Leviticus 24:15

Posted on April 24, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

15 Et ad filios Israel loqueris: Homo, qui maledixerit Deo suo, portabit peccatum suum:

And you shall speak to the sons of Israel: ‘A man who curses his God shall bear his sin;

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Et and CONJ
2 ad to PREP+ACC
3 filios sons ACC.PL.M
4 Israel Israel INDECL
5 loqueris you shall speak 2SG.FUT.IND.DEP
6 Homo man NOM.SG.M
7 qui who NOM.SG.M REL
8 maledixerit has cursed 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND
9 Deo God DAT.SG.M
10 suo his DAT.SG.M POSS
11 portabit shall bear 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND
12 peccatum sin ACC.SG.N
13 suum his ACC.SG.N POSS

Syntax

Directive Introduction: Et ad filios Israel loqueris — future deponent verb issuing an authoritative instruction to address the community.

General Legal Subject: Homo — generic singular establishing a legal principle.

Relative Qualification: qui maledixerit Deo suo — defines the offense through a relative clause.

Main Legal Consequence: portabit peccatum suum — future indicative expressing personal liability.

Morphology

  1. Et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating conjunction; Function: links this instruction with the preceding divine speech; Translation: and; Notes: maintains narrative and legal continuity.
  2. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governing the accusative; Function: marks the audience addressed; Translation: to; Notes: common with verbs of speaking.
  3. filios — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative masculine plural, second declension; Function: object of ad; Translation: sons; Notes: collective designation of the covenant community.
  4. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: indeclinable; Function: apposition specifying filios; Translation: Israel; Notes: ethnic and covenantal identifier.
  5. loqueris — Lemma: loquor; Part of Speech: verb (deponent); Form: second person singular future indicative; Function: main verb of address; Translation: you shall speak; Notes: deponent form passive in shape but active in meaning.
  6. Homo — Lemma: homo; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative masculine singular, third declension; Function: subject of the legal statement; Translation: man; Notes: generic term covering any individual.
  7. qui — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: relative pronoun; Form: nominative masculine singular; Function: introduces a defining relative clause; Translation: who; Notes: restricts the scope of Homo.
  8. maledixerit — Lemma: maledico; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular future perfect indicative active; Function: verb of the relative clause; Translation: has cursed; Notes: future perfect presents the offense as completed prior to judgment.
  9. Deo — Lemma: Deus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: dative masculine singular, second declension; Function: indirect object of maledixerit; Translation: God; Notes: not rendered “LORD” here, as the Latin uses Deo rather than Domino.
  10. suo — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: dative masculine singular; Function: modifies Deo; Translation: his; Notes: reflexive possession linking the offense personally to the subject.
  11. portabit — Lemma: porto; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular future indicative active; Function: main predicate of consequence; Translation: shall bear; Notes: legal idiom for enduring liability or punishment.
  12. peccatum — Lemma: peccatum; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative neuter singular, second declension; Function: direct object of portabit; Translation: sin; Notes: denotes guilt rather than merely the act.
  13. suum — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: accusative neuter singular; Function: modifies peccatum; Translation: his; Notes: emphasizes personal responsibility.

 

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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