Numeri 35:10 (Numbers 35:10)

^{Nm 35:10} Loquere filiis Israel, et dices ad eos: Quando transgressi fueritis Iordanem in Terram Chanaan,

“Speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them: ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the Land of Chanaan,

Syntax

Main Imperative Clause: Loquere filiis Israel is an independent imperative clause in which the LORD commands Moses to address the children of Israel. The verb Loquere expresses the direct command, while filiis Israel identifies the recipients of the communication.

Implied Subject: The subject of Loquere is the understood second-person singular pronoun tu, referring to Moyses. The imperative ending identifies the person addressed, so an explicit subject pronoun is unnecessary.

Imperative Verb: Loquere is the second-person singular present imperative of the deponent verb loquor. Although the verb has passive morphological forms, it expresses the active action of speaking. Here it directs Moses to communicate the LORD’s instructions to the Israelites.

Recipient of the Command: filiis Israel means “to the children of Israel.” The noun filiis is dative plural masculine and functions as the recipient of Loquere. The indeclinable proper name Israel specifies the people addressed through a genitival relationship.

Coordinated Main Clause: et dices ad eos means “and you shall say to them.” The conjunction et connects this clause with the preceding imperative. The future indicative dices continues the directive by specifying that Moyses is to deliver the words that follow.

Future Indicative with Directive Force: dices is the second-person singular future active indicative of dico. Although grammatically indicative rather than imperative, it has directive force in this context. The LORD instructs Moyses not merely to speak generally but to communicate a particular message to Israel.

Recipient Phrase: ad eos means “to them.” The preposition ad governs the accusative plural masculine pronoun eos, which refers back to filiis Israel. The phrase identifies the Israelites as the recipients of the words Moyses must deliver.

Introduction of Direct Speech: The colon after eos introduces the content of the message Moses is commanded to convey. The subsequent sentence is expressed from the perspective of Moyses addressing the Israelites, as shown by the second-person plural verbal form fueritis.

Temporal Subordinate Clause: Quando transgressi fueritis Iordanem in Terram Chanaan means “When you have crossed the Jordan into the Land of Chanaan.” The temporal conjunction Quando introduces a subordinate clause referring to a future event that must occur before the instructions introduced by the clause become applicable.

Temporal Conjunction: Quando means “when” and establishes the future crossing of the Jordan as the temporal circumstance for the instructions that follow. Because the verb is future perfect, the clause views the crossing as completed before the action of the following main clause.

Verbal Construction: transgressi fueritis is a compound verbal expression formed from the perfect participle transgressi of the deponent verb transgredior and the future perfect auxiliary fueritis of sum. Together, the words convey the future perfect meaning “you shall have crossed” or, in natural English after “when,” “you have crossed.”

Deponent Participle: transgressi is nominative plural masculine and agrees with the implied plural subject, the Israelites addressed by Moyses. As a participle of a deponent verb, it has passive form but active meaning. The verb transgredior expresses crossing over or passing beyond a geographical boundary.

Future Perfect Auxiliary: fueritis is the second-person plural future perfect indicative of sum in this context. Combined with transgressi, it forms a future perfect deponent construction. The same isolated form could also be parsed as perfect subjunctive, but the future temporal context supports the future perfect indicative interpretation.

Implied Subject of the Temporal Clause: The subject of transgressi fueritis is the understood second-person plural pronoun vos, referring to the children of Israel. The shift from the singular Loquere and dices to the plural fueritis reflects the change from the LORD addressing Moyses to Moyses addressing the people.

Direct Object: Iordanem is accusative singular masculine and functions as the direct object of transgressi fueritis. It identifies the Jordan River as the geographical boundary that the Israelites are to cross.

Directional Phrase: in Terram Chanaan means “into the Land of Chanaan.” The preposition in governs the accusative singular Terram and expresses movement into a destination. The accusative is used because the phrase describes entry into the land rather than a fixed location within it.

Geographical Name: Chanaan is an indeclinable biblical proper name functioning as a dependent modifier of Terram. It identifies the land into which the Israelites are to enter. The genitival relationship is expressed in English as “of Canaan.”

Relationship to the Preceding Instructions: The preceding verses concern the provision of towns for the Levites and the designation of cities of refuge. The present verse introduces a new direct command to Moses and establishes the Israelites’ future entrance into Canaan as the setting for the instructions that follow.

Incomplete Temporal Construction: The verse ends after the subordinate clause Quando transgressi fueritis Iordanem in Terram Chanaan. Its corresponding main clause is not yet expressed within the supplied verse. The comma after Chanaan indicates that the sentence continues into the following verse.

Overall Clause Function: The verse contains two coordinated introductory clauses addressed to Moyses, followed by the beginning of the message he is to deliver to Israel. The temporal subordinate clause establishes the crossing of the Jordan and entrance into Chanaan as the prerequisite circumstance for the forthcoming instructions.

