Genesis 5:17

Posted on January 5, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Gn 5:17 Et facti sunt omnes dies Malaleel octingenti nonaginta quinque anni, et mortuus est.

And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Et and CONJ
2 facti were made / became NOM.PL.M.PERF.PASS.PART
3 sunt were 3PL.PRES.ACT.IND
4 omnes all NOM.PL.M.ADJ
5 dies days NOM.PL.M
6 Malaleel of Malaleel GEN.SG.M (INDECL)
7 octingenti eight hundred NOM.PL.M.NUM
8 nonaginta ninety NUM.INDECL
9 quinque five NUM.INDECL
10 anni years NOM.PL.M
11 et and CONJ
12 mortuus died NOM.SG.M.PERF.PASS.PART
13 est was 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND

Syntax

Main Clause 1: Et facti sunt omnes dies Malaleel octingenti nonaginta quinque anni — The perfect periphrastic construction facti sunt (“were made / became”) serves as the main verb, expressing a completed state. The subject omnes dies Malaleel (“all the days of Malaleel”) is followed by the predicate nominative octingenti nonaginta quinque anni (“eight hundred and ninety-five years”).
Main Clause 2: et mortuus est — The conjunction et joins the clause marking death, with mortuus est (“and he died”) forming the perfect periphrastic—a fixed genealogical formula in the Vulgate narrative.

Morphology

  1. Et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Connects this verse to the previous genealogical statement; Translation: “and”; Notes: Serves as the standard connective in narrative Latin, mirroring Hebrew waw-consecutive.
  2. facti — Lemma: facio; Part of Speech: Verb (participle); Form: Nominative plural masculine, perfect passive participle; Function: Predicate with sunt; Translation: “were made / became”; Notes: Common in Vulgate Latin to express the culmination of life’s duration, paralleling Hebrew wayyihyu (“and they were”).
  3. sunt — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Present active indicative, 3rd person plural; Function: Auxiliary verb forming periphrastic perfect with facti; Translation: “were”; Notes: Used idiomatically with participles to indicate a completed totality.
  4. omnes — Lemma: omnis; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Nominative plural masculine; Function: Modifies dies; Translation: “all”; Notes: Emphasizes completeness of lifespan, typical in genealogical listings.
  5. dies — Lemma: dies; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative plural masculine; Function: Subject of facti sunt; Translation: “days”; Notes: Often symbolizes “years of life” in biblical idiom; plural used collectively.
  6. Malaleel — Lemma: Malaleel; Part of Speech: Proper noun (indeclinable); Form: Genitive singular masculine; Function: Possessive genitive modifying dies; Translation: “of Malaleel”; Notes: Reflects Hebrew מַהֲלַלְאֵל (Mahalal’el), rendered indeclinably in the Vulgate tradition.
  7. octingenti — Lemma: octingenti; Part of Speech: Numeral adjective; Form: Nominative plural masculine; Function: Modifies anni; Translation: “eight hundred”; Notes: In Latin compound numbers, each component agrees in case and gender with the noun.
  8. nonaginta — Lemma: nonaginta; Part of Speech: Numeral; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Part of the numerical compound; Translation: “ninety”; Notes: Numerals above ten are invariable; here it supplements octingenti quinque anni.
  9. quinque — Lemma: quinque; Part of Speech: Numeral; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Final element of numeric expression; Translation: “five”; Notes: Completes the compound total of “eight hundred and ninety-five.”
  10. anni — Lemma: annus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative plural masculine; Function: Predicate nominative; Translation: “years”; Notes: Provides the measure for the total lifespan; corresponds to Hebrew šānīm (“years”).
  11. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable; Function: Links the life-summary with the death statement; Translation: “and”; Notes: Continues the repetitive stylistic rhythm of Genesis 5’s genealogical structure.
  12. mortuus — Lemma: morior; Part of Speech: Verb (deponent participle); Form: Nominative singular masculine, perfect participle; Function: Predicate complement with est; Translation: “died”; Notes: As a deponent verb, mortuus est forms the perfect tense idiomatically without active morphology.
  13. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Present active indicative, 3rd person singular; Function: Auxiliary forming perfect periphrastic with mortuus; Translation: “was / has been”; Notes: The periphrastic mortuus est is the standard Latin rendering for Hebrew wayyāmot (“and he died”).

 

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.