Friday, December 7, 2007

Study Guide: Group 7

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 first, second and third declension nouns:

68. The word prope is an adverb meaning "near by, nigh." You can see the same root in the English word "approach," from a late Latin word derived from this adverb, propiare, "to come near."

69. The words quidem and autem are a postpositive particles, creating a parallel statement, with an implied verb in each portion: Messis quidem (est) multa, operarii autem (sunt) pauci.

70. The Latin word caritas is related to the adjective carus, meaning "dear, precious, expensive," hence caritas had the sense of "regard, esteem, love," and was used as such by classical authors. The Greek word which is being translated in this verse by Latin caritas is "agape," one of the words in Greek for "love." The Latin caritas is the origin of the English word "charity."

71. See the note to Verse #70 about Latin caritas. Here the prepositional phrase ex Deo is being used as the predicate of the sentence.

72. The verse here is implied: nemo (est) bonus. The word unus can mean "one" but, as here, it can also mean "alone, only."

73. This verse is from the apocryphal book of Sirach. The verb is implied: Fons sapientiae (est) verbum Dei.

74. The verb is implied: Timor Domini (est) principium scientiae.

75. The verb is implied: Salus mea (est) in Deo. Notice that even though the word salus ends in -us, it is not a second declension masculine noun. Instead, it is a third declension noun, salus, salutis, and is feminine in gender.

76. Here the prepositional phrase in caelis is being used as the predicate of the sentence.

77. The verb is implied: Sol et scutum (est) Dominus Deus.

78. See the note to Verse #59

79. The use of the dative here, Deo nostro expresses possession: our God has honor et virtus et fortitudo.

80. Notice the use of the parallel construction; when the same word is used in both portions, it does not have to be expressed both times: Corpus non est unum membrum sed multa (membra).

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