Let god only judge me

09:00 Mar 3, 2008
English to Latin translations [Non-PRO]
Religion
English term or phrase: Let god only judge me
Can u traslate this to latin? And is there a difference between "Let god alone judge me" and "God alone may judge me" when they are both translated to latin?
estheryap


Summary of answers provided
5 +1Deus solus me iudicet
Ivo Volt
5Solus Deus me iudicet.
Joseph Brazauskas


  

Answers


24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
let god only judge me
Deus solus me iudicet


Explanation:
This would be the literal translation.

Ivo Volt
Estonia
Local time: 11:37
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EstonianEstonian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Joseph Brazauskas: Literally correct, but I should prefer 'Solus Deus, etc.'.
5 hrs
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
let god only judge me
Solus Deus me iudicet.


Explanation:
Clearly, the asker means , "Let only God judge me"; 'let God only judge me' means something quite different, and so would be rendered quite differently, viz., 'Deus me tantum iudicet'.
The moral is that, in Latin as in other languages, word order matters--in Latin (and Greek) it matters a very great deal--and that, while Ivo's translation is correct in its interpretaton of the English--that the speaker of the sentence wishes that God alone judge him or her, not that he or she wishes God merely to judge him or her--the emphatic word is 'only', and in Latin emphatic words are placed before the word modified and in general gravitate towards the beginning of a sentence or clause.

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Note added at 6 hrs (2008-03-03 15:32:43 GMT)
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In 'Let God alone judge me' = 'Solus Deus me iudicet', the verb is a hortatory subjunctive, which construction is used to express an exhortation, command, concession, or condition. The English construction 'let + object + infinitive' expresses an exhortation or command; the construction 'may + infinitive' expresses, among a number of other things, concession. So while there is a grammatical difference in English, there is no formal grammatical difference in Latin in this particular sentence, although it is possible to bring it out by a different translation, e.g., "God alone may judge me' = 'Soli Deo licet me iudicare' (lit., 'It is permitted to God alone to judge me'.

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Note added at 11 hrs (2008-03-03 20:42:01 GMT)
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Solus (SOH-loos) = alone, only
Deus (DEH-oos) = God - these two words form the subject nominative
me (MAY) = me - accusative of direct object
iudicet (YOO-dih-keht) = let . . . judge - hortatory subjunctive, 3rd person singular active

The syllables in capitals bear the accent.

The pronunciation given above is the Restored, which is how it is believed that Latin was pronounced during the Classical Period (c.80 B.C.E.-c.14 C.E.). It has been the standard in secular schools, colleges, and universities since the late 19th century.

The Roman Catholic Church, however, employs a different pronunciation, called the Ecclesiastical, which has been in use from about the 7th century C.E. and which approximates to the pronunciation of Modern Italian. Using this method, the words would be pronounced as follows:

SOH-loos DAY-oos MAY YOO-dih-cheht

Plesae note that 'oo' is to be pronounced as in 'book' in the Restored pronunciation, but as in 'pool' in the Ecclesiastical.



Joseph Brazauskas
United States
Local time: 05:37
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 19
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you so much.I hv a cross tattooed on me sometime ago and I've been playing with the quote "Let God alone judge me",wondering if i should ink it in english or latin or even hebrew. Thank you so much...would u be able to break the sentence down so i know what each word means?and if it possible the pronouncation of each word?

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