Numeri 21:23 (Numbers 21:23)

Posted on May 18, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 21:23 Qui concedere noluit ut transiret Israel per fines suos: quin potius exercitu congregato, egressus est obviam in desertum, et venit in Iasa, pugnavitque contra eum.

He was unwilling to permit Israel to pass through his borders; rather, with an army gathered together, he went out to meet him in the wilderness, and he came into Jasa and fought against him.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Qui who REL.NOM.SG.M
2 concedere to permit PRES.ACT.INF
3 noluit was unwilling 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
4 ut that CONJ
5 transiret might pass through 3SG.IMP.ACT.SUBJ
6 Israel Israel INDECL
7 per through PREP+ACC
8 fines borders ACC.PL.M
9 suos his ACC.PL.M
10 quin rather CONJ
11 potius instead ADV
12 exercitu army ABL.SG.M
13 congregato having been gathered PERF.PASS.PTCP.ABL.SG.M
14 egressus having gone out PERF.DEP.PTCP.NOM.SG.M
15 est is 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND
16 obviam to meet ADV
17 in into PREP+ACC
18 desertum wilderness ACC.SG.N
19 et and CONJ
20 venit came 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
21 in into PREP+ACC
22 Iasa Jahaz INDECL
23 pugnavitque and fought 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND+CONJ
24 contra against PREP+ACC
25 eum him ACC.SG.M

Syntax

Relative Clause: Qui concedere noluit identifies the king as refusing the request.

Subordinate Clause: ut transiret Israel per fines suos expresses the denied permission for Israel’s passage.

Route Phrase: per fines suos specifies the territory through which passage was requested.

Contrastive Construction: quin potius introduces the opposite action taken by the king.

Ablative Absolute: exercitu congregato describes the circumstance of the assembled army.

Main Clause: egressus est obviam in desertum narrates the king’s movement to confront Israel.

Coordinate Clause: et venit in Iasa continues the military advance.

Final Clause: pugnavitque contra eum describes the resulting battle against Israel.

Morphology

  1. Qui — Lemma: qui; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: relative nominative singular masculine; Function: subject of noluit; Translation: “who”; Notes: refers back to Sehon king of the Amorrhæans.
  2. concedere — Lemma: concedo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: present active infinitive; Function: complementary infinitive with noluit; Translation: “to permit”; Notes: expresses the action refused by the king.
  3. noluit — Lemma: nolo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular perfect active indicative; Function: main verb of refusal; Translation: “was unwilling”; Notes: conveys deliberate rejection of Israel’s request.
  4. ut — Lemma: ut; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: subordinating conjunction; Function: introduces content clause; Translation: “that”; Notes: governs the subjunctive verb transiret.
  5. transiret — Lemma: transeo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular imperfect active subjunctive; Function: verb of subordinate clause; Translation: “might pass through”; Notes: expresses proposed or potential movement.
  6. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: indeclinable proper noun; Function: subject of transiret; Translation: “Israel”; Notes: refers collectively to the covenant people.
  7. per — Lemma: per; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: preposition governing the accusative; Function: introduces route phrase; Translation: “through”; Notes: indicates movement across territory.
  8. fines — Lemma: finis; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: object of per; Translation: “borders”; Notes: refers to territorial limits or lands.
  9. suos — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: adjective; Form: accusative plural masculine possessive adjective; Function: modifies fines; Translation: “his”; Notes: refers to Sehon’s own territory.
  10. quin — Lemma: quin; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: adversative conjunction; Function: introduces contrasting action; Translation: “rather”; Notes: strengthens the contrast with the refusal.
  11. potius — Lemma: potius; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: comparative adverb; Function: intensifies the contrast; Translation: “instead”; Notes: emphasizes hostile response rather than cooperation.
  12. exercitu — Lemma: exercitus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: ablative singular masculine; Function: part of ablative absolute; Translation: “army”; Notes: refers to assembled military forces.
  13. congregato — Lemma: congrego; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect passive participle ablative singular masculine; Function: part of ablative absolute; Translation: “having been gathered”; Notes: describes preparation for military action.
  14. egressus — Lemma: egredior; Part of Speech: verb; Form: perfect deponent participle nominative singular masculine; Function: forms compound perfect with est; Translation: “having gone out”; Notes: deponent form with active meaning.
  15. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular present active indicative; Function: auxiliary verb with egressus; Translation: “is”; Notes: completes the perfect tense construction.
  16. obviam — Lemma: obviam; Part of Speech: adverb; Form: directional adverb; Function: modifies egressus est; Translation: “to meet”; Notes: commonly used with verbs of motion for hostile or peaceful encounter.
  17. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: preposition governing the accusative; Function: introduces destination phrase; Translation: “into”; Notes: indicates movement toward the wilderness.
  18. desertum — Lemma: desertum; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular neuter; Function: object of in; Translation: “wilderness”; Notes: refers to the desert area where the encounter occurred.
  19. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating conjunction; Function: joins the narrative actions; Translation: “and”; Notes: links the advance with the battle.
  20. venit — Lemma: venio; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular perfect active indicative; Function: narrative verb; Translation: “came”; Notes: describes arrival at the battle location.
  21. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: preposition governing the accusative; Function: introduces destination phrase; Translation: “into”; Notes: expresses movement into a place.
  22. Iasa — Lemma: Iasa; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: indeclinable proper noun; Function: object of in; Translation: “Iasa”; Notes: location associated with the battle against Israel.
  23. pugnavitque — Lemma: pugno; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular perfect active indicative with enclitic conjunction; Function: final narrative verb; Translation: “and fought”; Notes: the enclitic -que closely joins the action to the preceding arrival.
  24. contra — Lemma: contra; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: preposition governing the accusative; Function: introduces opposition phrase; Translation: “against”; Notes: expresses hostile action.
  25. eum — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: accusative singular masculine demonstrative pronoun; Function: object of contra; Translation: “him”; Notes: refers collectively to Israel as represented by its 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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