Leviticus 4:23

Posted on April 4, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Lv 4:23 et postea intellexerit peccatum suum, offeret hostiam Domino, hircum de capris immaculatum.

and afterward, when he has understood his sin, he shall offer a victim to the LORD, a he-goat from the goats, unblemished.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 et and CONJ
2 postea afterward ADV
3 intellexerit shall have understood VERB, 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND
4 peccatum sin NOUN, ACC.SG.N, 2ND DECL
5 suum his ADJ, ACC.SG.N, POSS
6 offeret he shall offer VERB, 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND
7 hostiam victim NOUN, ACC.SG.F, 1ST DECL
8 Domino to the LORD NOUN, DAT.SG.M, 2ND DECL
9 hircum he-goat NOUN, ACC.SG.M, 2ND DECL
10 de from PREP+ABL
11 capris goats NOUN, ABL.PL.F, 1ST DECL
12 immaculatum unblemished ADJ, ACC.SG.M, POS

Syntax

Temporal Clause: et postea intellexerit peccatum suum — future-perfect marks realization of guilt before sacrifice is offered.
Main Clause: offeret hostiam Domino — obligatory offering to the LORD after recognition of sin.
Apposition: hircum… immaculatum — identifies the specific required victim: an unblemished he-goat.
Partitive Construction: de capris — specifies the category from which the he-goat is taken.

Morphology

  1. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: invariable; Function: links temporal clause to previous instruction; Translation: and; Notes: continues legal sequence.
  2. postea — Lemma: postea; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: invariable; Function: temporal marker; Translation: afterward; Notes: signals subsequent understanding of guilt.
  3. intellexerit — Lemma: intellego; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular future perfect active indicative; Function: verb of temporal clause; Translation: he shall have understood; Notes: legal requirement: realization precedes atonement.
  4. peccatum — Lemma: peccatum; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular neuter; Function: direct object of intellexerit; Translation: sin; Notes: specific wrongdoing.
  5. suum — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: possessive adjective; Form: accusative singular neuter; Function: modifies peccatum; Translation: his; Notes: reflexive, referring to the prince.
  6. offeret — Lemma: offero; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular future active indicative; Function: main verb; Translation: he shall offer; Notes: prescribes the ritual act.
  7. hostiam — Lemma: hostia; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: direct object of offeret; Translation: victim; Notes: standard sacrificial terminology.
  8. Domino — Lemma: Dominus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: dative singular masculine; Function: indirect object; Translation: to the LORD; Notes: refers to YHWH.
  9. hircum — Lemma: hircus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: appositional specification of hostiam; Translation: he-goat; Notes: required offering for a ruler’s unintentional sin.
  10. de — Lemma: de; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs ablative; Function: partitive source; Translation: from; Notes: indicates category of animals.
  11. capris — Lemma: capra; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative plural feminine; Function: object of de; Translation: goats; Notes: general group from which the hircus is selected.
  12. immaculatum — Lemma: immaculatus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative singular masculine; Function: modifies hircum; Translation: unblemished; Notes: sacrificial fitness requirement.

 

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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