Morphology

1. Loquere — Lemma: loquor, loqui, locutus sum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Second-person singular, present tense, deponent voice, imperative mood, third conjugation; Function: Main imperative directing Moyses to address the children of Israel; Translation: “speak”; Notes: The verb loquor is deponent and therefore has passive forms with active meaning. The singular imperative addresses Moyses personally and introduces his responsibility to communicate the LORD’s message.
2. filiis — Lemma: filius, filii; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Dative plural masculine, second declension; Function: Recipient of Loquere, identifying those to whom Moyses must speak; Translation: “to the children”; Notes: The phrase filiis Israel is a conventional biblical designation for the Israelites collectively. The dative case identifies the persons receiving the communication.
3. Israel — Lemma: Israel; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable biblical proper name, functioning in a genitival relationship; Function: Dependent modifier of filiis, identifying the people whom Moyses is commanded to address; Translation: “of Israel”; Notes: The name refers collectively to the descendants of Israel. Its relationship to filiis is expressed syntactically without any change in the form of the proper name.
4. et — Lemma: et; Part of Speech: Coordinating conjunction; Form: Indeclinable conjunction; Function: Connects the imperative Loquere with the future indicative dices; Translation: “and”; Notes: The conjunction joins two related instructions: Moyses is first told to address the Israelites and then directed to deliver the specific words that follow.
5. dices — Lemma: dico, dicere, dixi, dictum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Second-person singular, future tense, active voice, indicative mood, third conjugation; Function: Predicate of the second coordinated main clause, directing Moses to communicate the following message; Translation: “you shall say”; Notes: The future indicative carries directive force within the divine command. It introduces the precise message Moyses must deliver to the Israelites, continuing the instruction expressed by Loquere.
6. ad — Lemma: ad; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces eos as the recipients of the words expressed by dices; Translation: “to”; Notes: With a verb of speaking, the preposition identifies those toward whom the communication is directed. Here it refers to the same Israelite audience named in the preceding phrase.
7. eos — Lemma: is, ea, id; Part of Speech: Anaphoric pronoun; Form: Accusative plural masculine; Function: Object of the preposition ad, referring back to filiis Israel; Translation: “them”; Notes: The pronoun refers to the children of Israel collectively and avoids repeating their designation. Its accusative case is governed by ad.
8. Quando — Lemma: quando; Part of Speech: Subordinating conjunction; Form: Indeclinable temporal conjunction; Function: Introduces the subordinate temporal clause describing the future crossing of the Jordan; Translation: “when”; Notes: The conjunction establishes the Israelites’ entry into Canaan as the temporal circumstance preceding the instructions that follow. Its combination with the future perfect indicates that the crossing will be completed before the subsequent action takes place.
9. transgressi — Lemma: transgredior, transgredi, transgressus sum; Part of Speech: Verb, perfect participle; Form: Nominative plural masculine, perfect participle of a third-conjugation deponent verb; Function: Combines with fueritis to form the compound future perfect deponent predicate; Translation: “crossed”; Notes: The participle agrees with the implied plural subject, the Israelites. The deponent verb transgredior means to cross over, pass across, or go beyond a boundary. Here it describes the anticipated crossing of the Jordan River into Canaan.
10. fueritis — Lemma: sum, esse, fui; Part of Speech: Verb, irregular auxiliary; Form: Second-person plural, future perfect tense, active voice, indicative mood, irregular conjugation; Function: Auxiliary completing the future perfect deponent construction transgressi fueritis; Translation: “you shall have”; Notes: The form is morphologically identical to the second-person plural perfect subjunctive of sum. In this prospective temporal clause, it is interpreted as future perfect indicative. Together with transgressi, it expresses a crossing completed before the instructions introduced by the temporal clause take effect.
11. Iordanem — Lemma: Iordanis; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Accusative singular masculine, third declension; Function: Direct object of transgressi fueritis, identifying the river the Israelites are to cross; Translation: “the Jordan”; Notes: The Jordan River marks the geographical boundary that the Israelites must cross in order to enter Chanaan from the east. Its accusative case reflects its role as the object of the action of crossing.
12. in — Lemma: in; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the accusative in this construction; Function: Introduces Terram Chanaan as the destination of the movement expressed by transgressi fueritis; Translation: “into”; Notes: The preposition takes the accusative because the phrase expresses movement into a destination. This contrasts with the ablative construction used when in denotes a fixed location.
13. Terram — Lemma: terra, terræ; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular feminine, first declension; Function: Object of the preposition in, identifying the territory into which the Israelites are to enter; Translation: “the Land”; Notes: The noun denotes land or territory. Here it refers specifically to Chanaan, the land toward which the Israelites have been journeying and whose future settlement forms the context of the divine instructions.
14. Chanaan — Lemma: Chanaan; Part of Speech: Proper noun; Form: Indeclinable biblical geographical name, functioning in a genitival relationship; Function: Dependent modifier of Terram, identifying the territory into which the Israelites are to enter; Translation: “of Chanaan”; Notes: The name identifies the land promised to Israel. Its relationship to Terram is expressed syntactically, giving the phrase the meaning “the Land of Chanaan.” The unchanged form preserves the biblical geographical name.