Numeri 33:8 (Numbers 33:8)

Posted on May 30, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 33:8 Profectique de Phihahiroth, transierunt per medium mare in solitudinem: et ambulantes tribus diebus per desertum Etham, castrametati sunt in Mara.

And setting out from Phihahiroth, they passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness: and walking for three days through the wilderness of Etham, they encamped at Mara.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 Profectique and setting out NOM.PL.M.PERF.DEP.PTCP
2 de from PREP+ABL
3 Phihahiroth Pi Hahiroth INDECL
4 transierunt they passed through 3PL.PERF.ACT.IND
5 per through PREP+ACC
6 medium the midst ACC.SG.N.ADJ
7 mare sea ACC.SG.N
8 in into PREP+ACC
9 solitudinem the wilderness ACC.SG.F
10 et and CONJ.INVAR
11 ambulantes walking NOM.PL.M.PRES.ACT.PTCP
12 tribus three ABL.PL.M.ADJ
13 diebus days ABL.PL.M
14 per through PREP+ACC
15 desertum the wilderness ACC.SG.N
16 Etham of Etham INDECL
17 castrametati encamped NOM.PL.M.PERF.DEP.PTCP
18 sunt they encamped 3PL.PRES.ACT.IND
19 in at PREP+ABL
20 Mara Marah ABL.SG.F

Syntax

Main Clause: Profectique de Phihahiroth, transierunt per medium mare in solitudinem continues the itinerary. The sons of Israel are the understood subject. Profectique is a perfect deponent participle with the enclitic -que, while transierunt is the finite main verb.

Place of Departure: de Phihahiroth identifies Phihahiroth as the point from which the Israelites departed. de governs the indeclinable place-name Phihahiroth with ablative function.

Route: per medium mare describes the path of the Israelites through the sea. per governs the accusative, while medium agrees with mare. The phrase means literally “through the middle of the sea.”

Destination: in solitudinem expresses movement into the wilderness. Because in denotes motion toward or into a destination, it governs the accusative solitudinem.

Participial Phrase: et ambulantes tribus diebus per desertum Etham describes the journey preceding the next encampment. ambulantes agrees with the understood subject, the sons of Israel, and expresses their continuing action of walking.

Duration of Time: tribus diebus specifies the period during which they traveled. The ablative phrase indicates a span of three days associated with their journey through the wilderness.

Route: per desertum Etham identifies the region through which they walked. per governs the accusative desertum, while the indeclinable Etham specifies which wilderness is meant.

Coordinated Main Clause: castrametati sunt in Mara states the resulting encampment. castrametati sunt is a perfect deponent construction, and in Mara identifies the place where the Israelites encamped.

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, and coordinating this departure with the preceding itinerary; Translation: “and setting out”; Notes: The deponent proficiscor has active meaning despite its passive morphology, while attached -que supplies the connective force “and.”
  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 Phihahiroth as the location from which this stage of the journey begins.
  3. Phihahiroth — Lemma: Phihahiroth; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable place-name, functioning as ablative after de; Function: Complement of de; Translation: “Phihahiroth”; Notes: It refers back to the locality associated with the preceding encampment before the crossing of the sea.
  4. transierunt — Lemma: transeo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person plural, perfect active indicative, irregular compound of eo; Function: Main verb describing the Israelites’ passage through the sea; Translation: “they passed through”; Notes: The compound transeo expresses movement across or through something, here the midst of the sea.
  5. per — Lemma: per; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces the route per medium mare; Translation: “through”; Notes: It emphasizes movement through the geographical space identified by medium mare.
  6. medium — Lemma: medius; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Accusative singular neuter, positive degree, first and second declension adjective; Function: Modifies mare; Translation: “the midst”; Notes: With a noun, medius commonly denotes the middle or midst of the thing described, here the middle of the sea.
  7. mare — Lemma: mare; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular neuter, third declension; Function: Object of the preposition per; Translation: “sea”; Notes: It identifies the body of water through whose midst the Israelites passed.
  8. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces the destination solitudinem; Translation: “into”; Notes: The accusative after in marks movement into the wilderness rather than location within it.
  9. solitudinem — Lemma: solitudo; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine, third declension; Function: Object of in and destination of the movement; Translation: “the wilderness”; Notes: It denotes the uninhabited region entered after the Israelites had passed through the sea.
  10. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Invariable coordinating conjunction; Function: Connects the sea crossing with the subsequent journey through the wilderness; Translation: “and”; Notes: It advances the itinerary from the crossing itself to the three-day journey that followed.
  11. ambulantes — Lemma: ambulo; Part of Speech: Present active participle; Form: Nominative plural masculine, present active participle, first conjugation; Function: Circumstantial participle agreeing with the understood subject, the sons of Israel; Translation: “walking”; Notes: The present participle portrays their travel through the wilderness as the ongoing action leading to their encampment at Mara.
  12. tribus — Lemma: tres; Part of Speech: Numeral adjective; Form: Ablative plural masculine; Function: Modifies diebus; Translation: “three”; Notes: It specifies the number of days occupied by this stage of the wilderness journey.
  13. diebus — Lemma: dies; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative plural masculine, fifth declension; Function: Ablative expressing the temporal extent associated with ambulantes; Translation: “days”; Notes: Together with tribus, it indicates that the Israelites traveled for three days before encamping at Mara.
  14. per — Lemma: per; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces the region traversed during the three-day journey; Translation: “through”; Notes: It marks the wilderness of Etham as the territory through which the Israelites traveled.
  15. desertum — Lemma: desertum; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular neuter, second declension; Function: Object of the preposition per; Translation: “the wilderness”; Notes: The substantivized form denotes a desert or wilderness region and is here specified by the following place-name Etham.
  16. Etham — Lemma: Etham; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable, functioning genitivally; Function: Specifies desertum; Translation: “of Etham”; Notes: The place-name identifies the wilderness traversed during the three-day journey as the wilderness of Etham.
  17. castrametati — Lemma: castrametor; Part of Speech: Perfect participle of a deponent verb; Form: Nominative plural masculine, perfect deponent participle, first conjugation; Function: Forms the perfect deponent construction castrametati sunt and agrees with the understood subject, the sons of Israel; Translation: “encamped”; Notes: The deponent verb denotes pitching or establishing a camp and has active meaning despite its passive morphological form.
  18. sunt — Lemma: sum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person plural, present active indicative, irregular; Function: Auxiliary completing the perfect deponent construction castrametati sunt; Translation: “they encamped”; Notes: Together with castrametati, it presents the encampment at Mara as the completed result of the preceding journey.
  19. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Invariable preposition governing the ablative; Function: Introduces the place where the Israelites encamped; Translation: “at”; Notes: Here in expresses location rather than motion and therefore governs the ablative.
  20. Mara — Lemma: Mara; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Ablative singular feminine, first declension; Function: Object of in, identifying the location of the encampment; Translation: “Mara”; Notes: It names the next station reached after the three-day journey through the wilderness of Etham.

 

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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