Study Guide: Group 24

Here is the latest Study Guide! I have not provided English translations, since those are easy enough to find by consulting versions of the Bible in English. Instead, I have tried to call attention to the various grammatical features of the verses, along with interesting vocabulary items, the importance of a specific Biblical context, etc.

You will find more Study Guides at the Vulgate Verses wiki.

These verses contain comparative adjectives:

287. The ablative auro is the object of comparison.

288. The ablative fortitudine is the object of comparison.

289. Here the comparison is expressed using quam, like the English "than."

290. This verse is from the apocryphal book of Wisdom. Be careful not to confuse the third declension noun, vis (viris) which in the plural, vires, means "strength," with the second declension noun, vir, meaning "man," which has the plural form viri.

291. The adjective patiens is being used substantively here, meaning "(a) patient (person)." The ablative arrogante is the object of comparison. It is also an adjective being used substantively to refer to a person.

292. See the note to Verse #291 about the substantive adjective, patiens. Be careful with the Latin word forte. Sometimes it is a form of the third declension adjective fortis meaning "strong" (as here), but there is also a third declension noun, fors (fortis), meaning "chance, luck," found often in the adverbial form forte, meaning "by chance."

293. Here the comparison is expressed using quam, like the English "than," with the singular oboedientia being compared to the plural victimae.

294. The word orationis is implied by not expressed in the second part of the statement: Melior est finis orationis quam principium (orationis).

295. The ablative phrase rege sene et stulto is the object of comparison.

296. Note the form melius which is neuter singular, agreeing with the noun nomen.

297. See the note to Verse #296 about the word melius. The Latin word pretiosus is from the noun, pretium, "price, value." The suffix -osus means "full of," so something that is preti-osus is "full of value, valuable."

298. Note that the word fructus could be nominative singular or plural; the adjective multi gives you a clue that this fructus is plural.

299. The adjective magni is a second declension adjective, and insatiabiles is third declension; both are masculine nominative plural, agreeing with thesauri.

300. The adjective plena takes an ablative complement: victimis.

301. This verse is from the apocryphal book of Sirach. Be careful with the Latin word victus. There is a participle from the verb vinco (vincere), meaning "defeated" (related to the word "victory"), but there is also a fourth declension noun, victus, meaning "life, way of life, diet, food," which is the meaning of the word here (compare the English word "victuals").

Vulgate Verse: non est macula

I've posted a commentary about a Vulgate verse today over at my ReligiousReading.com blog, where you will find a discussion of the Immaculate Conception, prompted by this verse in the Song of Songs:

Luke 6: Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te.

Meanwhile, here is an image of the "Maculate Coffee" (read the blog post to find out just how this all fits together):

Study Guide: Group 23

Here is the latest Study Guide! I have not provided English translations, since those are easy enough to find by consulting versions of the Bible in English. Instead, I have tried to call attention to the various grammatical features of the verses, along with interesting vocabulary items, the importance of a specific Biblical context, etc.

You will find more Study Guides at the Vulgate Verses wiki.

These verses contain comparative and superlative adjectives:

271. The verb is implied but not expressed: Quid dulcius (est) melle?. The noun melle is in the ablative, expressing the object of comparison.

272. The verb is implied but not expressed: Quid (est) leone fortius?. The noun leone is in the ablative, expressing the object of comparison.

273. The implied comparison is that sapientia cum divitiis is more useful than sapientia sine divitiis.

274. The Latin word nonne is used to introduce a question to which the expected answer is "yes," just as when we start a question in English with "isn't...?" or "doesn't...?"

275. The noun argento is in the ablative, expressing the object of comparison, meaning "silver" in the sense of "money."

276. The implied comparison is that panis absconditus is sweeter than bread which is not absconditus, not hidden, not eaten in secret, etc.

277. Compare the English saying "Stolen things are sweet."

278. This verse is from the apocryphal book of I Esdras. The verb is implied but not expressed: Veritas (est) magna et fortior prae omnibus.

279. This verse is from the apocryphal book of Wisdom. The ablative phrase, omnibus mobilibus is being used to epxress the object of comparison.

280. The ablative phrase, omni gladio ancipiti is being used to epxress the object of comparison.

281. This verse is from the apocryphal book of Sirach. The verb is implied but not expressed: Oculi Domini (sunt) multo plus lucidiores super solem. The ablative multo is being used to express the degree of comparison, "by much, by far."

