Genesis 3:17

Posted on January 3, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 3:17 Adæ vero dixit: Quia audisti vocem uxoris tuæ, et comedisti de ligno, ex quo, præceperam tibi, ne comederes, maledicta terra in opere tuo: in laboribus comedes ex ea cunctis diebus vitæ tuæ.

And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree concerning which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the earth in your work; in labors you shall eat from it all the days of your life.”

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Adæ to Adam DAT.SG.M
2 vero but / indeed ADV
3 dixit said 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
4 Quia because CONJ
5 audisti you have listened 2SG.PERF.ACT.IND
6 vocem voice ACC.SG.F
7 uxoris of the wife GEN.SG.F
8 tuæ your GEN.SG.F.POSS.ADJ
9 et and CONJ
10 comedisti you have eaten 2SG.PERF.ACT.IND
11 de from / of PREP+ABL
12 ligno tree ABL.SG.N
13 ex out of / from PREP+ABL
14 quo which ABL.SG.N.REL.PRON
15 præceperam I had commanded 1SG.PLUPERF.ACT.IND
16 tibi to you DAT.SG.2P.PRON
17 ne not NEG.PART
18 comederes you should eat 2SG.IMPF.ACT.SUBJ
19 maledicta cursed NOM.SG.F.PERF.PTCP
20 terra earth NOM.SG.F
21 in in PREP+ABL
22 opere work / labor ABL.SG.N
23 tuo your ABL.SG.N.POSS.ADJ
24 in in PREP+ABL
25 laboribus labors / toils ABL.PL.M
26 comed es you shall eat 2SG.FUT.ACT.IND
27 ex from / out of PREP+ABL
28 ea it / her ABL.SG.F.PRON
29 cunctis all ABL.PL.M.ADJ
30 diebus days ABL.PL.M
31 vitæ of life GEN.SG.F
32 tuæ your GEN.SG.F.POSS.ADJ

Syntax

Main Clause: Adæ vero dixit — “And to Adam He said.” The dative Adæ marks the addressee of the pronouncement.
Causal Clause: Quia audisti vocem uxoris tuæ, et comedisti de ligno — “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree.” The perfect verbs audisti and comedisti indicate completed disobedience.
Relative Clause: ex quo præceperam tibi ne comederes — “from which I had commanded you not to eat.” Subjunctive comederes expresses prohibition within the dependent clause.
Main Judgment: maledicta terra in opere tuo — “cursed is the earth in your work.” The nominative terra serves as subject, maledicta as predicate adjective.
Result Clause: in laboribus comedes ex ea cunctis diebus vitæ tuæ — “in labors you shall eat from it all the days of your life.” The prepositional phrase in laboribus denotes manner and hardship.

Morphology

  1. Adæ — Lemma: Adam; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Dative singular masculine; Function: Indirect object of dixit; Translation: “to Adam”; Notes: Marks recipient of the divine sentence.
  2. vero — Lemma: vero; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Transitional adverb; Translation: “but / indeed”; Notes: Introduces contrast with the previous addresses.
  3. dixit — Lemma: dico; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Perfect active indicative 3rd singular; Function: Main verb; Translation: “said”; Notes: Continues divine discourse.
  4. Quia — Lemma: quia; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Introduces causal clause; Translation: “because”; Notes: Explains ground of punishment.
  5. audisti — Lemma: audio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Perfect active indicative 2nd singular; Function: Main verb in causal clause; Translation: “you have listened”; Notes: Denotes completed act of heeding Eve’s counsel.
  6. vocem — Lemma: vox; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine; Function: Direct object of audisti; Translation: “voice”; Notes: Indicates verbal persuasion.
  7. uxoris — Lemma: uxor; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Genitive singular feminine; Function: Possessive genitive; Translation: “of the wife”; Notes: Relates to vocem.
  8. tuæ — Lemma: tuus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Genitive singular feminine; Function: Possessive modifier; Translation: “your”; Notes: Agrees with uxoris.
  9. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Coordination; Translation: “and”; Notes: Links the two acts of disobedience.
  10. comedisti — Lemma: comedo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Perfect active indicative 2nd singular; Function: Main verb; Translation: “you have eaten”; Notes: Parallel to audisti, forming dual causation.
  11. de — Lemma: de; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Source; Translation: “of / from”; Notes: Marks the source object ligno.
  12. ligno — Lemma: lignum; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular neuter; Function: Object of de; Translation: “tree”; Notes: Refers to the tree of knowledge.
  13. ex — Lemma: ex; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Origin; Translation: “from / out of”; Notes: Introduces the relative clause.
  14. quo — Lemma: qui, quae, quod; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Ablative singular neuter; Function: Relative pronoun; Translation: “which”; Notes: Refers to ligno.
  15. præceperam — Lemma: præcipio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Pluperfect active indicative 1st singular; Function: Main verb of relative clause; Translation: “I had commanded”; Notes: Marks prior divine prohibition.
  16. tibi — Lemma: tu; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Dative singular; Function: Indirect object of præceperam; Translation: “to you”; Notes: Indicates the recipient of the command.
  17. ne — Lemma: ne; Part of Speech: Particle; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Negates subjunctive clause; Translation: “not”; Notes: Introduces prohibition.
  18. comederes — Lemma: comedo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Imperfect active subjunctive 2nd singular; Function: Verb of prohibition; Translation: “you should eat”; Notes: Subjunctive under negative particle ne.
  19. maledicta — Lemma: maledico; Part of Speech: Participle; Form: Perfect passive participle, nominative singular feminine; Function: Predicate adjective; Translation: “cursed”; Notes: Describes the earth’s new condition.
  20. terra — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative singular feminine; Function: Subject; Translation: “earth”; Notes: The object affected by man’s sin.
  21. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Circumstantial; Translation: “in”; Notes: Denotes sphere of curse or toil.
  22. opere — Lemma: opus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular neuter; Function: Object of in; Translation: “work / labor”; Notes: Field of human effort.
  23. tuo — Lemma: tuus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Ablative singular neuter; Function: Possessive modifier; Translation: “your”; Notes: Refers to Adam’s toil.
  24. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Circumstance; Translation: “in”; Notes: Introduces condition of life.
  25. laboribus — Lemma: labor; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative plural masculine; Function: Ablative of manner; Translation: “labors”; Notes: Denotes continual hardship.
  26. comed es — Lemma: comedo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Future active indicative 2nd singular; Function: Main verb of result clause; Translation: “you shall eat”; Notes: Indicates ongoing sustenance through toil.
  27. ex — Lemma: ex; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Source; Translation: “from / out of”; Notes: Indicates the source of food—taken from the cursed ground.
  28. ea — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Ablative singular feminine; Function: Object of ex; Translation: “it / her”; Notes: Refers to the terra (“earth”) as the source of sustenance.
  29. cunctis — Lemma: cunctus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Ablative plural masculine; Function: Modifies diebus; Translation: “all”; Notes: Expresses duration covering every day of life.
  30. diebus — Lemma: dies; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative plural masculine; Function: Ablative of time; Translation: “days”; Notes: Specifies time period during which the labor continues.
  31. vitæ — Lemma: vita; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Genitive singular feminine; Function: Genitive of possession; Translation: “of life”; Notes: Qualifies diebus—the span of one’s earthly existence.
  32. tuæ — Lemma: tuus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Genitive singular feminine; Function: Possessive modifier; Translation: “your”; Notes: Refers to Adam’s lifetime under divine sentence.

 

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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