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Could really use some help translating this in general, and the bolded parts in particular (not the meaning of the words so much as their function and placement in the sentence). It is supposed to be a paraphrase of Matthew 11:12. It is difficult to make out exactly how it should be translated.

Quasi dicat: Illi omnes Evangelium fide recipiunt, & quidem tanta aviditate, ut aliis religionis amore ac studio caeteroquin ardentibus in populo, ipsisque, prout videtur, multo melioribus & regno coelorum dignioribus, quasi per vim submotis, locum poene non faciant, adeoque primi, ante alios omnes cunctantes atque haerentes, fidei suae promtitudine, aditus omnes occupent, & sic in regnum tanquam in locum sibi occlusum atque obseratum, irrumpant. Breviter, ut primi credant & participes fiant bonorum, quae in regno isto obtinentur, cum ad eos nullo fere modo pertinere videantur.

Here's what I got:

They all receive the Gospel by faith and indeed with such avidity, that to other men among the people who are otherwise burning with a love and zeal for religion, and to those, as it seems, much better and more worthy of the kingdom of heaven, as if driven off by strength, do not almost make a place, and so the first, before all others hesitating and clinging, by the promptitude of their faith, overtake all the entrances and so invade the kingdom as a place shut up and bolted for themselves. Briefly, so that the first believe and are made partakers of the blessings which are obtained in that kingdom, although they almost seem in no way to belong to them.

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The phrase locum facere means 'to clear a path (for)' or 'to leave room (for).' The subject of faciant is the illi omnes from the first clause. I'm interpreting poene as equivalent to paene. (This could be either an alternative, post-classical spelling for paene that doesn't appear in my dictionaries, or merely a mistranscription of an ae ligature [æ] as an oe ligature [œ].): 'They all receive the Gospel with faith and with such great eagerness that they practically leave no room....'

Aliis...ardentibus is dative and supplies the indirect object for locum faciant: ...they leave room for others [who are] burning....'

From ipsisque through submotis supplies another indirect object for locum faciant, and the identity of this group is defined by multo...dignioribus: '...and for those very people [who are], as it seems, much better and more worthy of the kingdom of Heaven [but who have been] moved out of the way as though by force.' I suppose it could also be an ablative absolute.

So I would interpret the whole first part of the passage (through faciant) as follows:

They all receive the Gospel with faith and with such great eagerness, that they practically leave no room for others among the population [who are], in all other respects, burning with a love and zeal for religion, and for those very people [who are], as it seems, much better and more worthy of the kingdom of Heaven [but who have been] moved out of the way as though by force.'

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  • This is how I read it, too. *dat + locum facere" is a common enough idiom.
    – cmw ♦
    Jan 24, 2021 at 20:58
  • This was so helpful thank you so much!
    – MichaelJYoo
    Jan 25, 2021 at 5:42
  • @MichaelJYoo If you feel that this answers your question to your satisfaction (and correctly as evidenced by the upvotes), don't forget to mark it "correct."
    – cmw ♦
    Jan 28, 2021 at 1:27
  • Do I do that by clicking the checkmark?
    – MichaelJYoo
    Jan 29, 2021 at 8:07

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