282. These words are spoken by a voice out of the cloud at the time of Jesus's baptism.

283. The verb is implied but not expressed: Turris fortissima (est) nomen Domini.

284. The word quam has many functions in Latin. Here it is an adverb being used in an exclamatory fashion (you could even add an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence, if you want).

285. The ablative phrase cunctis pretiosissimis is being used to express the object of comparison.

286. You can find some comments on this verse in the blog post at ReligiousReading.com.

Study Guide: Group 22

Here is the latest Study Guide! I have not provided English translations, since those are easy enough to find by consulting versions of the Bible in English. Instead, I have tried to call attention to the various grammatical features of the verses, along with interesting vocabulary items, the importance of a specific Biblical context, etc.

You will find more Study Guides at the Vulgate Verses wiki.

These verses contain fifth declension nouns:

252. The verb is implied but not expressed: Facies tua (est) decora.

253. Be careful to distinguish between the subject, fides sine operibus and the predicate, otiosa est.

254. These are the words spoken by Jesus to the woman of Canaan who petitioned him on behalf of her daughter who was possessed.

255. These are the words that Jesus speaks to his disciples when they were caught by a storm on the lake and became terrified.

256. The words sicut... ita et are used to coordinate the two parts of this comparison. The word et is used adverbially, meaning "also, likewise."

257. The verb is implied but not exprssed: Dominus (est) spes populi sui.

258. Be careful to distinguish between the subject, Deus, and the predicate, spes nostra est.

259. The word dies could be nominative singular, nominative plural or accusative plural, but from context here you can tell it must be nominative singular, agreeing with tua and parallel to the nominative singular, nox.

260. Notice that the verb is implied but not expressed: Mille anni in oculis tuis (sunt) sicut dies hesterna. See Verse #259 for dies; the adjective hesterna shows that dies here is nominative singular.

261. The verbs are implied, but not expressed: Unus dies apud Dominum (est) sicut mille anni, et mille anni (sunt) sicut dies unus. The noun dies is sometimes treated as a feminine noun (especially in the singular), and sometimes masculine, as here.

262. This verse is from the apocryphal book of Sirach. This is a complex comparison: in the same way that a drop of water is small compared to the sea, or a grain of sand is small, so too are years small, exigui when compared to just a single day in cosmic time, aevum (Greek ἐν ἡμέρᾳ αἰῶνος).

263. The dative Domino goes with the adjective sancta, "holy to the Lord."

264. The form diei could be genitive singular or dative singular, but the parallel structure shows that it is genitive singular, like the genitive singular noun, lucis. The word filii could be genitive singular or nominative plural, and the context shows that it is nominative plural, the predicate of the plural verb estis.

265. The word quid can mean "what?" but it can also mean "why?" ("for what reason?"), as it does here. The phrase modicae fidei is genitive singular, being used to describe the implied subject of estis, "(you who are) of small faith."

266. The Latin word nonne is used to introduce a question to which the expected answer is "yes," just as when we start a question in English with "isn't...?" or "doesn't...?"

267. The verb is implied but not expressed: Dies nostri (sunt) quasi umbra super terram.

268. The adjective pleni takes a complement in the ablative: doloribus et aerumnis.

269. The verb is implied but not expressed: Omnes dies pauperis (sunt) mali.

270. The verb is implied but not expressed: Cunctae res (sunt) difficiles.

Study Guide: Group 21

Here is the latest Study Guide! I have not provided English translations, since those are easy enough to find by consulting versions of the Bible in English. Instead, I have tried to call attention to the various grammatical features of the verses, along with interesting vocabulary items, the importance of a specific Biblical context, etc.

You will find more Study Guides at the Vulgate Verses wiki.

These verses contain fourth declension nouns:

239. Be careful with the word spiritus. It could be nominative singular, genitive singular, nominative plural, or accusative plural. Because the word gladius is unambiguously nominative singular, this lets you know that spiritus is genitive singular: gladius spiritus, "sword of the spirit."

240. See the note to Verse #239 about the word spiritus. Here the word afflictio is nominative singular, so spiritus needs to be genitive singular.

241. Notice how the noun phrase, templum spiritus sancti, which is the subject of the sentence, wraps around the verb. The predicate membra vestra comes first in the sentence, which can be confusing for English-speakers!

