I'm comparing the Greek bible verse from Acts 2:38 to what Jerome translated into the Vulgate. The two main verbs I'm concerned with here are for "repent" and "be baptized." In the Greek, both verbs are in the imperative (Peter is speaking to a crowd) "repent" is 2nd plural, "be baptized" is 3rd singular. I'm having a hard time understanding the nuances of the Greek verbs so I compared it with the Vulgate: "Petrus vero ad illos paenitentiam inquit agite et baptizetur unusquisque vestrum in nomine Iesu Christi in remissionem peccatorum vestrorum et accipietis donum Sancti Spiritus." My Latin is terribly rusty, but I see that "agite" is a plural imperative and apparently part on an idiom? Why is "baptizetur" in the subjunctive? Is the emphatic command to repent? I can't make sense of it.
Tags: Help, Latin, Understanding, verbs