Numeri 32:32 (Numbers 32:32)

Posted on May 29, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 32:32 ipsi armati pergemus coram Domino in Terram Chanaan, et possessionem iam suscepisse nos confitemur trans Iordanem.

we ourselves, armed, will go before the LORD into the Land of Chanaan, and we acknowledge that we have already received our possession beyond the Jordan.”

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 ipsi we ourselves NOM.PL.M.INTENS
2 armati armed NOM.PL.M.PERF.PASS.PTCP
3 pergemus we will go 1PL.FUT.ACT.IND
4 coram before PREP+ABL
5 Domino the LORD ABL.SG.M
6 in into PREP+ACC
7 Terram the Land ACC.SG.F
8 Chanaan of Canaan INDECL
9 et and CONJ.INVAR
10 possessionem possession ACC.SG.F.OBJ
11 iam already ADV.INVAR
12 suscepisse to have received PERF.ACT.INF
13 nos us ACC.PL.PERS.INF.SUBJ
14 confitemur we acknowledge 1PL.PRES.DEP.IND
15 trans beyond PREP+ACC
16 Iordanem the Jordan ACC.SG.M

Syntax

First Main Clause: ipsi armati pergemus coram Domino in Terram Chanaan restates the tribes’ commitment to participate personally in the campaign. The subject is contained in pergemus, while ipsi gives emphatic force, “we ourselves.”

Participial Modifier: armati agrees with the understood masculine plural subject and describes the speakers as armed for military service.

Prepositional Phrase: coram Domino modifies pergemus and states that their advance will take place before the LORD and under his authority.

Directional Phrase: in Terram Chanaan modifies pergemus. The preposition in governs the accusative because it expresses movement into the Land of Chanaan.

Second Main Clause: et … confitemur adds the tribes’ acknowledgment concerning their inheritance. confitemur is a deponent verb with active meaning, “we acknowledge” or “we confess.”

Indirect Statement: possessionem iam suscepisse nos depends on confitemur. nos is the accusative subject of the perfect infinitive suscepisse, while possessionem is the direct object of suscepisse.

Temporal Adverb: iam modifies suscepisse and emphasizes that they regard their inheritance as already received.

Prepositional Phrase: trans Iordanem identifies the location of the possession they acknowledge as having received: beyond the Jordan.

Morphology

  1. ipsi — Lemma: ipse; Part of Speech: Intensive pronoun; Form: Nominative plural masculine; Function: Emphatic modifier of the understood subject of pergemus; Translation: “we ourselves”; Notes: It stresses that the fighting men personally will fulfil the military obligation rather than remaining behind.
  2. armati — Lemma: armo; Part of Speech: Perfect passive participle; Form: Nominative plural masculine, perfect passive participle, first conjugation; Function: Predicative participial modifier of the understood subject; Translation: “armed”; Notes: It describes the men as equipped and prepared for battle.
  3. pergemus — Lemma: pergo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: First person plural, future active indicative, third conjugation; Function: Main verb of the first clause; Translation: “we will go”; Notes: The future expresses their renewed commitment to advance with Israel into Chanaan.
  4. coram — Lemma: coram; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the ablative; Function: Introduces coram Domino; Translation: “before”; Notes: It places the undertaking in the LORD’s presence and under his authority.
  5. Domino — Lemma: Dominus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular masculine, second declension; Function: Object of coram; Translation: “the LORD”; Notes: Here Dominus refers to YHWH, before whom the military campaign is undertaken.
  6. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces in Terram Chanaan; Translation: “into”; Notes: With the accusative, it expresses movement toward and into a destination.
  7. Terram — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine, first declension; Function: Object of the preposition in; Translation: “the Land”; Notes: It refers to the promised territory west of the Jordan into which the armed men will proceed.
  8. Chanaan — Lemma: Chanaan; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable; Function: Genitival specification of Terram; Translation: “of Chanaan”; Notes: It identifies the specific Land into which Israel is entering.
  9. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable coordinating conjunction; Function: Connects the tribes’ military commitment with their acknowledgment concerning their possession; Translation: “and”; Notes: It joins the two assertions of their response.
  10. possessionem — Lemma: possessio; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine, third declension; Function: Direct object of suscepisse; Translation: “possession”; Notes: It denotes the territorial inheritance assigned to the tribes beyond the Jordan.
  11. iam — Lemma: iam; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Invariable adverb of time; Function: Modifies suscepisse; Translation: “already”; Notes: It emphasizes that the tribes regard their territorial possession as already received.
  12. suscepisse — Lemma: suscipio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Perfect active infinitive, third conjugation; Function: Infinitive of indirect statement dependent on confitemur; Translation: “to have received”; Notes: The perfect infinitive presents the receiving of the possession as prior to their present acknowledgment.
  13. nos — Lemma: nos; Part of Speech: Personal pronoun; Form: Accusative plural, first person; Function: Accusative subject of the infinitive suscepisse; Translation: “us”; Notes: In English the accusative-and-infinitive construction is naturally rendered “we have received.”
  14. confitemur — Lemma: confiteor; Part of Speech: Deponent verb; Form: First person plural, present deponent indicative, second conjugation; Function: Main verb of the second clause; Translation: “we acknowledge”; Notes: Although passive in form, it has active meaning and here expresses an explicit acknowledgment or declaration.
  15. trans — Lemma: trans; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces trans Iordanem; Translation: “beyond”; Notes: It locates the tribes’ possession on the opposite side of the Jordan from Chanaan proper.
  16. Iordanem — Lemma: Iordanes; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Accusative singular masculine, third declension; Function: Object of the preposition trans; Translation: “the Jordan”; Notes: The river serves as the geographical boundary marking the location of the possession already assigned 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.
This entry was posted in Numeri. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.