Latin lesson 1 - Dilexisti justitiam
Dilexisti justitiam, et odisti iniquitatem: properea unxit te Deus, Deus tuus, oleo laetitiae prae consortibus tuis. * Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum: dico ego opera mea Regi.
Thou hast loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. * My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the King.
(Psalm 44:8,2 from the Introit of Mass)
This is the Introit from the 1st common mass of Virgins who were not martyrs; for example, St Gertrude the Great. The Introit is the sentence which is read by the priest at the start of mass after he has gone up to the altar; or it is sung by the choir during the preparatory prayers. Often it is taken from the Psalms, or some other part of the Old Testament.
Dilexisti - You have loved/valued. This is the perfect tense of the verb, indicating simple past actions. The you is singular, in other words "Thou." The ending -isti is characteristic of the past tense where it is "thou" that has done the action. No special word for you is included, since the verb makes it clear.
justitiam - Justice. Justice is justitia. The -am ending is characteristic of the accusative case, which is used for direct objects of verbs - the thing something is being done to. Here, justice is what is being loved.
et - and
odisti - You have hated. Once again, perfect tense, indicating simple past actions. The same -isti ending.
iniquitatem - iniquity (evil doing). Once again, accusative case, as the direct object of the verb odisti. Iniquity is iniquitas. The characteristic ending -em this time, once again indicates the accusative, for a direct object.
properea - therefore/on that account. One of several words that can have this meaning.
unxit - He has anointed. Perfect tense, indicating simple past. The ending -it is characteristic of the perfect tense, where it is he/she/it that is doing the action.
te - you/thee (singular). Thou, as the subject doing an action is tu; here, thee, the object of a verb, is te.
Deus - God. Subject of the verb unxit - God is doing the action.
tuus - your/thy. Notice the same ending as Deus, the noun it describes.
oleo - with the oil. Oil is oleum. The ending -o indicates this is the ablative case, so meaning by or with the oil.
laetitiae - of gladness. Laetitia is gladness. The ending -ae is the genitive case, which indicates the possessive, of gladness.
prae - before/in front of/in comparison with
consortibus - fellows/companions. The ending -ibus indicates the ablative case, which is always used for a noun that follows prae.
tuis - your/thy. Tuus is your/thy, but the ending here is -is since it is the ablative case, to go with consortibus.
Eructavit - has uttered. Actually, it has the sense of swelling forth. This is the simple past tense.
cor - heart. This is the subject of the verb eructavit. It's the heart that's doing the uttering.
meum - my. Meus is my. The ending -um is because cor is a neuter noun.
verbum - word. This is the object of the verb eructavit - what is being uttered.
bonum - good. Good is bonus. The ending -um is determined since it describes verbum.
dico - I speak. Present tense.
ego - I. Usually in Latin ego is omitted, since it is included in the verb dico. If it is included, as it is here, it means that it is being emphasized: it is I who speak ...
opera - works/deeds. Opus is a work or deed, opera is its plural.
mea - my. The ending -a is to go with opera.
Regi - to the king. Rex is king. Regi is the dative case, which is used to indicate to the King. There is no word for the in Latin.
Reminder about grammar
A simple sentence typically has a main verb, a subject of the verb, and an object of the verb.
In the sentence, God blesses the King: God is the subject of the verb, blesses is the main verb, and the King is the object of the verb.
In Latin, the subject of a simple sentence is in the nominative case, and the object is in the accusative case.
God. Deus is the nominative; Deum is the accusative.
King. Rex is the nominative; Regem is the accusative.
God blesses the King. Deus benedicit Regem.
The King blesses God. Rex benedicit Deum.
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