Numeri 21:29 (Numbers 21:29)

Posted on May 18, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 21:29 Væ tibi Moab, peristi popule Chamos. Dedit filios eius in fugam, et filias in captivitatem regi Amorrhæorum Sehon.

Woe to you, Moab; you have perished, people of Chamos. He gave his sons into flight and his daughters into captivity to Sehon king of the Amorrhites.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Væ woe INTJ
2 tibi to you DAT.SG
3 Moab Moab INDECL
4 peristi you have perished 2SG.PERF.ACT.IND
5 popule people VOC.SG.M
6 Chamos of Chemosh INDECL
7 Dedit he gave 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
8 filios sons ACC.PL.M
9 eius his GEN.SG
10 in into PREP+ACC
11 fugam flight ACC.SG.F
12 et and CONJ
13 filias daughters ACC.PL.F
14 in into PREP+ACC
15 captivitatem captivity ACC.SG.F
16 regi to the king DAT.SG.M
17 Amorrhæorum of the Amorites GEN.PL.M
18 Sehon Sihon INDECL

Syntax

Exclamatory Clause: Væ tibi Moab expresses lament and judgment against Moab.

Main Clause: peristi popule Chamos declares the ruin of the people devoted to Chamos.

Vocative Construction: popule Chamos directly addresses the Moabite people associated with the deity Chamos.

Main Narrative Clause: Dedit filios eius in fugam describes the defeat and scattering of Moab’s sons.

Coordinate Clause: et filias in captivitatem adds the captivity of the daughters.

Dative Phrase: regi Amorrhæorum Sehon identifies Sehon as the recipient of the captives.

Morphology

  1. Væ — Lemma: væ; Part of Speech: interjection; Form: exclamatory interjection; Function: expresses lament or judgment; Translation: “woe”; Notes: introduces a poetic cry of disaster and ruin.
  2. tibi — Lemma: tu; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: dative singular personal pronoun; Function: indirect object of the exclamation; Translation: “to you”; Notes: directly addresses Moab.
  3. Moab — Lemma: Moab; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: indeclinable proper noun; Function: vocative-style address; Translation: “Moab”; Notes: refers to the Moabite nation under judgment.
  4. peristi — Lemma: pereo; Part of Speech: verb; Form: second person singular perfect active indicative; Function: main verb of declaration; Translation: “you have perished”; Notes: expresses completed ruin or destruction.
  5. popule — Lemma: populus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: vocative singular masculine; Function: direct address; Translation: “people”; Notes: addresses the nation collectively.
  6. Chamos — Lemma: Chamos; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: indeclinable proper noun; Function: dependent identifier modifying popule; Translation: “of Chamos”; Notes: Chamos was the national deity of Moab.
  7. Dedit — Lemma: do; Part of Speech: verb; Form: third person singular perfect active indicative; Function: main narrative verb; Translation: “he gave”; Notes: likely refers poetically to Chamos abandoning his people.
  8. filios — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: direct object of Dedit; Translation: “sons”; Notes: refers to the male population driven away in defeat.
  9. eius — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: pronoun; Form: genitive singular demonstrative pronoun; Function: modifies filios; Translation: “his”; Notes: refers back to Chamos or Moab collectively.
  10. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: preposition governing the accusative; Function: introduces result phrase; Translation: “into”; Notes: expresses movement toward a condition or state.
  11. fugam — Lemma: fuga; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of in; Translation: “flight”; Notes: refers to forced retreat or scattering.
  12. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: conjunction; Form: coordinating conjunction; Function: joins the two outcomes; Translation: “and”; Notes: links exile with captivity.
  13. filias — Lemma: filia; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative plural feminine; Function: second direct object of Dedit; Translation: “daughters”; Notes: refers to the female population taken captive.
  14. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: preposition; Form: preposition governing the accusative; Function: introduces result phrase; Translation: “into”; Notes: indicates movement into captivity.
  15. captivitatem — Lemma: captivitas; Part of Speech: noun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Function: object of in; Translation: “captivity”; Notes: refers to forced imprisonment or exile.
  16. regi — Lemma: rex; Part of Speech: noun; Form: dative singular masculine; Function: indirect object of Dedit; Translation: “to the king”; Notes: identifies the ruler receiving the captives.
  17. Amorrhæorum — Lemma: Amorrhæus; Part of Speech: noun; Form: genitive plural masculine; Function: modifies regi; Translation: “of the Amorrhites”; Notes: identifies the ethnic group ruled by Sehon.
  18. Sehon — Lemma: Sehon; Part of Speech: proper noun; Form: indeclinable proper noun; Function: apposition to regi; Translation: “Sehon”; Notes: Amorite king victorious over Moab.

 

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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