Numeri 33:26 (Numbers 33:26)

Posted on May 30, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 33:26 Profectique de Maceloth, venerunt in Thahath.

And setting out from Maceloth, they came to Thahath.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Profectique and setting out NOM.PL.M.PERF.DEP.PTCP
2 de from PREP+ABL
3 Maceloth Makheloth INDECL
4 venerunt they came 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
5 in to PREP+ACC
6 Thahath Tahath INDECL

Syntax

Main Clause: Profectique de Maceloth, venerunt in Thahath continues the itinerary of the sons of Israel. The sons of Israel are the understood subject. Profectique describes their departure from Maceloth, while venerunt is the finite main verb describing their arrival at Thahath.

Participial Phrase: Profectique de Maceloth means “and setting out from Maceloth.” Profectique is a perfect deponent participle agreeing with the understood masculine plural subject. The enclitic -que connects this movement with the preceding stage of the itinerary.

Place of Departure: de Maceloth identifies Maceloth as the point of departure. de governs the ablative in function, while the indeclinable place-name Maceloth does not display a distinct ablative form.

Main Verb: venerunt means “they came.” It is third person plural and has the sons of Israel as its understood subject. The perfect tense presents their arrival as a completed stage of the journey.

Destination: in Thahath expresses motion toward Thahath. Because in denotes movement to a destination, it governs the accusative in function. The indeclinable place-name Thahath does not display a separate accusative form.

Morphology

  1. Profectique — Lemma: proficiscor; 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: proficiscor is deponent and therefore has active meaning despite its passive morphology; the attached -que connects this departure with the preceding stage of the 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 Maceloth as the location from which the sons of Israel departed.
  3. Maceloth — Lemma: Maceloth; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable place-name, functioning as ablative after de; Function: Complement of de and point of departure; Translation: “Maceloth”; Notes: The geographical name refers to the preceding encampment and remains morphologically unchanged despite its ablative function.
  4. venerunt — Lemma: venio; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person plural, perfect active indicative, fourth conjugation; Function: Main verb with the sons of Israel understood as subject; Translation: “they came”; Notes: The perfect tense presents the arrival at Thahath as a completed event in the sequence of journeys.
  5. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces the destination of venerunt; Translation: “to”; Notes: With the verb of motion venerunt, in expresses movement toward the destination and therefore requires an accusative function.
  6. Thahath — Lemma: Thahath; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable place-name, functioning as accusative after in; Function: Complement of the directional preposition in and destination of venerunt; Translation: “Thahath”; Notes: The indeclinable geographical name identifies the next station reached by the sons of Israel after their departure from Maceloth.

 

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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