--- title: Ecclesiastes 9:16 — Then said I: 'Wisdom is better than strength; nevertheless the poor… · Hebrew, tree and pragmatics description: Then said I: 'Wisdom is better than strength; nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.' Who acts: I, Wisdom, man. Ecclesiastes 9:16 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.9.16/) [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 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC/9/) / 9:16 # Ecclesiastes 9:16 קֹהֶלֶת **Who acts:** I, Wisdom, man · **What happens:** say, be, despise, not hear, word · **To what, where:** wisdom, words · **Speech:** someone speaks in this verse This is Ecclesiastes 9:16 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, Wisdom, man — and what happens in the verse to wisdom, words, 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. וְאָמַ֣רְתִּי אָ֔נִי טוֹבָ֥ה חָכְמָ֖ה מִגְּבוּרָ֑ה וְחָכְמַ֤ת הַמִּסְכֵּן֙ בְּזוּיָ֔ה וּדְבָרָ֖יו אֵינָ֥ם נִשְׁמָעִֽים׃ [Then said I: 'Wisdom is better than strength; nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.'](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.185/) ## 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:175 # text = וְאָמַ֣רְתִּי אָ֔נִי טוֹבָ֥ה חָכְמָ֖ה מִגְּבוּרָ֑ה וְחָכְמַ֤ת הַמִּסְכֵּן֙ בְּזוּיָ֔ה וּדְבָרָ֖יו אֵינָ֥ם נִשְׁמָעִֽים׃ # verse = ECC.9.16 1-2 וְאָמַ֣רְתִּי _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 וְ וְ CCONJ _ _ 2 cc _ Gloss=and|Ref=ECC_9:16!1|MId=o210090160011|Strong=2050b 2 אָמַ֣רְתִּי אָמַר VERB _ Gender=Com|HebBinyan=QAL|Number=Sing|Person=1 0 root _ Gloss=I.said|Ref=ECC_9:16!1|MId=o210090160012|Strong=0559|Frame=A0:210090160021;|Type=qatal 3 אָ֔נִי אֲנִי PRON _ Gender=Com|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ Gloss=I|Ref=ECC_9:16!2|MId=o210090160021|Strong=0589|Type=personal 4 טוֹבָ֥ה טוֹב ADJ _ Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 2 ccomp _ Gloss=[is].good|Ref=ECC_9:16!3|MId=o210090160031|Strong=2896|Type=adjective 5 חָכְמָ֖ה חׇכְמָה NOUN _ Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ Gloss=wisdom|Ref=ECC_9:16!4|MId=o210090160041|Strong=2451 6-7 מִגְּבוּרָ֑ה _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 6 מִ מִן ADP _ _ 7 case _ Gloss=more|Ref=ECC_9:16!5|MId=o210090160051|Strong=4480 7 גְּבוּרָ֑ה גְּבוּרָה NOUN _ Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 4 obl _ Gloss=than.strength|Ref=ECC_9:16!5|MId=o210090160052|Strong=1369 8-9 וְחָכְמַ֤ת _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 8 וְ וְ CCONJ _ _ 12 cc _ Gloss=and|Ref=ECC_9:16!6|MId=o210090160061|Strong=2050b 9 חָכְמַ֤ת חׇכְמָה NOUN _ Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 12 nsubj _ Gloss=the.wisdom|Ref=ECC_9:16!6|MId=o210090160062|Strong=2451 10-11 הַמִּסְכֵּן֙ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 10 הַ הַ DET _ PronType=Art 11 det _ Gloss=of|Ref=ECC_9:16!7|MId=o210090160071|Strong=1886a|Type=definite_article 11 מִּסְכֵּן֙ מִסְכֵּן ADJ _ Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 9 compound:smixut _ Gloss=the.poor.[person]|Ref=ECC_9:16!7|MId=o210090160072|Strong=4542|Type=adjective 12 בְּזוּיָ֔ה בָּזָה VERB _ Gender=Fem|HebBinyan=QAL|Number=Sing 4 conj _ Gloss=[is].despised|Ref=ECC_9:16!8|MId=o210090160081|Strong=0959|Frame=A1:210090160062;|Type=participle_passive 13-15 וּדְבָרָ֖יו _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 13 וּ וְ CCONJ _ _ 18 cc _ Gloss=and|Ref=ECC_9:16!9|MId=o210090160091|Strong=2050b 14 דְבָרָ֖י דָּבָר NOUN _ Gender=Masc|Number=Plur 18 dislocated _ Gloss=words|Ref=ECC_9:16!9|MId=o210090160092|Strong=1697 15 ו הוּא PRON _ Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 nmod:poss _ Gloss=his|Ref=ECC_9:16!9|MId=o210090160093|Strong=2050c|Type=pronominal 16-17 אֵינָ֥ם _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 16 אֵינ אַיִן ADV _ _ 18 advmod _ Gloss=not|Ref=ECC_9:16!10|MId=o210090160101|Strong=0369|Type=negative 17 ָ֥ם הוּא PRON _ Gender=Masc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ Gloss=they|Ref=ECC_9:16!10|MId=o210090160102|Strong=3963a|Type=pronominal 18 נִשְׁמָעִֽים שָׁמַע VERB _ Gender=Masc|HebBinyan=NIPHAL|Number=Plur 4 conj _ Gloss=[are].heard|Ref=ECC_9:16!11|MId=o210090160111|Strong=8085|Frame=A1:210090160102;|Type=participle_passive|SpaceAfter=No 19 ׃ ׃ PUNCT _ _ 18 punct _ Ref=ECC_9:16!11 ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} - form: statement - act: assert - voice: character - speech: a frame and its quote - negation: yes - the frame alone: decl · assert · none | verb | form · stem | who (A0) | what, whom (A1) | to whom, further (A2) | who makes it happen (AA) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | אָמַרְתִּי *I said* | qatal · qal | אָנִי *I* | | | | | בְּזוּיָה *\[is\] despised* | participle passive · qal | | חָכְמַת *the wisdom* | | | | **not** נִשְׁמָעִֽים *\[are\] heard* | participle passive · niphal | | ָם *they* | | | 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} וַאֲמָרִית אֲנָא בְּמֵימְרִי טָבָא חָכְמַת צַדִּיקַיָא מִכֹּחַ גְּבוּרַת רַשִּׁיעַיָא דְּחוּכְמַת צַדִּיקַיָא וּזְכוּתֵיהּ מְשֵׁיזְבָא לֵיהּ וְלֶאֱנָשֵׁי דָּרֵיהּ וּתְקוֹף רַשִּׁיעָא דְּקָאִים בְּתוּקְפֵיה דְּלִבֵּיהּ בְּדִיל דְּלָא לְמֶהֱדַּר בִּתְיוּבְתָּא מְחַבְּלָא לֵיהּ בִּלְחוֹדוֹהִי וְחוּכְמַת צַדִּיקָא עַנְיָא מִזְדַּלְדְלָא בְעֵינֵי רַשִּׁיעֵי דָּרֵיהּ וּבְעִדָּן דְּיוֹכַח יָתְהוֹן עַל עוֹבָדֵיהוֹן בִּישַׁיָּא וּפִתְגָמֵיה אוֹכַחְתֵּיה לֵיתִנּוּן מִתְקַבְּלִין: 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. [Then said I: 'Wisdom is better than strength; nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.'](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.185/) **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:175`. - ← previous: [Ecclesiastes 9:15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.9.15/) - next →: [Ecclesiastes 9:17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.9.17/) - ↑ back to [Ecclesiastes 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC/9/)