Translation of subjunctive

Latin Learning Latin
1

I’m coming back to studying Latin again after a few years, so a simple question, I hope…

In Sharpley’s Complete Latin Course, there’s the following sentence:

sī captīvus esset, domum nōn venīret

which is translated as if he were a captive he would not be coming home.

I thought at first that the meaning would be closer to … should not come home (expressing wish, not unfulfilled condition, in other words — as in the example above this in the book domum veniat!).

Assuming I’m wrong (always the safest option), how would my version be expressed? (Using additional markers such as necesse?) Or is there something going on with the tense of the second subjunctive which identifies the meaning as one rather than the other?

Alternatively, is the phrase ambiguous in that translating it forces one to choose a specific meaning in English when the Latin encompasses both? (Schrodinger’s Translating Cat?)

Thanks for any correction – I’m a long way from remembering the basics.

2

Maybe

Si captivus esset, non oporteret eum/deceret eum/deberet (3rd person, not impersonal) domum venire.

3

Thank you!

Does that mean that the translation ‘should’ instead of ‘would’ is ruled out in this sentence? If so, how does one tell which use of one of the subjunctive’s many shades of meaning is ruled out in such circumstances?

Cheers