Numeri 33:14 (Numbers 33:14)

Posted on May 30, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 33:14 Egressique de Alus, in Raphidim fixere tentoria, ubi populo defuit aqua ad bibendum.

And setting out from Alus, they pitched their tents at Raphidim, where the people lacked water to drink.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Egressique and setting out NOM.PL.M.PERF.DEP.PTCP
2 de from PREP+ABL
3 Alus Alush INDECL
4 in at PREP+ABL
5 Raphidim Rephidim INDECL
6 fixere they pitched 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
7 tentoria tents ACC.PL.N.OBJ
8 ubi where ADV.INVAR
9 populo the people DAT.SG.M
10 defuit was lacking 3SG.PERF.ACT.IND
11 aqua water NOM.SG.F
12 ad for PREP+ACC
13 bibendum drinking ACC.SG.N.GER

Syntax

Main Clause: Egressique de Alus, in Raphidim fixere tentoria continues the itinerary of the sons of Israel. The sons of Israel are the understood subject. Egressique is a perfect deponent participle with enclitic -que, while fixere is the finite main verb and tentoria its direct object.

Participial Phrase: Egressique de Alus means “and setting out from Alus.” Egressique agrees with the understood masculine plural subject, and the attached -que connects this departure with the preceding stage of the itinerary. de Alus identifies Alus as the point of departure.

Place of Encampment: in Raphidim identifies the location where the Israelites pitched their tents. in expresses place where and therefore governs the ablative in function; Raphidim is an indeclinable place-name and consequently shows no distinct ablative ending.

Verb and Direct Object: fixere tentoria means “they pitched their tents.” fixere is the syncopated or alternative third-person plural perfect active indicative form equivalent to fixerunt. tentoria is its accusative plural direct object.

Locative Clause: ubi populo defuit aqua ad bibendum describes the circumstances at Raphidim. ubi refers back to Raphidim. aqua is the nominative subject of defuit, while populo is the dative of the person to whom the water was lacking.

Purpose Phrase: ad bibendum expresses purpose or intended use: “for drinking” or idiomatically “to drink.” ad governs the accusative gerund bibendum, indicating the purpose for which the water was needed.

Morphology

  1. Egressique — Lemma: egredior; Part of Speech: Perfect participle of a deponent verb with enclitic conjunction; Form: Nominative plural masculine, perfect deponent participle, third conjugation, with enclitic -que; Function: Circumstantial participle agreeing with the understood subject, the sons of Israel; Translation: “and setting out”; Notes: Because egredior is deponent, the participle has active meaning despite its passive morphology; the attached -que connects this departure with the preceding itinerary.
  2. de — Lemma: de; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the ablative; Function: Introduces the place of departure; Translation: “from”; Notes: It marks Alus as the location from which the Israelites departed.
  3. Alus — Lemma: Alus; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable place-name, functioning as ablative after de; Function: Complement of de; Translation: “Alus”; Notes: It identifies the preceding encampment as the starting point for the journey to Raphidim.
  4. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the ablative; Function: Introduces the place where the Israelites pitched their tents; Translation: “at”; Notes: The phrase describes location at Raphidim rather than motion into it, so the complement has ablative function.
  5. Raphidim — Lemma: Raphidim; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable place-name, functioning as ablative after in; Function: Complement of in and location of the encampment; Translation: “Raphidim”; Notes: The following clause introduced by ubi refers back to this location and describes the lack of drinking water there.
  6. fixere — Lemma: figo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person plural, perfect active indicative, third conjugation; Function: Main verb with tentoria as its direct object; Translation: “they pitched”; Notes: fixere is an alternative contracted perfect form equivalent in function to fixerunt; with tentoria, it means to pitch or set up tents.
  7. tentoria — Lemma: tentorium; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative plural neuter, second declension; Function: Direct object of fixere; Translation: “tents”; Notes: Together with fixere, the noun forms the expression describing the establishment of the Israelites’ encampment at Raphidim.
  8. ubi — Lemma: ubi; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Invariable relative adverb of place; Function: Introduces a locative clause referring back to Raphidim; Translation: “where”; Notes: It connects the lack of drinking water directly with the location of the encampment.
  9. populo — Lemma: populus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Dative singular masculine, second declension; Function: Dative complement of defuit, identifying the person or group to whom something was lacking; Translation: “the people”; Notes: Latin desum commonly takes a dative for the person who lacks something: water was lacking “to the people,” idiomatically “the people lacked water.”
  10. defuit — Lemma: desum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person singular, perfect active indicative, irregular compound of sum; Function: Verb of the locative clause, with aqua as subject and populo as dative complement; Translation: “was lacking”; Notes: The singular verb agrees with the singular subject aqua; the construction literally states that water was lacking to the people.
  11. aqua — Lemma: aqua; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Nominative singular feminine, first declension; Function: Subject of defuit; Translation: “water”; Notes: Although English naturally makes “the people” the subject of “lacked,” Latin makes aqua the grammatical subject and places populo in the dative.
  12. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces the gerundial purpose phrase ad bibendum; Translation: “for”; Notes: With an accusative gerund, ad commonly expresses purpose or intended use.
  13. bibendum — Lemma: bibo; Part of Speech: Gerund; Form: Accusative singular neuter gerund, third conjugation; Function: Object of ad in a purpose construction; Translation: “drinking”; Notes: ad bibendum literally means “for drinking” and is naturally rendered in context as “to drink.”

 

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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