Numeri 31:42 (Numbers 31:42)

Posted on May 28, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 31:42 ex media parte filiorum Israel, quam separaverat his, qui in prælio fuerant.

from the half belonging to the sons of Israel, which he had set apart from those who had been in the battle.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 ex from PREP
2 media half ABL.SG.F
3 parte portion ABL.SG.F
4 filiorum of the sons GEN.PL.M
5 Israel Israel INDECL
6 quam which ACC.SG.F.REL
7 separaverat had set apart 3SG.PLUPERF.IND.ACT
8 his from those ABL.PL.M
9 qui who NOM.PL.M.REL
10 in in PREP
11 prælio the battle ABL.SG.N
12 fuerant had been 3PL.PLUPERF.IND.ACT

Syntax

This is a dependent prepositional phrase that continues the narrative from the preceding verse, identifying the source from which Moses took the tribute for distribution. The principal prepositional phrase is ex media parte filiorum Israel, with ex governing the ablative media parte. The adjective media modifies parte, while the genitive phrase filiorum Israel specifies whose half is meant: the half belonging to the sons of Israel.

The relative clause quam separaverat his, qui in prælio fuerant modifies partem. The relative pronoun quam is feminine singular accusative because it is the direct object of separaverat and refers back to partem. The verb separaverat is pluperfect indicative active, indicating an action completed before the current narrative.

The ablative his follows the verb separaverat with the sense “from those.” It is further defined by the relative clause qui in prælio fuerant, in which qui is the nominative plural subject and fuerant is the pluperfect indicative of sum. The prepositional phrase in prælio modifies fuerant, identifying those who had participated in the battle.

The verse recalls that the Israelites’ half of the spoil had previously been separated from the share belonging to the warriors before the LORD’s tribute and the Levites’ portion were calculated.

Morphology

  1. ex — Lemma: ex; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the ablative case; Parsing: Introduces the source phrase; Translation: “from”; Notes: Indicates origin or source.
  2. media — Lemma: medius, media, medium; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: ablative singular feminine; Parsing: Modifies parte; Translation: “half”; Notes: Literally “middle,” here meaning “half.”
  3. parte — Lemma: pars, partis; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: ablative singular feminine, third declension; Parsing: Object of the preposition ex; Translation: “portion”; Notes: Refers to the Israelites’ half of the spoil.
  4. filiorum — Lemma: filius, filii; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: genitive plural masculine, second declension; Parsing: Possessive genitive modifying parte; Translation: “of the sons”; Notes: Refers to the Israelites.
  5. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: indeclinable; Parsing: Completes the genitive expression filiorum Israel; Translation: “Israel”; Notes: Indeclinable proper name.
  6. quam — Lemma: qui, quæ, quod; Part of Speech: Relative pronoun; Form: accusative singular feminine; Parsing: Direct object of separaverat; Translation: “which”; Notes: Refers back to partem.
  7. separaverat — Lemma: separo, separare, separavi, separatum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third-person singular pluperfect indicative active; Parsing: Main verb of the relative clause; Translation: “had set apart”; Notes: Expresses an action completed before the present narrative.
  8. his — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: Demonstrative pronoun; Form: ablative plural masculine; Parsing: Ablative of separation after separaverat; Translation: “from those”; Notes: Refers to the warriors.
  9. qui — Lemma: qui, quæ, quod; Part of Speech: Relative pronoun; Form: nominative plural masculine; Parsing: Subject of fuerant; Translation: “who”; Notes: Refers back to his.
  10. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the ablative case; Parsing: Introduces prælio; Translation: “in”; Notes: Indicates location or sphere.
  11. prælio — Lemma: prælium, prælii; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: ablative singular neuter, second declension; Parsing: Object of the preposition in; Translation: “the battle”; Notes: Refers to the campaign against Midian.
  12. fuerant — Lemma: sum, esse, fui; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third-person plural pluperfect indicative active; Parsing: Verb of the relative clause; Translation: “had been”; Notes: Describes those who had participated in the battle.

 

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.