---
title: Daniel 4:20 (JPS 1917) — And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from h… · tree and pragmatics
description: And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven, and saying: Hew down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even in a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and 
---

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# Daniel 4:20 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven, and saying: Hew down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even in a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him —

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** king, holy one, heaven, portion, seven times · **What happens:** see, come down, say, hew down, destroy, leave · **To what, where:** watcher, heaven, tree, stump, earth, portion · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is Daniel 4:20 · 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 (king, holy one, heaven, portion), 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:DAN:129
# text = And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven, and saying: Hew down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even in a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him —
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	watcher	watcher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	holy	holy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
12	coming	come	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	acl	_	_
13	down	down	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
14	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	heaven	heaven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	saying	say	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	conj	_	_
19	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	20	punct	_	_
20	Hew	Hew	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	18	ccomp	_	_
21	down	down	ADP	RP	_	20	compound:prt	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
26	destroy	destroy	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	20	conj	_	_
27	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	obj	_	_
28	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
29	nevertheless	nevertheless	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	_
30	leave	leave	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	20	parataxis	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	stump	stump	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obj	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	nmod	_	_
36	thereof	thereof	ADV	RB	_	35	advmod	_	_
37	in	in	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
40	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	44	punct	_	_
41	even	even	ADV	RB	_	44	advmod	_	_
42	in	in	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	band	band	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
45	of	of	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
46	iron	iron	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	nmod	_	_
47	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
48	brass	brass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	conj	_	_
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
50	in	in	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
51	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
52	tender	tender	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	53	amod	_	_
53	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
54	of	of	ADP	IN	_	56	case	_	_
55	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	56	det	_	_
56	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	53	nmod	_	_
57	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	59	punct	_	_
58	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	59	cc	_	_
59	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	20	conj	_	_
60	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	59	obj	_	_
61	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	62	cop	_	_
62	wet	wet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	xcomp	_	_
63	with	with	ADP	IN	_	65	case	_	_
64	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	65	det	_	_
65	dew	dew	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	62	obl	_	_
66	of	of	ADP	IN	_	67	case	_	_
67	heaven	heaven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	65	nmod	_	_
68	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	70	punct	_	_
69	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	70	cc	_	_
70	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	59	conj	_	_
71	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	72	nmod:poss	_	_
72	portion	portion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	70	obj	_	_
73	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	76	cop	_	_
74	with	with	ADP	IN	_	76	case	_	_
75	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	76	det	_	_
76	beasts	beast	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	70	xcomp	_	_
77	of	of	ADP	IN	_	79	case	_	_
78	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	79	det	_	_
79	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	76	nmod	_	_
80	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	84	punct	_	_
81	till	till	SCONJ	IN	_	84	mark	_	_
82	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	83	nummod	_	_
83	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	84	nsubj	_	_
84	pass	pass	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	70	advcl	_	_
85	over	over	ADP	IN	_	86	case	_	_
86	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	84	obl	_	_
87	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	5	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 | **see** | past | the king | a watcher and a holy one |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer watcher=Stimulus |
| 2 | **come down** | gerund | a holy one *not said here* |  |  | heaven |  | down *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from heaven=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | a holy one *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **hew down** | infinitive |  | the tree |  |  |  |  | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tree=Patient |
| 5 | **destroy** | infinitive |  | heaven |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 6 | **leave** | infinitive |  | the stump of the roots |  | the earth |  | in a band of iron and brass; in the tender grass of the field; nevertheless *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent stump=Theme in earth=Location |
| 7 | **let** | infinitive |  | heaven |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 8 | **is** | infinitive | heaven *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with the dew of heaven; wet *property* | tree rules |
| 9 | **let** | infinitive |  | king's portion |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent portion=Theme |
| 10 | **is** | infinitive | king's portion *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with the beasts; of the field | tree rules |
| 11 | **pass** | present | seven times |  |  |  |  | over king | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme over he=Location |

<!-- .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 Aramaic of this verse {#hebrew}

<!-- .vhe dir=rtl lang=arc -->
וְדִ֣י חֲזָ֣ה מַלְכָּ֡א עִ֣יר וְקַדִּ֣ישׁ נָחִ֣ת ׀ מִן־שְׁמַיָּ֡א וְאָמַר֩ גֹּ֨דּוּ אִֽילָנָ֜א וְחַבְּל֗וּהִי בְּרַ֨ם עִקַּ֤ר שָׁרְשׁ֙וֹהִי֙ בְּאַרְעָ֣א שְׁבֻ֔קוּ וּבֶאֱסוּר֙ דִּֽי־פַרְזֶ֣ל וּנְחָ֔שׁ בְּדִתְאָ֖א דִּ֣י בָרָ֑א וּבְטַ֧ל שְׁמַיָּ֣א יִצְטַבַּ֗ע וְעִם־חֵיוַ֤ת בָּרָא֙ חֲלָקֵ֔הּ עַ֛ד דִּֽי־שִׁבְעָ֥ה עִדָּנִ֖ין יַחְלְפ֥וּן עֲלֽוֹהִי׃

[Daniel 4:20: the Aramaic tree, its pragmatics →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/DAN.4.20/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:DAN:129` 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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