notes: Jacob is the explicit object of the threatened action; the accusative completes the subordinate clause.

 

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.