---
title: 2 Chronicles 2:5 (JPS 1917) — But who is able to build Him a house, seeing the heaven and the heav… · tree and pragmatics
description: But who is able to build Him a house, seeing the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? who am I then, that I should build Him a house, save only to offer before Him? Who acts: heaven, I. 2 Chronicles 2:5 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# 2 Chronicles 2:5 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
But who is able to build Him a house, seeing the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? who am I then, that I should build Him a house, save only to offer before Him?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** heaven, I · **What happens:** be, build, see, not contain, offer · **To what, where:** house, God · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is 2 Chronicles 2:5 · JPS 1917 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 (heaven, I), 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:2CH:23
# text = But who is able to build Him a house, seeing the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? who am I then, that I should build Him a house, save only to offer before Him?
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
2	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	build	build	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	Him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	iobj	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	advcl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	heaven	heaven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	heaven	heaven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	conj	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	heavens	heaven	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nmod	_	_
19	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
20	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
21	contain	contain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	ccomp	_	_
22	Him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	obj	_	_
23	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
24	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	parataxis	_	_
25	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
26	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
27	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	24	advmod	_	_
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
29	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
30	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
31	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	32	aux	_	_
32	build	build	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	advcl	_	_
33	Him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	iobj	_	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obj	_	_
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
37	save	save	SCONJ	IN	_	40	mark	_	_
38	only	only	ADV	RB	_	40	advmod	_	_
39	to	to	PART	TO	_	40	mark	_	_
40	offer	offer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	advcl	_	_
41	before	before	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
42	Him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	obl	_	_
43	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	24	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: yes/no question
- act: assert
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- indirect: yes
- teacher: changed act=assert, indirect=1

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **build** | to-infinitive |  | a house | God |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: agent=Asset he=Beneficiary house=Product |
| 3 | **see** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 4 | **not** **contain** | can | the heaven and the heaven of heavens | God |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot he=Theme |
| 5 | **is a** | present | I |  |  |  | then |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **build** | should | I | a house | God |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: agent=Asset he=Beneficiary house=Product |
| 7 | **offer** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  | before God |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: 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 -->
וּמִ֤י יַעֲצָר־כֹּ֙חַ֙ לִבְנֽוֹת־ל֣וֹ בַ֔יִת כִּ֧י הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם וּשְׁמֵ֥י הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם לֹ֣א יְכַלְכְּלֻ֑הוּ וּמִ֤י אֲנִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶבְנֶה־לּ֣וֹ בַ֔יִת כִּ֖י אִם־לְהַקְטִ֥יר לְפָנָֽיו׃

[2 Chronicles 2:5: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/2CH.2.5/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:2CH:23` 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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