Numeri 33:32 (Numbers 33:32)

Posted on May 30, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 33:32 Profectique de Beneiaacan, venerunt in montem Gadgad.

And setting out from Beneiaacan, they came to mount Gadgad.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Profectique and setting out NOM.PL.M.PERF.DEP.PTCP
2 de from PREP+ABL
3 Beneiaacan Bene-jaakan INDECL
4 venerunt they came 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
5 in to PREP+ACC
6 montem mount ACC.SG.M
7 Gadgad Hor-haggidgad INDECL

Syntax

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

Participial Phrase: Profectique de Beneiaacan means “and setting out from Beneiaacan.” 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 Beneiaacan identifies Beneiaacan as the point of departure. de governs the ablative in function, while the indeclinable place-name Beneiaacan remains morphologically unchanged.

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 montem Gadgad expresses motion toward Mount Gadgad. Because in denotes movement to a destination, it governs the accusative montem. The proper name Gadgad stands in apposition to montem and identifies the mountain.

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 Beneiaacan as the location from which the sons of Israel departed.
  3. Beneiaacan — Lemma: Beneiaacan; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable place-name, functioning as ablative after de; Function: Complement of de and point of departure; Translation: “Beneiaacan”; 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 Mount Gadgad as a completed event in the itinerary.
  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 a destination and therefore governs the accusative.
  6. montem — Lemma: mons; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular masculine, third declension; Function: Object of the directional preposition in; Translation: “mount”; Notes: The accusative form marks the mountain as the destination of the movement and is further specified by the proper name Gadgad.
  7. Gadgad — Lemma: Gadgad; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable place-name, functioning in apposition to the accusative montem; Function: Specifies and names montem; Translation: “Gadgad”; Notes: The indeclinable geographical name combines with montem to form the designation “Mount Gadgad.”

 

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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