--- title: Ecclesiastes 4:12 — And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand… · Hebrew, tree and pragmatics description: And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Who acts: man, two. Ecclesiastes 4:12 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.4.12/) [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 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC/4/) / 4:12 # Ecclesiastes 4:12 קֹהֶלֶת **Who acts:** man, two · **What happens:** prevail, be, withstand, not break · **To what, where:** man, threefold cord This is Ecclesiastes 4:12 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 — man, two — and what happens in the verse to man, threefold cord, 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. וְאִֽם־יִתְקְפוֹ֙ הָאֶחָ֔ד הַשְּׁנַ֖יִם יַעַמְד֣וּ נֶגְדּ֑וֹ וְהַחוּט֙ הַֽמְשֻׁלָּ֔שׁ לֹ֥א בִמְהֵרָ֖ה יִנָּתֵֽק׃ [And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.85/) ## 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:77 # text = וְאִֽם־יִתְקְפוֹ֙ הָאֶחָ֔ד הַשְּׁנַ֖יִם יַעַמְד֣וּ נֶגְדּ֑וֹ וְהַחוּט֙ הַֽמְשֻׁלָּ֔שׁ לֹ֥א בִמְהֵרָ֖ה יִנָּתֵֽק׃ # verse = ECC.4.12 1-2 וְאִֽם־ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 וְ וְ CCONJ _ _ 9 cc _ Gloss=and|Ref=ECC_4:12!1|MId=o210040120011|Strong=2050b 2 אִֽם־ אִם SCONJ _ _ 3 mark _ Gloss=though|Ref=ECC_4:12!1|MId=o210040120012|Strong=0518 3-4 יִתְקְפוֹ֙ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3 יִתְקְפ תָּקֵף VERB _ Gender=Masc|HebBinyan=QAL|Number=Sing|Person=3 9 advcl _ Gloss=someone|Ref=ECC_4:12!2|MId=o210040120021|Strong=8630|Frame=A1:210040120022;A0:210040120032;|Type=yiqtol 4 וֹ֙ הוּא PRON _ Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 obj _ Gloss=will.overpower.him|Ref=ECC_4:12!2|MId=o210040120022|Strong=2050c|Type=pronominal 5-6 הָאֶחָ֔ד _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 5 הָ הַ DET _ PronType=Art 6 det _ Gloss=the.one|Ref=ECC_4:12!3|MId=o210040120031|Strong=1886a|Type=definite_article 6 אֶחָ֔ד אֶחָד NUM _ Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ Gloss=[person]|Ref=ECC_4:12!3|MId=o210040120032|Strong=0259|Type=cardinal_number 7-8 הַשְּׁנַ֖יִם _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 7 הַ הַ DET _ PronType=Art 8 det _ Gloss=the.two|Ref=ECC_4:12!4|MId=o210040120041|Strong=1886a|Type=definite_article 8 שְּׁנַ֖יִם שְׁנַיִם NUM _ Gender=Masc|Number=Dual 9 nsubj _ Gloss=[people]|Ref=ECC_4:12!4|MId=o210040120042|Strong=8147|Type=cardinal_number 9 יַעַמְד֣וּ עָמַד VERB _ Gender=Masc|HebBinyan=QAL|Number=Plur|Person=3 0 root _ Gloss=they.will.stand|Ref=ECC_4:12!5|MId=o210040120051|Strong=5975|Frame=A0:210040120042;|Type=yiqtol 10-11 נֶגְדּ֑וֹ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 10 נֶגְדּ נֶגֶד NOUN _ _ 9 obl _ Gloss=before|Ref=ECC_4:12!6|MId=o210040120061|Strong=5048 11 ֑וֹ הוּא PRON _ Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 10 nmod:poss _ Gloss=him|Ref=ECC_4:12!6|MId=o210040120062|Strong=2050c|Type=pronominal 