Numeri 10:4 (Numbers 10:4)

Posted on May 7, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 10:4 Si semel clangueris, venient ad te principes, et capita multitudinis Israel.

If you sound once, the leaders and the heads of the multitude of Israel will come to you.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Si if CONJ
2 semel once ADV
3 clangueris you shall have sounded 2SG.FUTP.ACT.IND
4 venient they will come 3PL.FUT.ACT.IND
5 ad to PREP+ACC
6 te you ACC.SG.2.PERS.PRON
7 principes leaders NOM.PL.M
8 et and CONJ
9 capita heads NOM.PL.N
10 multitudinis of the multitude GEN.SG.F
11 Israel Israel INDECL

Syntax

Conditional Clause: Si semel clangueris — protasis expressing a future condition (“if you sound once”).

Main Clause: principes et capita multitudinis Israel (compound subject) + venient (main verb).

Phrase: ad te — prepositional phrase indicating direction toward the person addressed.

Phrase: multitudinis Israel — genitive construction specifying the group to which the heads belong.

Morphology

  1. Si — Lemma: si; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable conditional conjunction; Function: introduces protasis; Translation: if; Notes: Sets up a real future condition.
  2. semel — Lemma: semel; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: indeclinable; Function: modifies clangueris; Translation: once; Notes: Specifies a single occurrence of the action.
  3. clangueris — Lemma: clango; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future perfect active indicative second person singular; Function: verb of conditional clause; Translation: you shall have sounded; Notes: Future perfect expresses completed action prior to the result in the main clause.
  4. venient — Lemma: venio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: future active indicative third person plural; Function: main verb; Translation: they will come; Notes: Indicates the response to the signal.
  5. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: governs accusative; Function: introduces direction; Translation: to; Notes: Standard marker of motion toward a person.
  6. te — Lemma: tu; Part of Speech: personal pronoun; Form: accusative singular second person; Function: object of ad; Translation: you; Notes: Refers to Moyses as the one to whom they come.
  7. principes — Lemma: princeps; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Function: part of compound subject; Translation: leaders; Notes: Refers to tribal leaders or chiefs.
  8. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: indeclinable; Function: coordinates subjects; Translation: and; Notes: Links two subject groups together.
  9. capita — Lemma: caput; Part of Speech: noun; Form: nominative plural neuter; Function: part of compound subject; Translation: heads; Notes: Metaphorically refers to leaders or heads of groups.
  10. multitudinis — Lemma: multitudo; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive singular feminine; Function: dependent genitive modifying capita; Translation: of the multitude; Notes: Specifies the group governed by the leaders.
  11. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: indeclinable; Function: genitive complement to multitudinis; Translation: Israel; Notes: Functions as a genitive of specification, identifying the people.

 

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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