---
title: 1 Chronicles 21:12 (JPS 1917) — either three years of famine; or three months to be swept away befor… · tree and pragmatics
description: either three years of famine; or three months to be swept away before thy foes, while the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Who acts: sword, angel. 
---

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# 1 Chronicles 21:12 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 of 2

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
either three years of famine; or three months to be swept away before thy foes, while the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the borders of Israel.

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**Who acts:** sword, angel · **What happens:** sweep away, overtake, destroy · **To what, where:** foes, thee

<!-- .vabout -->
This is 1 Chronicles 21:12 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 of 2 in the English of the Jewish Publication Society's 1917 translation, from Mova's open Bible corpus. The page gives the sentence's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, parsed by Mova and checked by a teacher model — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sword, angel), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it. The original of the verse links back to its own tree and to the Targum.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = jps:1CH:763
# text = either three years of famine; or three months to be swept away before thy foes, while the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the borders of Israel.
1	either	either	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc:preconj	_	_
2	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	famine	famine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	swept	sweep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	_
13	away	away	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
14	before	before	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	foes	foe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
18	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	thine	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	enemies	enemy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nmod	_	_
24	overtaketh	overtake	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	advcl	_	_
25	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	24	obj	_	_
26	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	32	punct	_	_
27	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
28	else	else	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	_
29	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	30	nummod	_	_
30	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	obl:unmarked	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	LORD	LORD	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	32	nmod	_	_
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
37	even	even	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
38	pestilence	pestilence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	conj	_	_
39	in	in	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nmod	_	_
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
43	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	45	cc	_	_
44	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
45	angel	angel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	conj	_	_
46	of	of	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
47	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	48	det	_	_
48	LORD	LORD	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	45	nmod	_	_
49	destroying	destroy	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	45	acl	_	_
50	throughout	throughout	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
51	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	53	det:predet	_	_
52	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	borders	border	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	49	obl	_	_
54	of	of	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
55	Israel	Israel	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	53	nmod	_	_
56	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: narrate
- voice: narrator
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sweep away** | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  | thy foes |  | away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: before foe=Trajectory |
| 2 | **overtake** | present | the sword of thine enemies | thee |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **destroy** | gerund | the angel of the LORD *not said here* |  |  |  | throughout all borders of Israel |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The Hebrew of this verse {#hebrew}

<!-- .vhe dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
אִם־שָׁל֨וֹשׁ שָׁנִ֜ים רָעָ֗ב וְאִם־שְׁלֹשָׁ֨ה חֳדָשִׁ֜ים נִסְפֶּ֥ה מִפְּנֵי־צָרֶיךָ֮ וְחֶ֣רֶב אוֹיְבֶ֣ךָ ׀ לְמַשֶּׂגֶת֒ וְאִם־שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָ֠מִים חֶ֣רֶב יְהוָ֤ה וְדֶ֙בֶר֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ וּמַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֔ה מַשְׁחִ֖ית בְּכָל־גְּב֣וּל יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְעַתָּ֣ה רְאֵ֔ה מָֽה־אָשִׁ֥יב אֶת־שֹׁלְחִ֖י דָּבָֽר׃פ

[1 Chronicles 21:12: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/1CH.21.12/)

<!-- .note -->
This verse in JPS 1917:

<!-- .ens -->
1. **either three years of famine; or three months to be swept away before thy foes, while the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the borders of Israel.**
2. [Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to Him that sent me.'](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/1CH.764/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:1CH:763` of Mova's parse database.

**The tree and the speech act** come from Mova's cycle: the small model's draft, read by a large model as teacher, passed by Mova's gates (Elamur Cosmic License). **The frames** are read from the tree by Mova's frames reader (`prag`) when this page is built, the chapter read in order, so a pronoun may be resolved from an earlier sentence of the chapter.

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<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [1 Chronicles 21:11 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/1CH.762/)
- next →: [1 Chronicles 21:12 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/1CH.764/)
- ↑ back to [1 Chronicles 21:12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/1CH.21.12/)