Numeri 32:18 (Numbers 32:18)

Posted on May 29, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 32:18 Non revertemur in domos nostras, usque dum possideant filii Israel hereditatem suam:

We will not return to our homes until the sons of Israel possess their inheritance;

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Non not ADV.INVAR
2 revertemur we will return 1PL.FUT.DEP.IND
3 in to PREP+ACC
4 domos homes ACC.PL.F
5 nostras our ACC.PL.F.POSS
6 usque until ADV.INVAR
7 dum until CONJ.INVAR
8 possideant they possess 3PL.PRES.ACT.SUBJ
9 filii the sons NOM.PL.M
10 Israel of Israel INDECL
11 hereditatem inheritance ACC.SG.F.OBJ
12 suam their own ACC.SG.F.POSS

Syntax

Main Clause: Non revertemur in domos nostras states the speakers’ commitment not to return home. The understood subject is “we,” revertemur is the future deponent verb, and Non negates it.

Prepositional Phrase: in domos nostras modifies revertemur. The preposition in governs the accusative to express motion toward their homes, while nostras modifies domos.

Temporal Clause: usque dum possideant filii Israel hereditatem suam marks the endpoint of their commitment. The expression usque dum means “until,” and possideant is a present subjunctive referring to the anticipated future possession.

Subject: filii Israel is the subject of possideant.

Direct Object: hereditatem suam is the direct object of possideant. The reflexive possessive adjective suam refers back to filii Israel and denotes the inheritance allotted to them.

Morphology

  1. Non — Lemma: non; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Invariable negative adverb; Function: Negates revertemur; Translation: “not”; Notes: It makes the commitment explicitly negative: they will not return before the stated condition is fulfilled.
  2. revertemur — Lemma: revertor; Part of Speech: Deponent verb; Form: First person plural, future deponent indicative, third conjugation; Function: Main verb of the sentence; Translation: “we will return”; Notes: Though passive in form, the deponent verb has active meaning.
  3. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces in domos nostras; Translation: “to”; Notes: With the accusative, it expresses motion toward a destination.
  4. domos — Lemma: domus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative plural feminine, fourth declension; Function: Object of the preposition in; Translation: “homes”; Notes: Refers to the households and settlements east of the Jordan to which the fighting men would eventually return.
  5. nostras — Lemma: noster; Part of Speech: Possessive adjective; Form: Accusative plural feminine, positive degree; Function: Modifier of domos; Translation: “our”; Notes: It agrees with domos and identifies the homes as belonging to the speakers.
  6. usque — Lemma: usque; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Invariable adverb; Function: Combines with dum to mark a temporal limit; Translation: “until”; Notes: It emphasizes continuation up to the point specified by the following clause.
  7. dum — Lemma: dum; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable subordinating conjunction; Function: Introduces the temporal clause; Translation: “until”; Notes: Together with usque, it marks the future endpoint of the speakers’ military service.
  8. possideant — Lemma: possideo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person plural, present active subjunctive, second conjugation; Function: Verb of the temporal clause; Translation: “they possess”; Notes: The subjunctive presents possession of the inheritance as an anticipated future event.
  9. filii — Lemma: filius; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative plural masculine, second declension; Function: Subject of possideant; Translation: “the sons”; Notes: Refers to the other tribes who still needed to receive their allotted territories.
  10. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Completes the expression filii Israel; Translation: “Israel”; Notes: Identifies the covenant people whose inheritance was still to be secured.
  11. hereditatem — Lemma: hereditas; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine, third declension; Function: Direct object of possideant; Translation: “inheritance”; Notes: Refers to the territorial allotment assigned to the sons of Israel.
  12. suam — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: Possessive adjective; Form: Accusative singular feminine, positive degree; Function: Modifier of hereditatem; Translation: “their own”; Notes: The reflexive possessive refers back to filii Israel, emphasizing that each receives the inheritance belonging to them.

 

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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