Leviticus 27:3

Posted on April 27, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

3 Si fuerit masculus a vigesimo anno usque ad sexagesimum annum, dabit quinquaginta siclos argenti ad mensuram Sanctuarii:

If he will have been a male from the twentieth year up to the sixtieth year, he will give fifty shekels of silver according to the measure of the Sanctuary;

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Si if CONJ
2 fuerit will have been 3SG.FUTP.IND.ACT
3 masculus male NOM.SG.M
4 a from PREP+ABL
5 vigesimo twentieth ABL.SG.M.ORD.ADJ
6 anno year ABL.SG.M
7 usque up to ADV
8 ad to PREP+ACC
9 sexagesimum sixtieth ACC.SG.M.ORD.ADJ
10 annum year ACC.SG.M
11 dabit he will give 3SG.FUT.IND.ACT
12 quinquaginta fifty INDECL.NUM
13 siclos shekels ACC.PL.M
14 argenti of silver GEN.SG.N
15 ad according to PREP+ACC
16 mensuram measure ACC.SG.F
17 Sanctuarii of the Sanctuary GEN.SG.N

Syntax

Conditional Clause: Si (condition marker) + fuerit (verb) + masculus (subject complement)
Ablative Range Phrase: a vigesimo anno — starting point (“from the twentieth year”)
Limit Phrase: usque ad sexagesimum annum — endpoint (“up to the sixtieth year”)
Main Clause: dabit (main verb) + quinquaginta siclos argenti (direct object with partitive genitive)
Standard Phrase: ad mensuram Sanctuarii — measure/standard governing the payment amount

Morphology

  1. Si — Lemma: si; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: introduces the legal condition; Translation: if; Notes: In statutory language, si frames the case category that triggers the stated obligation.
  2. fuerit — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third person singular, future perfect indicative active; Function: verb of the conditional clause; Translation: will have been; Notes: The future perfect treats the condition as established before the required payment is applied.
  3. masculus — Lemma: masculus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: nominative singular masculine, second declension; Function: predicate nominative describing the person in view; Translation: male; Notes: The term specifies sex as the classification criterion for the valuation scale.
  4. a — Lemma: a; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: preposition governing the ablative; Function: marks the starting point of an age range; Translation: from; Notes: With time expressions, a commonly indicates the lower bound for eligibility.
  5. vigesimo — Lemma: vicesimus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: ordinal adjective, ablative singular masculine; Function: modifies anno within the starting-point phrase; Translation: twentieth; Notes: The ordinal anchors the valuation to a precise age threshold rather than an approximate stage of life.
  6. anno — Lemma: annus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: ablative singular masculine, second declension; Function: object of a expressing time; Translation: year; Notes: The singular with an ordinal is idiomatic for age ranges: “from the twentieth year (of life).”
  7. usque — Lemma: usque; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: invariable; Function: intensifies and extends the range to its limit; Translation: up to; Notes: usque commonly pairs with ad to mark a clear upper boundary.
  8. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: preposition governing the accusative; Function: introduces the endpoint of the range; Translation: to; Notes: In range constructions, ad is the standard marker for the terminus.
  9. sexagesimum — Lemma: sexagesimus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: ordinal adjective, accusative singular masculine; Function: modifies annum in the endpoint phrase; Translation: sixtieth; Notes: The ordinal sets the upper limit of the valuation bracket with legal precision.
  10. annum — Lemma: annus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative singular masculine, second declension; Function: object of ad expressing time; Translation: year; Notes: The accusative with ad completes the endpoint expression, forming a bounded age interval.
  11. dabit — Lemma: do; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third person singular, future indicative active; Function: main verb stating the obligation; Translation: he will give; Notes: The future indicative functions prescriptively, expressing a required payment in the valuation system.
  12. quinquaginta — Lemma: quinquaginta; Part of Speech: Numeral; Form: indeclinable cardinal numeral; Function: quantifies the amount of siclos; Translation: fifty; Notes: As indeclinable, it depends on word order and its head noun for syntactic integration.
  13. siclos — Lemma: siclus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative plural masculine, second declension; Function: direct object nucleus of the payment amount; Translation: shekels; Notes: The term represents a recognized unit in the valuation context, treated as a countable payment item.
  14. argenti — Lemma: argentum; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: genitive singular neuter, second declension; Function: partitive/material genitive specifying what the shekels consist of; Translation: of silver; Notes: The genitive clarifies substance, preventing ambiguity about the valuation medium.
  15. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: preposition governing the accusative; Function: introduces the standard according to which the payment is reckoned; Translation: according to; Notes: This ad expresses conformity to an official benchmark rather than physical direction.
  16. mensuram — Lemma: mensura; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative singular feminine, first declension; Function: object of ad, naming the norm/measure; Translation: measure; Notes: The term signals a calibrated standard, implying regulated equivalence rather than negotiated price.
  17. Sanctuarii — Lemma: sanctuarium; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: genitive singular neuter, second declension; Function: genitive modifier specifying whose measure is meant; Translation: of the Sanctuary; Notes: The genitive grounds the valuation in an authoritative sacred standard rather than local or private weighing.

 

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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