--- title: Ecclesiastes 3:12 — I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and t… · Hebrew, tree and pragmatics description: I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to get pleasure so long as they live. Who acts: I, men. Ecclesiastes 3:12 in Hebrew with its dependency tree, the Targum, JPS 1917 and the pragmatics of every clause. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.3.12/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tanakh/) / [Ketuvim](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/) / [Ecclesiastes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC/) / [chapter 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC/3/) / 3:12 # Ecclesiastes 3:12 קֹהֶלֶת **Who acts:** I, men · **What happens:** know, rejoice, get, live · **To what, where:** pleasure This is Ecclesiastes 3:12 from Mova's open Bible corpus, the Tanakh in three languages (Ketuvim — the Writings). The page gives the verse in Hebrew as the Westminster Leningrad Codex has it, its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, built from MACULA Hebrew — and its pragmatics: who acts — I, men — and what happens in the verse to pleasure, read clause by clause by Mova's frames. Beside it stand the Aramaic of the Targum and the English of the Jewish Publication Society's 1917 translation, each English sentence with a tree of its own. It is one of the 12 chapters of Ecclesiastes on this site, all built by Mova itself from its own trees, with no large model in between. יָדַ֕עְתִּי כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין ט֖וֹב בָּ֑ם כִּ֣י אִם־לִשְׂמ֔וֹחַ וְלַעֲשׂ֥וֹת ט֖וֹב בְּחַיָּֽיו׃ [I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to get pleasure so long as they live.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.62/) ## The tree {#tree} Right to left, as the Hebrew is read; a prefix or suffix is a word of its own, and a line under the words joins those written as one. Under each word its part of speech and MACULA's English gloss. ```conllu rtl gloss # sent_id = wlc:ECC:55 # text = יָדַ֕עְתִּי כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין ט֖וֹב בָּ֑ם כִּ֣י אִם־לִשְׂמ֔וֹחַ וְלַעֲשׂ֥וֹת ט֖וֹב בְּחַיָּֽיו׃ # verse = ECC.3.12 1 יָדַ֕עְתִּי יָדַע VERB _ Gender=Com|HebBinyan=QAL|Number=Sing|Person=1 0 root _ Gloss=I.know|Ref=ECC_3:12!1|MId=o210030120011|Strong=3045|Frame=A0:210010120021;A1:210030120031;210030120082;210030120093;|Type=qatal 2 כִּ֛י כִּי SCONJ _ _ 3 mark _ Gloss=(dm).that|Ref=ECC_3:12!2|MId=o210030120021|Strong=3588 3 אֵ֥ין אַיִן ADV _ _ 1 ccomp _ Gloss=there.[is].not|Ref=ECC_3:12!3|MId=o210030120031|Strong=0369|Type=negative 4 ט֖וֹב טוֹב ADJ _ Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ Gloss=good|Ref=ECC_3:12!4|MId=o210030120041|Strong=2896|Type=adjective 5-6 בָּ֑ם _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 5 בּ בְּ ADP _ _ 6 case _ Gloss=for|Ref=ECC_3:12!5|MId=o210030120051|Strong=0871a 6 ָ֑ם הוּא PRON _ Gender=Masc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 obl _ Gloss=them|Ref=ECC_3:12!5|MId=o210030120052|Strong=3963a|Type=pronominal 7 כִּ֣י כִּי SCONJ _ ExtPos=SCONJ 10 mark _ Gloss=(dm)|Ref=ECC_3:12!6|MId=o210030120061|Strong=3588 8 אִם־ אִם SCONJ _ _ 7 fixed _ Gloss=(if)|Ref=ECC_3:12!7|MId=o210030120071|Strong=0518|SpaceAfter=No 9-10 לִשְׂמ֔וֹחַ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 9 לִ לְ ADP _ _ 10 case _ Gloss=to|Ref=ECC_3:12!8|MId=o210030120081|Strong=3807a 10 שְׂמ֔וֹחַ שָׂמַח VERB _ HebBinyan=QAL 3 parataxis _ Gloss=rejoice|Ref=ECC_3:12!8|MId=o210030120082|Strong=8055|Frame=A0:210030110152;|Type=infinitive_construct 11-13 וְלַעֲשׂ֥וֹת _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 11 וְ וְ CCONJ _ _ 13 cc _ Gloss=and|Ref=ECC_3:12!9|MId=o210030120091|Strong=2050b 12 לַ לְ ADP _ _ 13 case _ Gloss=to|Ref=ECC_3:12!9|MId=o210030120092|Strong=3807a 13 עֲשׂ֥וֹת עָשָׂה VERB _ HebBinyan=QAL 10 conj _ Gloss=do|Ref=ECC_3:12!9|MId=o210030120093|Strong=6213|Frame=A0:210030110152;A1:210030120101;|Type=infinitive_construct 14 ט֖וֹב טוֹב ADJ _ Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 13 obj _ Gloss=good|Ref=ECC_3:12!10|MId=o210030120101|Strong=2896|Type=adjective 15-17 בְּחַיָּֽיו _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 15 בְּ בְּ ADP _ _ 16 case _ Gloss=in|Ref=ECC_3:12!11|MId=o210030120111|Strong=0871a 16 חַיָּֽי חַיִּים NOUN _ Gender=Masc|Number=Plur 13 obl _ Gloss=life|Ref=ECC_3:12!11|MId=o210030120112|Strong=2416 17 ו הוּא PRON _ Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nmod:poss _ Gloss=his|Ref=ECC_3:12!11|MId=o210030120113|Strong=2050c|Type=pronominal 18 ׃ ׃ PUNCT _ _ 17 punct _ Ref=ECC_3:12!11 ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} - form: statement - act: assert - voice: character - speech: speech with no frame - negation: yes | verb | form · stem | who (A0) | what, whom (A1) | to whom, further (A2) | who makes it happen (AA) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **not** יָדַעְתִּי *I know* | qatal · qal | | אֵין *there \[is\] not* + שְׂמוֹחַ *rejoice* + עֲשׂוֹת *do* | | | | שְׂמוֹחַ *rejoice* | infinitive construct · qal | | | | | | עֲשׂוֹת *do* | infinitive construct · qal | | טוֹב *good* | | | MACULA's semantic frames: for each verb the head word of each participant. A0 is the one who acts, A1 what the act is done to or is about, A2 a further participant; AA, with a causative verb, the one who makes it happen. ## The Targum {#onkelos} אָמַר שְׁלֹמֹה מַלְכָּא בְּרוּחַ נְבִיָא יְדָעִית אֲרוּם לֵית טָב בְּהוֹן בִּבְנֵי אֱנָשָׁא אֲרוּם אֲלָהֵין לְמֶחֱדֵּי בְּחֶדְוַת אוֹרָיְתָא וּלְמֶעֱבַד טָב בְּיוֹמֵי חַיּוֹהִי: The Aramaic translation read beside the Hebrew. Text only: Mova has no Aramaic parser yet. ## English, JPS 1917 {#english} Each sentence on its own page, with its tree and pragmatics. A sentence that runs on into the next verse is listed under the verse it begins in. 1. [I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to get pleasure so long as they live.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.62/) **Hebrew text:** Westminster Leningrad Codex, public domain. **Tree, glosses and frames:** MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets, available at [github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew](https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew/), [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); converted to Universal Dependencies by Mova (words in text order, a prefix its own word). **Speech act:** Mova's rules on the MACULA words (`macula prag`). **Targum:** Onkelos (Torat Emet), Jonathan and the Writings (Mikraot Gedolot), from Sefaria, public domain. **English:** JPS 1917, public domain; trees and speech acts by Mova's cycle, frames by Mova's reader (Elamur Cosmic License). Hebrew sentence `wlc:ECC:55`. - ← previous: [Ecclesiastes 3:11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.3.11/) - next →: [Ecclesiastes 3:13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.3.13/) - ↑ back to [Ecclesiastes 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC/3/)