Leviticus 23:35

Posted on April 23, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Lv 23:35 Dies primus vocabitur celeberrimus atque sanctissimus: omne opus servile non facietis in eo.

The first day shall be called most celebrated and most holy; you shall do no servile work on it.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Dies day NOM.SG.M
2 primus first NOM.SG.M.ADJ
3 vocabitur shall be called 3SG.FUT.PASS.IND
4 celeberrimus most celebrated NOM.SG.M.SUPER.ADJ
5 atque and CONJ
6 sanctissimus most holy NOM.SG.M.SUPER.ADJ
7 omne every ACC.SG.N.ADJ
8 opus work ACC.SG.N
9 servile servile ACC.SG.N.ADJ
10 non not ADV
11 facietis you shall do 2PL.FUT.ACT.IND
12 in in PREP+ABL
13 eo it ABL.SG.M.DEM

Syntax

Declarative Clause: Dies primus vocabitur celeberrimus atque sanctissimus — nominative subject with future passive verb and coordinated superlative predicate adjectives assigning the day its status.
Prohibitive Command: omne opus servile non facietis in eo — legislative future with emphatic negation forbidding any category of servile labor.
Locative Phrase: in eo — ablative phrase referring back to the specified day.

Morphology

  1. Dies — Lemma: dies; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: nominative masculine singular; Function: subject; Translation: “day”; Notes: Head noun for the calendrical declaration.
  2. primus — Lemma: primus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: nominative masculine singular; Function: modifies dies; Translation: “first”; Notes: Identifies sequence within the feast.
  3. vocabitur — Lemma: voco; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third person singular future passive indicative; Function: main predicate; Translation: “shall be called”; Notes: Passive assigns an official designation.
  4. celeberrimus — Lemma: celeber; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: nominative masculine singular superlative; Function: predicate adjective; Translation: “most celebrated”; Notes: Superlative emphasizing public prominence.
  5. atque — Lemma: atque; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordination; Translation: “and”; Notes: Closely links parallel qualities.
  6. sanctissimus — Lemma: sanctus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: nominative masculine singular superlative; Function: predicate adjective; Translation: “most holy”; Notes: Indicates the highest degree of sacredness.
  7. omne — Lemma: omnis; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: accusative neuter singular; Function: modifies opus; Translation: “every”; Notes: Absolute scope of the prohibition.
  8. opus — Lemma: opus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative neuter singular; Function: direct object; Translation: “work”; Notes: Generic term for labor or activity.
  9. servile — Lemma: servilis; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: accusative neuter singular; Function: modifies opus; Translation: “servile”; Notes: Specifies labor associated with ordinary or compelled work.
  10. non — Lemma: non; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: indeclinable; Function: negation; Translation: “not”; Notes: Negates the command emphatically.
  11. facietis — Lemma: facio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: second person plural future active indicative; Function: prohibitive command; Translation: “you shall do”; Notes: Legislative future expressing obligation.
  12. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: governing the ablative; Function: temporal reference; Translation: “in”; Notes: Refers to the specified day.
  13. eo — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: Demonstrative pronoun; Form: ablative masculine singular; Function: object of in; Translation: “it”; Notes: Points back to dies primus.

 

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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