Genesis 48:8

Posted on February 17, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 48:8 Videns autem filios eius dixit ad eum: Qui sunt isti?

But seeing his sons, he said to him: “Who are these?”

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Videns seeing NOM.SG.M.PTCP.PRES.ACT
2 autem however ADV
3 filios sons ACC.SG.M
4 eius his GEN.SG.M.PRON
5 dixit said 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
6 ad to PREP+ACC
7 eum him ACC.SG.M.PRON
8 Qui who NOM.PL.M.INTERROG
9 sunt are 3PL.PRES.ACT.IND
10 isti these NOM.PL.M.DEM

Syntax

Participial construction:
Videns autem — nominative singular participle governing the subject (Jacob), setting the circumstance: “But seeing …”.

Object of perception:
filios eius — “his sons”; eius is genitive dependent on filios.

Main clause:
dixit ad eum — “he said to him”; indirect address.

Direct question:
Qui sunt isti? — “Who are these?”
• interrogative pronoun qui as subject
• isti demonstrative pointing to the children

Morphology

  1. Videns — Lemma: video; Part of Speech: participle; Form: nominative singular masculine present active participle; Function: circumstantial participle; Translation: “seeing”; Notes: Describes Jacob’s perception initiating the dialogue.
  2. autem — Lemma: autem; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: postpositive; Function: mild contrastive marker; Translation: “however”; Notes: Never appears first in a clause.
  3. filios — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: direct object of videns; Translation: “sons”; Notes: Masculine plural referring to Ephraim and Manasseh.
  4. eius — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: genitive singular masculine; Function: possession; Translation: “his”; Notes: Refers to Joseph.
  5. dixit — Lemma: dico; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect active indicative third singular; Function: main verb; Translation: “said”; Notes: Perfect marks a completed speech act.
  6. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: marks indirect object; Translation: “to”; Notes: Indicates direction of speech.
  7. eum — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: object of ad; Translation: “him”; Notes: Refers to Joseph.
  8. Qui — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: interrogative pronoun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: subject of the question; Translation: “who”; Notes: Introduces direct question.
  9. sunt — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active indicative third plural; Function: copula; Translation: “are”; Notes: Links qui with isti.
  10. isti — Lemma: iste; Part of Speech: demonstrative pronoun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: predicate complement; Translation: “these”; Notes: Gestural demonstrative, pointing to children nearby.

 

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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