Numeri 31:10 (Numbers 31:10)

Posted on May 28, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 31:10 tam urbes quam viculos et castella flamma consumpsit.

both the cities and the villages and the fortresses fire consumed.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 tam both CORR.ADV
2 urbes the cities ACC.PL.F
3 quam as CORR.CONJ
4 viculos the villages ACC.PL.M
5 et and CONJ
6 castella the fortresses ACC.PL.N
7 flamma fire NOM.SG.F
8 consumpsit consumed 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND

Syntax

1. Main Clause
The verse consists of a single independent clause: flamma consumpsit. The subject is flamma, while the verb consumpsit is a third-person singular perfect active indicative describing a completed historical action. The direct object consists of three coordinated accusative nouns.

2. Correlative Construction
The pair tam … quam forms a correlative expression meaning “both … and.” Here it links urbes and viculos, emphasizing that both larger settlements and smaller ones suffered the same destruction. The conjunction et then extends the list to include castella.

3. Coordinated Direct Objects
The nouns urbes, viculos, and castella are all accusative direct objects of consumpsit. Although differing in gender, they are united syntactically as the objects consumed by the fire. The arrangement progresses from cities to villages and finally to fortified settlements.

4. Subject Position
The subject flamma appears immediately before the verb rather than at the beginning of the sentence. This placement allows the list of destroyed locations to receive emphasis before revealing the agent of destruction. Such delayed positioning of the subject is common in Latin narrative.

5. Active Verb
consumpsit governs all three accusative objects. The perfect indicative presents the burning as a completed historical event. The singular verb agrees with the singular subject flamma, even though multiple objects are affected.

6. Overall Sentence Structure
The syntax begins by emphasizing the total extent of the destruction through the correlative expression tam … quam, expands the list with et, and concludes with the subject and verb. The progression highlights that every type of settlement—cities, villages, and fortified places—was consumed by fire.

Morphology

  1. tam — Lemma: tam; Part of Speech: Correlative adverb; Form: Indeclinable; Function: First element of the correlative construction tam … quam; Translation: “both”; Notes: Introduces the first member of the comparison.
  2. urbes — Lemma: urbs; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative plural feminine, third declension; Function: Direct object of consumpsit; Translation: “the cities”; Notes: Refers to the principal urban settlements.
  3. quam — Lemma: quam; Part of Speech: Correlative conjunction; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Completes the construction tam … quam; Translation: “and”; Notes: In this correlative pair, it means “both … and,” not a comparison.
  4. viculos — Lemma: viculus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative plural masculine, second declension; Function: Direct object of consumpsit; Translation: “the villages”; Notes: Denotes smaller rural settlements.
  5. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Coordinates castella with the preceding objects; Translation: “and”; Notes: Adds a third category of settlement.
  6. castella — Lemma: castellum; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative plural neuter, second declension; Function: Direct object of consumpsit; Translation: “the fortresses”; Notes: Refers to fortified settlements or strongholds.
  7. flamma — Lemma: flamma; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: nominative singular feminine, first declension; Function: Subject of consumpsit; Translation: “fire”; Notes: Represents the destructive force that consumed the settlements.
  8. consumpsit — Lemma: consumo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third-person singular perfect active indicative, third conjugation; Function: Main verb of the sentence; Translation: “consumed”; Notes: The perfect tense presents the destruction as a completed historical action.

 

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.