Leviticus 22:9

Posted on April 22, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Lv 22:9 Custodiant præcepta mea, ut non subiaceant peccato, et moriantur in Sanctuario, cum polluerint illud. ego Dominus qui sanctifico eos.

Let them keep my commandments, lest they become subject to sin and die in the Sanctuary when they have defiled it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Custodiant let them keep 3PL.PRES.ACT.SUBJ
2 præcepta commandments ACC.PL.N
3 mea my ACC.PL.N.POSS
4 ut lest / so that not CONJ
5 non not ADV
6 subiaceant they become subject 3PL.PRES.ACT.SUBJ
7 peccato to sin DAT.SG.N
8 et and CONJ
9 moriantur they die 3PL.PRES.DEP.SUBJ
10 in in PREP+ABL
11 Sanctuario Sanctuary ABL.SG.N
12 cum when CONJ
13 polluerint they have defiled 3PL.PERF.ACT.SUBJ
14 illud it ACC.SG.N.DEM
15 ego I NOM.SG.PERS
16 Dominus LORD NOM.SG.M
17 qui who NOM.SG.M.REL
18 sanctifico sanctify 1SG.PRES.ACT.IND
19 eos them ACC.PL.M.PERS

Syntax

Main Jussive Clause: Custodiant (command expressed by subjunctive) + præcepta mea (direct object).
Negative Purpose Clause: ut non subiaceant peccato — prevention of moral liability.
Coordinated Result: et moriantur — consequence expressed in the subjunctive.
Locative Phrase: in Sanctuario — place of judgment.
Temporal Clause: cum polluerint illud — circumstance triggering the penalty.
Divine Identification: ego Dominus qui sanctifico eos — authority and rationale.

Morphology

  1. Custodiant — Lemma: custodio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third person plural present active subjunctive; Function: expresses a command or exhortation; Translation: “let them keep”; Notes: Jussive subjunctive typical of legal admonitions.
  2. præcepta — Lemma: præceptum; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative neuter plural; Function: direct object of custodiant; Translation: “commandments”; Notes: Refers to divinely issued regulations.
  3. mea — Lemma: meus; Part of Speech: Possessive adjective; Form: accusative neuter plural; Function: modifies præcepta; Translation: “my”; Notes: Emphasizes divine ownership and authority.
  4. ut — Lemma: ut; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: introduces a negative purpose clause; Translation: “lest”; Notes: Regularly paired with non in prohibitive aims.
  5. non — Lemma: non; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: indeclinable; Function: negates the verb; Translation: “not”; Notes: Governs the following subjunctive.
  6. subiaceant — Lemma: subicio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third person plural present active subjunctive; Function: expresses avoided consequence; Translation: “they become subject”; Notes: Takes the dative to indicate liability.
  7. peccato — Lemma: peccatum; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: dative neuter singular; Function: dative of subjection with subiaceant; Translation: “to sin”; Notes: Legal-moral accountability rather than a single act.
  8. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates avoided outcomes; Translation: “and”; Notes: Links parallel consequences.
  9. moriantur — Lemma: morior; Part of Speech: Verb (deponent); Form: third person plural present subjunctive; Function: expresses feared result; Translation: “they die”; Notes: Deponent with active meaning, used here in a legal warning.
  10. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: governing the ablative; Function: indicates location; Translation: “in”; Notes: Specifies the sacred setting.
  11. Sanctuario — Lemma: sanctuarium; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: ablative neuter singular; Function: object of in; Translation: “Sanctuary”; Notes: The holy space where violation incurs judgment.
  12. cum — Lemma: cum; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: introduces a temporal-circumstantial clause; Translation: “when”; Notes: Takes the subjunctive to describe circumstance.
  13. polluerint — Lemma: polluo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third person plural perfect active subjunctive; Function: states the precipitating act; Translation: “they have defiled”; Notes: Perfect marks completed desecration.
  14. illud — Lemma: ille; Part of Speech: Demonstrative pronoun; Form: accusative neuter singular; Function: direct object of polluerint; Translation: “it”; Notes: Refers to the Sanctuary.
  15. ego — Lemma: ego; Part of Speech: Personal pronoun; Form: nominative singular; Function: subject of identification; Translation: “I”; Notes: Emphatic divine self-reference.
  16. Dominus — Lemma: dominus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: nominative masculine singular; Function: predicate nominative; Translation: “LORD”; Notes: Covenant name of YHWH asserting authority.
  17. qui — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: Relative pronoun; Form: nominative masculine singular; Function: introduces descriptive clause; Translation: “who”; Notes: Links divine identity to action.
  18. sanctifico — Lemma: sanctifico; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: first person singular present active indicative; Function: states ongoing divine action; Translation: “sanctify”; Notes: God himself confers holiness, grounding the commands.
  19. eos — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: Personal pronoun; Form: accusative masculine plural; Function: direct object of sanctifico; Translation: “them”; Notes: Refers to the priests bound by these laws.

 

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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