Hi all,
I’'ve come across two phrases in Psalm 2 that have me scratching my head:
servite Domino in timore
et exultate ei in tremore
My question is about the cases of the words following the imperatives - dative rather than accusative. I am wondering why this isn’t written:
servite Dominum in timore
et exultate eum in tremore
Doesn’t the imperative normally take the accusative (cave canem)? Is there something special going on with these verbs (servire and exultare)?
Thanks for any help you might be able to offer.
Scott.
These are Latin verbs that take a dative complement – specifically, an indirect object. You can think of them as “perform service to”, “jump up to”. This is true for all forms of these verbs, not just imperatives. Don’t be misled by English translations.
Servio may be construed with the dative:
seruiō ~īre, ~īuī or ~iī, ~ītum intr. (tr.) [seruus2 + -iō1] FORMS: ~ibam, etc. (imperfect) PL. Capt. 247; ~ibo, etc. (future) PL. Per. 628, TER. Hec. 495; etc. CONSTRUCTION: normally with dative, or absol.; with cognate accusative (1, 4); apparently with direct accusative (4).
Glare, P. G. W. (Ed.). (2012). Oxford Latin Dictionary (Second Edition, Vol. I & II). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
I couldn’t find any example in the lexica of exsulto taking the dative, but clearly it does for Jerome.
Not every verb takes the accusative. Quite a few take dative complements, especially compound verbs, but occasionally others as well.