Leviticus 21:4

Posted on April 21, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Lv 21:4 sed nec in principe populi sui contaminabitur.

but neither shall he be defiled among the leader of his own people.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 sed but CONJ
2 nec nor / neither CONJ
3 in among PREP+ABL
4 principe leader ABL.SG.M (3RD DECL)
5 populi of the people GEN.SG.M (2ND DECL)
6 sui his own GEN.SG.M (POSS)
7 contaminabitur he shall be defiled 3SG.FUT.PASS.IND

Syntax

Adversative Limitation: sed nec — adversative conjunction with reinforcing negation, restricting the previous permissions.

Prepositional Circumstance: in principe populi sui — prepositional phrase with ablative specifying a prohibited case of defilement, referring to a person of high communal standing.

Main Predicate: contaminabitur — future passive indicative expressing a standing legal prohibition applied to the priest.

Morphology

  1. sed — Lemma: sed; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: adversative connector; Translation: “but”; Notes: Introduces a restriction to prior allowances.
  2. nec — Lemma: nec; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: correlative negation; Translation: “nor / neither”; Notes: Strengthens the prohibition.
  3. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs ablative; Function: circumstance; Translation: “among”; Notes: Indicates relational context.
  4. principe — Lemma: princeps; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative masculine singular; Function: object of in; Translation: “leader”; Notes: Refers to a chief or prominent member of the community.
  5. populi — Lemma: populus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive masculine singular; Function: modifies principe; Translation: “of the people”; Notes: Identifies the communal group.
  6. sui — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: genitive masculine singular; Function: modifies populi; Translation: “his own”; Notes: Reflexive, referring back to the priest.
  7. contaminabitur — Lemma: contamino; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular future passive indicative; Function: main verb; Translation: “he shall be defiled”; Notes: Legal future stating prohibition as a standing rule.

 

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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