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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.67.pr

Adopting the Interpretation Fitter for the Transaction

Passage 9127 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This fragment establishes the rule of interpretation that if a single expression conveys two meanings, the one more suitable for executing the business must be preferred.

[IDEM libro octagensimo septimo digestorum. ] §50.17.67.prQuotiens idem sermo duas sententias exprimit, ea potissimum excipiatur, quae rei gerendae aptior est.
[THE SAME, in the eighty-seventh book of the Digests.] Whenever the same language expresses two meanings, that one should by preference be accepted which is better adapted to the transaction of the business.

Notes

  1. 50.17.67.prrei gerendae — The dative of the gerundive construction res gerenda ('the business to be transacted'), serving as the complement of the comparative adjective aptior ('more suitable') to indicate the object of adaptation.
  2. 50.17.67.prexcipiatur — The third-person singular present passive subjunctive of excipere, expressing a jussive or hortatory obligation. Its subject is the demonstrative pronoun ea, which refers back to the feminine noun sententia.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.67.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.67.pr

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