Genesis 4:14

Posted on January 4, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 4:14 Ecce eiicis me hodie a facie terræ, et a facie tua abscondar, et ero vagus et profugus in terra: omnis igitur qui invenerit me, occidet me.

Behold you drive me away this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from your face, and I shall be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth; therefore everyone who finds me will kill me.”

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Ecce behold INTERJ
2 eiicis you cast out / will drive away 2SG.PRES.ACT.IND
3 me me ACC.SG.M
4 hodie to-day ADV
5 a from PREP+ABL
6 facie face ABL.SG.F
7 terræ of the earth GEN.SG.F
8 et and CONJ
9 a from PREP+ABL
10 facie face ABL.SG.F
11 tua your ABL.SG.F.POSS
12 abscondar I shall be hidden 1SG.FUT.PASS.IND
13 et and CONJ
14 ero I shall be 1SG.FUT.ACT.IND
15 vagus wanderer NOM.SG.M.ADJ
16 et and CONJ
17 profugus fugitive NOM.SG.M.ADJ
18 in on / in PREP+ABL
19 terra earth ABL.SG.F
20 omnis everyone NOM.SG.M
21 igitur therefore CONJ
22 qui who NOM.SG.M.REL.PRON
23 invenerit finds / will find 3SG.FUT.PERF.ACT.IND
24 me me ACC.SG.M
25 occidet will kill 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND
26 me me ACC.SG.M

Syntax

Main Exclamatory Clause: Ecce eiicis me hodie a facie terræ — Ecce (interjection) draws attention; verb eiicis (2sg) addresses the speaker to God, me is direct object, hodie temporal adverb, and a facie terræ is a prepositional phrase indicating separation from the earth.
Coordinate Clause: et a facie tua abscondar — abscondar (1sg fut. passive) describes Cain’s expectation of being hidden from God’s presence; a facie tua parallels the prior prepositional phrase with divine focus.
Result/State Clause: et ero vagus et profugus in terra — ero (1sg fut) links predicate adjectives vagus and profugus as character states, in terra marks the locus of wandering.
Final Appositive/Adversative Clause: omnis igitur qui invenerit me, occidet me — omnis quantifies people; relative clause qui invenerit me specifies those who find Cain; main verb occidet (3sg fut) expresses Cain’s fear of being killed by any finder.

Morphology

  1. Ecce — Lemma: ecce; Part of Speech: Interjection; Form: Invariable; Function: Attention marker introducing the complaint; Translation: “Behold”; Notes: Rhetorical, foregrounds Cain’s plea.
  2. eiicis — Lemma: eiicio / ejicio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Present active indicative, 2nd person singular; Function: Main verb of exclamation addressing the addressee; Translation: “you cast out / you will drive away”; Notes: Vulgate form with diphthong; expresses immediate action by God as perceived by Cain.
  3. me — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Accusative singular; Function: Direct object of eiicis; Translation: “me”; Notes: Personal pronoun marking victimhood.
  4. hodie — Lemma: hodie; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Invariable; Function: Temporal modifier; Translation: “to-day”; Notes: Emphasizes immediacy of the banishment.
  5. a — Lemma: a / ab; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Marks source or separation; Translation: “from”; Notes: Used twice to parallel separation from earth and from God’s presence.
  6. facie — Lemma: facies; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular feminine; Function: Object of the preposition a; Translation: “the face”; Notes: Figurative for presence or surface.
  7. terræ — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Genitive singular feminine; Function: Dependent genitive modifying facie; Translation: “of the earth”; Notes: Specifies which face is meant.
  8. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Connective; Translation: “and”; Notes: Joins clauses.
  9. a — Lemma: a / ab; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative; Function: Marks separation from divine presence; Translation: “from”; Notes: Parallel construction with earlier a facie terræ.
  10. facie — Lemma: facies; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular feminine; Function: Object of the preposition a; Translation: “face”; Notes: Here refers to God’s presence.
  11. tua — Lemma: tuus, -a, -um; Part of Speech: Possessive adjective; Form: Ablative singular feminine; Function: Modifies facie; Translation: “your”; Notes: Divine possessive, intensifies relational rupture.
  12. abscondar — Lemma: abscondo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: First person singular future passive indicative; Function: Predicate of state; Translation: “I shall be hidden”; Notes: Cain’s fear of being concealed from God rather than protected.
  13. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Connects parallel predications; Translation: “and”; Notes: Links hiddenness to wandering.
  14. ero — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: First person singular future active indicative; Function: Copula introducing predicate adjectives; Translation: “I shall be”; Notes: Future certainty of condition.
  15. vagus — Lemma: vagus; Part of Speech: Adjective (substantive use); Form: Nominative singular masculine; Function: Predicate nominative; Translation: “a wanderer”; Notes: Denotes displacement and instability.
  16. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Connects adjectives; Translation: “and”; Notes: Parallels vagus with profugus.
  17. profugus — Lemma: profugus; Part of Speech: Adjective (substantive use); Form: Nominative singular masculine; Function: Predicate nominative; Translation: “a fugitive”; Notes: Emphasizes exile from community and protection.
  18. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Governs ablative here; Function: Locative; Translation: “in / on”; Notes: Denotes the sphere of wandering.
  19. terra — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular feminine; Function: Object of in; Translation: “the earth”; Notes: Repeats motif of the cursed ground.
  20. omnis — Lemma: omnis; Part of Speech: Adjective used substantively; Form: Nominative singular masculine; Function: Quantifier (“everyone”); Translation: “everyone”; Notes: Universalizes the threat Cain fears.
  21. igitur — Lemma: igitur; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Consecutive/therefore; Translation: “therefore”; Notes: Links Cain’s banishment with the alleged consequence.
  22. qui — Lemma: qui, quae, quod; Part of Speech: Relative pronoun; Form: Nominative singular masculine; Function: Subject of relative clause; Translation: “who”; Notes: Refers to any finder.
  23. invenerit — Lemma: invenio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person singular future perfect active indicative (Vulgate usage); Function: Verb of relative clause indicating future finding; Translation: “finds / will find”; Notes: Form expresses future occurrence.
  24. me — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Accusative singular; Function: Direct object of invenerit and occidet; Translation: “me”; Notes: Repeated for emphasis.
  25. occidet — Lemma: occido; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person singular future active indicative; Function: Main verb of apodosis expressing feared action; Translation: “will kill”; Notes: Cain’s fear of revenge or vigilante justice.
  26. me — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: Pronoun; Form: Accusative singular; Function: Direct object of occidet; Translation: “me”; Notes: Final emphatic repetition of the threatened victim.

 

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.