242. The verbs are implied here but not expressed: Prudentia carnis (est) mors; prudentia autem Spiritus (est) vita et pax. Notice that the postpositive particle comes in second position in its clause. See the note to Verse #239 about the word spiritus, which is genitive singular here, parallel to the genitive carnis.

243. See the note to Verse #239 about the word spiritus, which is genitive singular here. There is no grammatical reason why it is has to be interpreted in this way; rather, it is the meaning of the words that lets you know fructus is nominative and spiritus is genitive.

244. Notice that the postpositive particle comes in second position in its clause. The verbs are implied but not expressed: fides (est) ex auditu; auditus autem (est) per verbum Christi.

245. The word tua could be many possible forms: feminine nominative singular, feminine ablative singular, neuter nominative plural, neuter accusative plural. From context, you can tell that here it is ablative singular, part of this prepositional phrase: in manu tua.

246. See the note to Verse #245 about tua. The word imperium is neuter nominative singular (second declension), while the word omnium is neuter genitive plural (third declension). Even though the letters of a word ending might be the same, you have to understand the different declensions in order to understand the ending correctly.

247. This is an existential use of the verb sunt, which can be translated into English as "there are."

248. Notice that the word domus is feminine, hence the adjective magna agreeing with domo. The word solum is being used adverbially here, like the English word "only, solely." In the phrase sed et the word et is being used adverbially, meaning "but also."

249. In Latin, there is a word opera, a first declension noun, and also a word opus, a third declension noun, which takes the form opera in the plural. In this verse, the plural subject, caeli, makes it clear that this is the plural opera, third declension.

250. You can read about the phrase sanctus sanctus sanctus in this post at the ReligiousReading.com blog.

251. This is from the vision of Elisha (Eliseus); compare the "chariot of fire" in Verse #234.

Study Guide: Group 20

Here is the latest Study Guide! I have not provided English translations, since those are easy enough to find by consulting versions of the Bible in English. Instead, I have tried to call attention to the various grammatical features of the verses, along with interesting vocabulary items, the importance of a specific Biblical context, etc.

You will find more Study Guides at the Vulgate Verses wiki.

These verses contain fourth declension nouns:

226. Note the use of the postpositive particles quidem and vero to coordinate these two statements: Spiritus quidem (est) promptus; caro vero (est) infirma.

227. This verse is from the apocryphal book of Wisdom. The Greek version of this text reads rather differently from the Latin: φιλάνθρωπον πνεῦμα σοφία, "wisdom is a loving spirit," which in Latin would be benignus spiritus est sapientia.

228. These words have become part of the Rosary prayer tradition. You can read more at wikipedia.

229. This verse is from the apocryphal book of Wisdom. Notice how the noun phrase, which is the subject, bonorum laborum fructus wraps around the predicate, gloriosus est. This kind of word order is effortless in Latin, but can be challenging for English-speakers.

230. Although the word iustitia could be either nominative singular or ablative singular, the context of the verse, with the words bonitate and veritate show that this is definitely an ablative form.

231. The word vere, "truly," is an adverb, formed from the same root as the adjective verus, "true." Although you cannot always predict how adverbs will be formed in Latin, the -e ending is a common one. Be careful with the word caro; this is not from the adjective carus! Instead, it is a feminine third declension noun, caro (carnis)), hence the feminine adjective, mea.

232. Notice that the verb comes first, est, followed by the subject, regnum Dei, which is then followed by the predicate noun phrase. This kind of word order is natural in Latin, but can be confusing for English speakrs.

233. This verse is from the apocryphal book of Sirach. The adverb valde, like the adverb vere (see Verse #231 above), is from an adjective: validus, meaning "strong, vigorous," so the adverb valde means "strongly, vigorously, extremely, very."

234. This is from the vision of Elijah (Latin Elias) being taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire. You can read an article about the chariot of fire at the ReligiousReading.com blog.

235. This is a question posed by King Artaxerxes to the prophet Nehemiah, who is grieving because of the desolation fo the city of Jerusalem.

236. Notice how how the noun phrase eventus proelii wraps around the verb, est, with the predicate adjective, varius coming in first position. The Latin word e-ventus has the same formation as the corresponding English word, "out-come."

237. The adjective unus here is used to mean "the same," much as in the English expression "one and the same."

238. This verse is from the apocryphal book of Wisdom. Notice how this verse uses the words unus and similis to express the same idea, that everyone has the same introitus into life and everyone has the same exitus from life. In other words, each person is born and each person dies; the process of birth and the process of death is universal.