[33] et factā hōrā sextā tenebrae factae sunt per tōtam terram usque in hōram nōnam
- And at the sixth hour [literally: with the sixth hour having happened / been made; ablative absolute], there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour.
[34] et hōrā nōnā exclāmāvit Iēsus vōce magnā dīcēns Eloi
Eloi lama sabachthanī quod est interpretātum: Deus meus Deus meus ut quid
dērelīquistī mē
- And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? Which is interpreted [as]: My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani; the
words – from Psalm 22.1 – are delivered in Aramaic, which was most likely
Jesus’ native language.
[35] et quīdam dē circumstantibus audientēs
dīcēbant ecce Heliam vocat
- And some of those [who were] standing by, hearing [it], said: Look! He is calling Elijah.
[36] currēns autem ūnus et implēns spongiam
acētō circumpōnēnsque calamō pōtum dabat eī dīcēns: sinite videāmus
sī veniat Heliās ad dēpōnendum eum
- And one [person] running and filling a sponge with vinegar and putting it upon a reed, gave it to him to drink, saying: Leave him alone, let us see if Elijah will (may) come to take him down.
[i] The use of
participles – especially present active participles – contributes greatly to
the narrative flow. All of them have been highlighted in all the extracts from
the Vulgate, but line [36] is a very good example, depicting four events that
take place in rapid succession or almost simultaneously. This is, of course,
not exclusive to the Vulgate; Tacitus, for example, makes extensive usage of
participles for the same purpose.
[ii]
(1) videāmus … | let us see …; subjunctive
[hortative]
(2) sī veniat Heliās … | if / whether Elijah
will (may) come
An indirect question i.e. ‘if’ in the sense of ‘whether (or
not)’ is normally not introduced by sī, but there are occasional
examples:
Vīsam ¦ sī domī
est (Terence) | I will go see ¦ if he is at home.
CL uses sī to introduce a conditional clause, whereas
an indirect question such as this would normally be introduced by utrum (whether).
12.07.26; Level 3+; Subjunctive [69] dependent uses [6]
indirect questions (6); utrum … an …
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2026/02/120726-level-3-subjunctive-69-dependent.html
This usage with sī becomes common only in
post-Classical / Late Latin.
[37] Iēsus autem ēmissā vōce magnā
exspīrāvit
- And Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice [literally: with a great / loud voice having been let out; ablative absolute], breathed his last / expired.
[38] et vēlum templī scissum est in duo ā sūrsum usque deorsum
- And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from the top to the bottom.
[39] vidēns autem centuriō quī ex adversō stābat quia
sīc clāmāns exspīrāsset ait: vērē hic homō Fīlius Deī erat
- And the centurion who stood over against him, seeing that, [while] crying out in this manner, he had breathed his last, said: Indeed this man was the son of God.
[i] vidēns … quia … | seeing … that …; the use
of quod and quia to introduce an indirect statement is, apart
from very specific circumstances, not a feature of CL
17.02.26: Level 3; indirect statement; the
accusative-infinitive [24]: use of quod
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/11/170226-level-3-indirect-statement.html
[ii] exspīrāsset: an example of a syncopated or contracted
verb form which refers to the omission of one or more sounds from a verb.
This is not a random feature but commonly occurs with past tense verb forms
where /v/ or /vi/ is part of the ending:
petīvērunt > petiērunt
Here: exspīrāvisset > exspīrāsset
[iii] the use of the subjunctive here aligns closely with its
use in causal clauses i.e. what the soldier saw is being reported unlike
other verbal statements earlier in the account which are presented as direct
speech.
23.08.26; Level 3+; Subjunctive [90] dependent uses [15]
reported / indirect reason: quod and quia
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2026/03/230826-level-3-subjunctive-90-dependent.html
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