Mass or Count Noun: Latin Considerations of the Use of sanguis in the Plural

Abstract

Educated by generations of grammarians who state that the term sanguis (blood) is used only in the singular, Fathers of the Church, exegetes, and commentators were confronted with about twenty scriptural, essentially veterotestimentary tokens where sanguis is used in the plural. Justifications for this particular use appear throughout the commentaries. My study will attempt to answer a series of questions. Which passages interested the commentators the most and why? Which grammarians were involved and in what respect? What kind of justifications were provided? Was their interest purely hermeneutic or did the exegetes aim to preserve a state inherited from scrupulous translations? Were the passages treated in isolation or set in resonance? Does this assessment of the commentaries allow us to identity filiations? It will also be seen that this matter is another piece of the puzzle in the relationship between grammar and faith.