Numeri 31:5 (Numbers 31:5)

Posted on May 28, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 31:5 Dederuntque millenos de singulis tribubus, id est, duodecim millia expeditorum ad pugnam:

And they gave a thousand from each tribe, that is, twelve thousand men equipped for battle.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Dederuntque and they gave 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND+CONJ
2 millenos a thousand each ACC.PL.M.DISTR.NUM
3 de from PREP+ABL
4 singulis each ABL.PL.F.DISTR.ADJ
5 tribubus tribes ABL.PL.F
6 id that NOM.SG.N.DEM.PRON
7 est is 3SG.PRES.ACT.IND
8 duodecim twelve INDECL.CARD.NUM
9 millia thousand NOM.PL.N.CARD.NUM
10 expeditorum of equipped men GEN.PL.M.PERF.PASS.PTCP
11 ad for PREP+ACC
12 pugnam battle ACC.SG.F

Syntax

1. Main Narrative Clause
The principal clause is Dederuntque millenos de singulis tribubus. The verb Dederunt is a third-person plural perfect active indicative, narrating the completed response to Moses’ command. Its subject is not explicitly stated but is understood from the context as the Israelites or those responsible for supplying the troops.

2. Enclitic Conjunction
The conjunction -que is attached to Dederunt and means “and.” It connects the action directly with the preceding command, presenting the contribution of the warriors as its immediate fulfilment.

3. Distributive Numeral
millenos is the accusative plural masculine form of the distributive numeral milleni, meaning “a thousand each” or “a thousand apiece.” It functions substantivally with an implied noun such as viros, so that the sense is “they gave a thousand men from each tribe.” Unlike the cardinal numeral mille, the distributive form emphasizes the equal allocation required from every tribe.

4. Prepositional Phrase of Source
The phrase de singulis tribubus specifies the groups from which the men were supplied. The preposition de governs the ablative and expresses selection from a larger body. The distributive adjective singulis agrees with tribubus and indicates that every individual tribe contributed its prescribed number.

5. Relationship between the Distributive Expressions
The combination of millenos and de singulis tribubus produces a strongly distributive construction. millenos specifies the number assigned to each group, while singulis tribubus identifies those groups individually. Together they mean “one thousand from each and every tribe.”

6. Explanatory Formula
The expression id est, literally “that is,” introduces a clarification or numerical restatement. The demonstrative pronoun id is neuter singular and functions as the subject of est. The phrase explains that the separate tribal contingents amounted in total to twelve thousand men.

7. Appositional Numerical Restatement
duodecim millia expeditorum stands in explanatory apposition to the preceding distributive expression. It does not introduce a new group but gives the combined total of the men already mentioned: “twelve thousand equipped men.”

8. Construction with millia
When Latin numerals above one thousand use the plural noun millia, the people or things counted normally appear in the partitive genitive. Therefore expeditorum is genitive plural and depends upon millia: literally, “twelve thousands of equipped men.” In natural English, this is rendered “twelve thousand equipped men.”

9. Substantival Participle
expeditorum is the genitive plural masculine of the perfect passive participle expeditus. It is used substantivally, with an implied noun such as virorum. The participle describes men who had been prepared, equipped, or made ready for military action.

10. Prepositional Phrase of Purpose
The phrase ad pugnam modifies expeditorum. The preposition ad governs the accusative pugnam and expresses purpose or intended use. The men were not merely counted; they were equipped specifically for battle.

11. Overall Sentence Structure
The verse first records the fulfilment of the tribal levy through a distributive construction and then restates the result as a collective total. The movement from millenos de singulis tribubus to duodecim millia shifts from the contribution of each tribe to the size of the assembled force as a whole.

Morphology

  1. Dederuntque — Lemma: do; Part of Speech: Verb with enclitic conjunction; Form: third-person plural perfect active indicative, irregular first conjugation, with attached -que; Function: Main verb of the sentence; Translation: “and they gave”; Notes: The perfect tense presents the contribution as a completed action, while -que connects it with the preceding command.
  2. millenos — Lemma: milleni; Part of Speech: Distributive numeral; Form: accusative plural masculine; Function: Substantival direct object of Dederuntque, with viros understood; Translation: “a thousand each”; Notes: Indicates that each tribe contributed an equal contingent of one thousand men.
  3. de — Lemma: de; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the ablative case; Function: Introduces the source from which the men were supplied; Translation: “from”; Notes: Expresses selection out of the individual tribes.
  4. singulis — Lemma: singuli; Part of Speech: Distributive adjective; Form: ablative plural feminine; Function: Modifies tribubus; Translation: “each”; Notes: Emphasizes that the tribes contributed separately and individually.
  5. tribubus — Lemma: tribus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: ablative plural feminine, fourth declension; Function: Object of de; Translation: “tribes”; Notes: Refers to the tribal divisions of Israel from which the warriors were drawn.
  6. id — Lemma: is; Part of Speech: Demonstrative pronoun; Form: nominative singular neuter; Function: Subject of est in the explanatory formula; Translation: “that”; Notes: Refers back to the preceding tribal levy and introduces its numerical clarification.
  7. est — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: third-person singular present active indicative; Function: Copulative verb in the expression id est; Translation: “is”; Notes: Together with id, forms the explanatory phrase “that is.”
  8. duodecim — Lemma: duodecim; Part of Speech: Cardinal numeral; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Modifies millia; Translation: “twelve”; Notes: Specifies the number of thousands in the assembled force.
  9. millia — Lemma: mille; Part of Speech: Cardinal numeral used as a noun; Form: nominative plural neuter; Function: Numerical predicate in the explanatory clause; Translation: “thousand”; Notes: In the plural, millia is declined as a neuter plural noun and governs a partitive genitive.
  10. expeditorum — Lemma: expedio; Part of Speech: Perfect passive participle used substantivally; Form: genitive plural masculine; Function: Partitive genitive dependent on millia; Translation: “of equipped men”; Notes: An implied noun such as virorum is understood; the participle describes men prepared and equipped for military service.
  11. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the accusative case; Function: Introduces the purpose for which the men were equipped; Translation: “for”; Notes: Expresses preparation or designation for battle.
  12. pugnam — Lemma: pugna; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: accusative singular feminine, first declension; Function: Object of ad; Translation: “battle”; Notes: Identifies the military purpose for which the twelve thousand men were equipped.

 

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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