Numeri 35:4 (Numbers 35:4)

Posted on June 2, 2006 by Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Nm 35:4 quæ a muris civitatum forinsecus, per circuitum, mille passuum spatio tendentur.

which shall extend outward from the walls of the cities, all around, over a distance of one thousand paces.

# Latin Gloss Grammar Tag
1 quæ which REL.NOM.PL.N
2 a from PREP+ABL
3 muris the walls ABL.PL.M 2ND DECL
4 civitatum of the cities GEN.PL.F 3RD DECL
5 forinsecus outward ADV.INVAR
6 per throughout PREP+ACC
7 circuitum the surrounding circuit ACC.SG.M 4TH DECL
8 mille one thousand INDECL
9 passuum of paces GEN.PL.M 4TH DECL
10 spatio over a distance ABL.SG.N 2ND DECL
11 tendentur shall extend 3PL.FUT.PASS.IND

Syntax

Relative Clause: quæ a muris civitatum forinsecus, per circuitum, mille passuum spatio tendentur is a relative clause describing the extent of the surrounding lands allocated to the Levites. The relative pronoun quæ refers back to suburbana in the preceding verse and introduces a geographical specification concerning those lands.

Subject: quæ is a nominative plural neuter relative pronoun functioning as the subject of tendentur. It agrees in gender and number with its antecedent suburbana, referring to the lands surrounding the Levitical cities.

Verb: tendentur is the third-person plural future passive indicative of tendo, meaning “shall be extended” or “shall extend.” Its passive form describes the prescribed outward extent of the surrounding lands. The future tense expresses the arrangement that is to govern the allocation of those lands.

Starting-Point Phrase: a muris civitatum means “from the walls of the cities.” The preposition a governs the ablative plural muris, indicating the point from which the surrounding lands are to be measured. The genitive plural civitatum specifies the cities to which those walls belong.

Genitive Construction: civitatum is the genitive plural of civitas and depends on muris. The expression muris civitatum identifies the city walls as the reference points for determining the extent of the surrounding lands.

Adverb of Direction: forinsecus means “outward” or “on the outside.” It indicates that the designated lands extend externally from the city walls rather than inward toward the inhabited area. The adverb clarifies the direction in which the prescribed distance is to be understood.

Extent Around the Cities: per circuitum means “all around” or “throughout the surrounding circuit.” The preposition per governs the accusative singular circuitum. Together, they indicate that the surrounding lands are to extend around the cities, rather than merely in one direction.

Numerical Expression: mille passuum means “one thousand paces.” The cardinal numeral mille is indeclinable in this construction and takes the partitive genitive plural passuum. The expression specifies the numerical distance used to describe the extent of the surrounding lands.

Measure Phrase: mille passuum spatio means “over a distance of one thousand paces.” The ablative singular spatio expresses measure or extent, while mille passuum supplies the numerical measurement. The construction establishes the distance from the city walls to the outer extent of the surrounding lands.

Passive Construction: tendentur is passive in grammatical form, with quæ as its subject. The clause does not name an agent carrying out the extension. Instead, it describes the extent that the surrounding lands are prescribed to have.

Clause Function: The relative clause further defines the suburbana mentioned in the preceding verse. It establishes the city walls as the starting point, specifies that the lands extend outward around the cities, and gives their extent as one thousand paces. The sentence therefore supplies a measurable geographical requirement for the allocation of land to the Levites.

Morphology

  1. quæ — Lemma: qui, quæ, quod; Part of Speech: Relative pronoun; Form: Nominative plural neuter; Function: Subject of tendentur, referring back to suburbana in the preceding verse; Translation: “which”; Notes: The pronoun introduces a relative clause defining the geographical extent of the surrounding lands. Its neuter plural form agrees with the antecedent suburbana.
  2. a — Lemma: a, ab; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the ablative; Function: Introduces muris civitatum as the starting point from which the prescribed distance is measured; Translation: “from”; Notes: The preposition expresses separation or distance from a reference point. Here it establishes the city walls as the point of origin for the outward extent of the surrounding lands.
  3. muris — Lemma: murus, muri; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative plural masculine, second declension; Function: Object of the preposition a, identifying the physical starting point of the measurement; Translation: “the walls”; Notes: The noun refers to the walls surrounding the cities. These walls provide a definite geographical boundary from which the distance of the allotted surrounding lands is reckoned.
  4. civitatum — Lemma: civitas, civitatis; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Genitive plural feminine, third declension; Function: Genitive modifier of muris, identifying the cities whose walls serve as the starting point; Translation: “of the cities”; Notes: The genitive establishes the relationship between the cities and their walls. In this context, the cities are those allocated to the Levites for habitation.
  5. forinsecus — Lemma: forinsecus; Part of Speech: Adverb; Form: Indeclinable adverb of place or direction; Function: Modifies tendentur by specifying the outward direction of the extension; Translation: “outward”; Notes: The adverb denotes what is outside or directed toward the exterior. It clarifies that the measured lands extend away from the city walls into the surrounding area.
  6. per — Lemma: per; Part of Speech: Preposition; Form: Indeclinable preposition governing the accusative; Function: Introduces circuitum in an expression describing the extent around the cities; Translation: “throughout”; Notes: In combination with circuitum, the preposition conveys the idea of extension around the whole surrounding boundary, rather than along only one side.
  7. circuitum — Lemma: circuitus, circuitus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Accusative singular masculine, fourth declension; Function: Object of the preposition per, indicating the surrounding extent of the allocated lands; Translation: “the surrounding circuit”; Notes: The noun denotes a circuit, circumference, or area extending around something. The expression per circuitum indicates that the prescribed lands surround the cities.
  8. mille — Lemma: mille; Part of Speech: Cardinal numeral; Form: Indeclinable singular numeral expressing the quantity one thousand; Function: Governs the partitive genitive passuum and specifies the numerical measurement associated with spatio; Translation: “one thousand”; Notes: The numeral mille is commonly followed by a genitive plural noun when functioning substantivally. Here it identifies the number of paces comprising the prescribed distance.
  9. passuum — Lemma: passus, passus; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Genitive plural masculine, fourth declension; Function: Partitive genitive dependent on mille, specifying the unit of measurement; Translation: “of paces”; Notes: A Roman passus was a double pace, conventionally reckoned as five Roman feet. The expression mille passuum therefore denotes one thousand Roman paces, corresponding to a Roman mile.
  10. spatio — Lemma: spatium, spatii; Part of Speech: Noun; Form: Ablative singular neuter, second declension; Function: Ablative of measure or extent, specifying the distance over which the surrounding lands are to extend; Translation: “over a distance”; Notes: The noun denotes space, distance, or extent. Together with mille passuum, it specifies the measured extent of the land outward from the city walls.
  11. tendentur — Lemma: tendo, tendere, tetendi, tentum; Part of Speech: Verb; Form: Third-person plural, future tense, passive voice, indicative mood, third conjugation; Function: Predicate of the relative clause, expressing the prescribed outward extent of the surrounding lands; Translation: “shall extend”; Notes: The future passive describes how the surrounding lands are to be extended or laid out. The plural form agrees with quæ, referring to the lands surrounding the cities, and the passive construction focuses on their prescribed extent rather than on the persons responsible for measuring them.

 

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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