12-14 וְהַחוּט֙ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 12 וְ וְ CCONJ _ _ 20 cc _ Gloss=and|Ref=ECC_4:12!7|MId=o210040120071|Strong=2050b 13 הַ הַ DET _ PronType=Art 14 det _ Gloss=the|Ref=ECC_4:12!7|MId=o210040120072|Strong=1886a|Type=definite_article 14 חוּט֙ חוּט NOUN _ Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 20 nsubj _ Gloss=thread|Ref=ECC_4:12!7|MId=o210040120073|Strong=2339 15-16 הַֽמְשֻׁלָּ֔שׁ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 15 הַֽ הַ SCONJ _ _ 16 mark _ Gloss=(the)|Ref=ECC_4:12!8|MId=o210040120081|Strong=1886a|Type=definite_article 16 מְשֻׁלָּ֔שׁ שָׁלַשׁ VERB _ Gender=Masc|HebBinyan=PUAL|Number=Sing 14 acl:relcl _ Gloss=threefold|Ref=ECC_4:12!8|MId=o210040120082|Strong=8027|Frame=A1:210040120073;|Type=participle_passive 17 לֹ֥א לֹא ADV _ _ 20 advmod _ Gloss=not|Ref=ECC_4:12!9|MId=o210040120091|Strong=3808|Type=negative 18-19 בִמְהֵרָ֖ה _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 18 בִ בְּ ADP _ _ 19 case _ Gloss=(in)|Ref=ECC_4:12!10|MId=o210040120101|Strong=0871a 19 מְהֵרָ֖ה מְהֵרָה ADV _ Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 20 obl _ Gloss=quickly|Ref=ECC_4:12!10|MId=o210040120102|Strong=4120 20 יִנָּתֵֽק נָתַק VERB _ Gender=Masc|HebBinyan=NIPHAL|Number=Sing|Person=3 9 conj _ Gloss=it.will.be.torn.apart|Ref=ECC_4:12!11|MId=o210040120111|Strong=5423|Frame=A1:210040120073;|Type=yiqtol|SpaceAfter=No 21 ׃ ׃ PUNCT _ _ 20 punct _ Ref=ECC_4:12!11 ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} - form: statement - act: assert - voice: character - speech: inside a quote begun earlier - negation: yes | verb | form · stem | who (A0) | what, whom (A1) | to whom, further (A2) | who makes it happen (AA) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | יִתְקְפ *someone* | yiqtol · qal | אֶחָד *\[person\]* | וֹ *will overpower him* | | | | יַעַמְדוּ *they will stand* | yiqtol · qal | שְּׁנַיִם *\[people\]* | | | | | מְשֻׁלָּשׁ *threefold* | participle passive · pual | | חוּט *thread* | | | | **not** יִנָּתֵֽק *it will be torn apart* | yiqtol · niphal | | חוּט *thread* | | | 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} וְאִין יְקוּם גְּבַר רַשִּׁיעָא וּתְקִּיפָא בְּדָרָא וְעוֹבָדוֹהִי מְקַלְקְלִין וּמִסְתַּקְפִין לְאַיְתָאָה פּוּרְעָנוּתָא בְּעָלְמָא קָיְמִין תְּרֵין צַדִּיקַיָּא לְקִבְלֵיהּ וּמְבַטְּלִין פּוּרְעָנוּתָא בִּזְכוּתֵיהוֹן וְכַמָּה יַאֲוָון תְּלָתָא צַדִּיקַיָּא דְּאִנּוּן בְּדָרָא וּשְׁלָם בֵּינֵיהוֹן כְּתִיבָא דִמְגַּדְלָא תְּלָת תְּלָת נִימִין דְּלָא בִּבְהִילוּ אִתְנְתָק: 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. [And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.85/) **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:77`. - ← previous: [Ecclesiastes 4:11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.4.11/) - next →: [Ecclesiastes 4:13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.4.13/) - ↑ back to [Ecclesiastes 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC/4/)