Numeri 27:9 (Numbers 27:9)

Posted on May 24, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 27:9 si filiam non habuerit, habebit successores fratres suos.

If he does not have a daughter, his brothers shall be his successors.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 si if CONJ
2 filiam daughter ACC.SG.F
3 non not ADV
4 habuerit shall have had 3SG.FUTP.ACT.IND
5 habebit shall have 3SG.FUT.ACT.IND
6 successores successors ACC.PL.M
7 fratres brothers ACC.PL.M
8 suos his own POSS.ACC.PL.M

Syntax

Conditional Clause: si filiam non habuerit — establishes the next condition in the inheritance law. The implied subject is the deceased man discussed in the preceding verse.

Main Clause: habebit successores fratres suos — habebit is the main verb, successores is the predicate complement, and fratres suos identifies who those successors are.

Predicate Construction: successores fratres suos — the brothers are designated as the legal heirs who succeed to the inheritance.

Legal Function: This verse establishes the second level of inheritance succession: if there is no daughter, the inheritance passes to the deceased man’s brothers.

Morphology

  1. si — Lemma: si; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Introduces a conditional clause; Translation: “if”; Notes: Establishes a legal contingency.
  2. filiam — Lemma: filia; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative Singular Feminine; Function: Direct object of habuerit; Translation: “daughter”; Notes: Refers to the potential female heir mentioned in the preceding rule.
  3. non — Lemma: non; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Indeclinable negative adverb; Function: Negates habuerit; Translation: “not”; Notes: Denies the existence of a daughter.
  4. habuerit — Lemma: habeo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Future Perfect Active Indicative 3rd Person Singular; Function: Verb of the conditional clause; Translation: “shall have had”; Notes: Expresses a future condition completed before the inheritance decision.
  5. habebit — Lemma: habeo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Future Active Indicative 3rd Person Singular; Function: Main verb; Translation: “shall have”; Notes: Introduces the legal consequence of the condition.
  6. successores — Lemma: successor; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative Plural Masculine; Function: Predicate complement of habebit; Translation: “successors”; Notes: Refers to those who legally inherit the estate.
  7. fratres — Lemma: frater; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative Plural Masculine; Function: Apposition to successores; Translation: “brothers”; Notes: Identifies the deceased man’s brothers as the heirs.
  8. suos — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: Possessive Pronoun; Form: Accusative Plural Masculine; Function: Modifies fratres; Translation: “his own”; Notes: Refers back to the deceased man whose inheritance is being distributed.

 

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.
This entry was posted in Numeri. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.