Numeri 34:12 (Numbers 34:12)

Posted on June 1, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 34:12 et tendent usque ad Iordanem, et ad ultimum salsissimo claudentur mari. Hanc habebitis Terram per fines suos in circuitu.

and they shall extend as far as the Jordan, and finally shall be bounded by the salt sea. You shall have this Land within its boundaries all around.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 et and CONJ INVAR
2 tendent they shall extend 3PL.FUT.ACT.IND 3RD CONJ
3 usque as far as ADV INVAR
4 ad to PREP+ACC
5 Iordanem the Jordan ACC.SG.M 3RD DECL
6 et and CONJ INVAR
7 ad at / to PREP+ACC
8 ultimum finally ACC.SG.N.ADJ.SUPER
9 salsissimo very salty / Salt ABL.SG.N.ADJ.SUPER
10 claudentur shall be bounded 3PL.FUT.PASS.IND 3RD CONJ
11 mari by the sea ABL.SG.N 3RD DECL
12 Hanc this ACC.SG.F.DEM
13 habebitis you shall have 2PL.FUT.ACT.IND 2ND CONJ
14 Terram the Land ACC.SG.F 1ST DECL.OBJ
15 per by / within PREP+ACC
16 fines boundaries ACC.PL.M 3RD DECL
17 suos its own ACC.PL.M.POSS
18 in in PREP+ABL
19 circuitu all around ABL.SG.M 4TH DECL

Syntax

Continuation of the Eastern Boundary: et tendent usque ad Iordanem continues directly from the preceding description. The understood subject of tendent is termini, “the boundaries.” usque ad Iordanem marks the extent of the boundary “as far as the Jordan.”

Final Boundary Clause: et ad ultimum salsissimo claudentur mari means “and finally shall be bounded by the Salt Sea.” The understood plural subject remains termini. claudentur is future passive, while salsissimo mari is an ablative expressing the geographical feature by which the boundaries are closed or delimited.

Adverbial Expression: ad ultimum is an idiomatic expression meaning “finally,” “at last,” or “at the end.” Here it marks the final stage of the boundary description rather than identifying another geographical destination.

Main Concluding Clause: Hanc habebitis Terram per fines suos in circuitu summarizes the entire boundary description: “You shall have this Land within its boundaries all around.” habebitis is the verb, and Hanc Terram is its direct object.

Boundary Expression: per fines suos describes the land with reference to its own defined boundaries. The possessive suos agrees with fines and refers back to Terram. in circuitu adds the sense “all around,” emphasizing that the preceding limits enclose the land on every side.

Morphology

  1. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Indeclinable coordinating conjunction; Function: Connects this continuation with the preceding stage of the eastern boundary; Translation: “and”; Notes: The conjunction maintains the sequential description of the boundary as it proceeds toward the Jordan.
  2. tendent — Lemma: tendo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person plural, future active indicative, third conjugation; Function: Main verb with the previously mentioned termini understood as subject; Translation: “they shall extend”; Notes: In this geographical context tendo describes a boundary line stretching or proceeding toward its next endpoint.
  3. usque — Lemma: usque; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Indeclinable adverb; Function: Modifies the following ad-phrase to mark extent; Translation: “as far as”; Notes: Together with ad, it identifies the Jordan as the endpoint of this segment.
  4. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces Iordanem as the endpoint of tendent; Translation: “to”; Notes: With usque, the preposition expresses extension up to a definite geographical landmark.
  5. Iordanem — Lemma: Iordanis; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Accusative singular masculine, third declension; Function: Object of the preposition ad; Translation: “the Jordan”; Notes: The river serves as a major landmark in the eastern boundary description.
  6. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Conjunction; Form: Indeclinable coordinating conjunction; Function: Coordinates claudentur with tendent; Translation: “and”; Notes: It introduces the final stage in the description of the territorial boundary.
  7. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Forms the idiomatic expression ad ultimum; Translation: “at” or, with ultimum, “finally”; Notes: Here ad does not introduce a geographical destination but belongs to an adverbial expression marking the final point in the sequence.
  8. ultimum — Lemma: ultimus; Part of Speech: Adjective used substantivally; Form: Accusative singular neuter, superlative degree, first-and-second-declension adjective; Function: Object of ad in the idiom ad ultimum; Translation: “finally”; Notes: Literally “to the last,” the phrase functions adverbially with the sense “at last” or “finally.”
  9. salsissimo — Lemma: salsus; Part of Speech: Adjective; Form: Ablative singular neuter, superlative degree, first-and-second-declension adjective; Function: Modifies mari; Translation: “Salt” or literally “very salty”; Notes: The superlative agrees with mari and forms the geographical designation of the Salt Sea.
  10. claudentur — Lemma: claudo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third person plural, future passive indicative, third conjugation; Function: Main verb with the previously mentioned boundaries as its understood subject; Translation: “shall be bounded”; Notes: Literally “shall be closed,” the passive verb describes the completion of the territorial circuit by the Salt Sea.
  11. mari — Lemma: mare; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular neuter, third declension; Function: Ablative with claudentur, expressing the geographical feature by which the boundaries are enclosed; Translation: “by the sea”; Notes: Together with salsissimo, the noun denotes the Salt Sea, which closes this portion of the boundary.
  12. Hanc — Lemma: hic; Part of Speech: Demonstrative pronoun used adjectivally; Form: Accusative singular feminine; Function: Modifies Terram in the direct object Hanc Terram; Translation: “this”; Notes: The demonstrative points back to the territory whose complete boundaries have just been described.
  13. habebitis — Lemma: habeo; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Second person plural, future active indicative, second conjugation; Function: Main verb of the concluding statement addressed to Israel; Translation: “you shall have”; Notes: The plural subject is the Israelites, and the verb summarizes their possession of the land enclosed by the stated boundaries.
  14. Terram — Lemma: terra; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine, first declension; Function: Direct object of habebitis; Translation: “the Land”; Notes: The noun refers to the territory whose southern, western, northern, and eastern limits have just been specified.
  15. per — Lemma: per; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces fines suos; Translation: “by” or “within”; Notes: In context the phrase describes the land according to, or within, the boundaries that define it.
  16. fines — Lemma: finis; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative plural masculine, third declension; Function: Object of the preposition per; Translation: “boundaries”; Notes: The plural refers collectively to the territorial limits enumerated throughout the preceding description.
  17. suos — Lemma: suus; Part of Speech: Possessive adjective; Form: Accusative plural masculine; Function: Modifies fines and refers reflexively to Terram; Translation: “its own”; Notes: The possessive indicates that these are the boundaries belonging to and defining the land itself.
  18. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the ablative; Function: Introduces circuitu; Translation: “in”; Notes: With the ablative it forms a locative or circumstantial expression emphasizing enclosure on every side.
  19. circuitu — Lemma: circuitus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular masculine, fourth declension; Function: Object of the preposition in; Translation: “all around”; Notes: The phrase in circuitu means “round about” or “on every side” and summarizes the complete circuit formed by the previously described boundaries.

 

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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