Numeri 32:8 (Numbers 32:8)

Posted on May 29, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 32:8 nonne ita egerunt patres vestri, quando misi de Cadesbarne ad explorandam Terram?

Did not your fathers act in this way when I sent them from Cadesbarne to explore the Land?

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 nonne did not ADV.INVAR
2 ita in this way ADV.INVAR
3 egerunt they acted 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
4 patres fathers NOM.PL.M
5 vestri your NOM.PL.M.POSS
6 quando when CONJ.INVAR
7 misi I sent 1SG.PERF.ACT.IND
8 de from PREP+ABL
9 Cadesbarne Kadesh-barnea ABL.SG.INDECL
10 ad to PREP+ACC
11 explorandam to be explored GERUNDV.ACC.SG.F
12 Terram the Land ACC.SG.F

Syntax

Main Interrogative Clause: nonne ita egerunt patres vestri is a rhetorical question expecting an affirmative answer. patres vestri is the subject, egerunt is the verb, and ita modifies the verb by describing the manner in which their fathers acted.

Interrogative Particle: nonne introduces a question whose expected answer is “yes,” recalling that the petitioners’ fathers had behaved similarly.

Temporal Clause: quando misi de Cadesbarne ad explorandam Terram specifies when the former generation acted in this way. The subject of misi is the speaker, Moyses, and the persons sent are understood from the historical context.

Prepositional Phrase: de Cadesbarne modifies misi and identifies Cadesbarne as the place from which the men were sent.

Gerundive Purpose Construction: ad explorandam Terram expresses the purpose of the sending. The preposition ad governs the accusative gerundive phrase, and explorandam agrees with Terram.

Morphology

  1. nonne — Lemma: nonne; Part of Speech: Interrogative adverb; Form: Invariable; Function: Introduces a rhetorical question expecting an affirmative answer; Translation: “did not”; Notes: It reminds the hearers of a known precedent in the conduct of their fathers.
  2. ita — Lemma: ita; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Invariable adverb of manner; Function: Modifies egerunt; Translation: “in this way”; Notes: It compares the present conduct of the tribes with the earlier conduct of the spies’ generation.
  3. egerunt — Lemma: ago; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person plural, perfect active indicative, third conjugation; Function: Main verb of the rhetorical question; Translation: “they acted”; Notes: The verb refers broadly to the behaviour and response of the former generation.
  4. patres — Lemma: pater; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative plural masculine, third declension; Function: Subject of egerunt; Translation: “fathers”; Notes: It denotes the previous generation of Israelites whose conduct Moyses recalls.
  5. vestri — Lemma: vester; Part of Speech: Possessive adjective; Form: Nominative plural masculine, positive degree; Function: Modifier of patres; Translation: “your”; Notes: It directly connects the petitioners with the earlier generation whose example serves as a warning.
  6. quando — Lemma: quando; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable subordinating conjunction; Function: Introduces the temporal clause; Translation: “when”; Notes: It locates the former generation’s action at the time of the mission from Cadesbarne.
  7. misi — Lemma: mitto; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: First person singular, perfect active indicative, third conjugation; Function: Verb of the temporal clause; Translation: “I sent”; Notes: Moyses refers to his earlier commissioning of men to examine the land.
  8. de — Lemma: de; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the ablative; Function: Introduces de Cadesbarne; Translation: “from”; Notes: It marks the point of departure for the exploratory mission.
  9. Cadesbarne — Lemma: Cadesbarne; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Ablative singular, indeclinable; Function: Object of the preposition de; Translation: “Cadesbarne”; Notes: It names the place from which the men were sent to inspect the promised land.
  10. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces the gerundive purpose phrase; Translation: “to”; Notes: With the accusative gerundive construction, it expresses the purpose of the mission.
  11. explorandam — Lemma: exploro; Part of Speech: Gerundive; Form: Accusative singular feminine, first conjugation; Function: Modifies Terram in a gerundive purpose construction; Translation: “to be explored”; Notes: Together with ad, it is naturally translated actively as “to explore.”
  12. Terram — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine, first declension; Function: Object of ad and noun governed conceptually by explorandam; Translation: “the Land”; Notes: It refers to the promised land that the earlier delegation was sent to examine.

 

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.