---
title: Daniel 6:16 (JPS 1917) — Then these men came tumultuously unto the king, and said unto the ki… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then these men came tumultuously unto the king, and said unto the king: 'Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no interdict nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.' Who acts: men, it, king. Daniel 6:16 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics o
---

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# Daniel 6:16 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Then these men came tumultuously unto the king, and said unto the king: 'Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no interdict nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.'

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** men, it, king · **What happens:** come, say, know, be, establish, change · **To what, where:** law, interdict · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Daniel 6:16 · 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 (men, it, king), 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:192
# text = Then these men came tumultuously unto the king, and said unto the king: 'Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no interdict nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.'
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
3	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	tumultuously	tumultuously	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
12	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
16	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	17	punct	_	_
17	Know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	ccomp	_	_
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
19	O	o	INTJ	UH	_	20	discourse	_	_
20	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	vocative	_	_
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
22	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	26	mark	_	_
23	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
24	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	26	cop	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	ccomp	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	Medes	Mede	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	26	nmod	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
31	Persians	Persian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	29	conj	_	_
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	44	punct	_	_
33	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	44	mark	_	_
34	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	35	det	_	_
35	interdict	interdict	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	nsubj:pass	_	_
36	nor	nor	CCONJ	CC	Polarity=Neg	37	cc	_	_
37	statute	statute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	conj	_	_
38	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	41	obj	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nsubj	_	_
41	establisheth	establish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	35	acl:relcl	_	_
42	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	44	aux	_	_
43	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	44	aux:pass	_	_
44	changed	change	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	26	ccomp	_	_
45	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
46	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: changed form=decl, act=assert, hedge=0, polarity=none

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | this men |  |  |  | then | unto the king; tumultuously *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | this men *not said here* |  |  |  |  | unto the king | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **know** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | king *vocative* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **is a** | present | it | a law |  |  |  | of the Medes and Persians | tree rules |
| 5 | **establish** | present | the king | no interdict nor statute |  |  |  |  | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent which=Patient |
| 6 | **change** | may · passive |  | no interdict nor statute |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
בֵּאדַ֙יִן֙ גֻּבְרַיָּ֣א אִלֵּ֔ךְ הַרְגִּ֖שׁוּ עַל־מַלְכָּ֑א וְאָמְרִ֣ין לְמַלְכָּ֗א דַּ֤ע מַלְכָּא֙ דִּֽי־דָת֙ לְמָדַ֣י וּפָרַ֔ס דִּֽי־כָל־אֱסָ֥ר וּקְיָ֛ם דִּֽי־מַלְכָּ֥א יְהָקֵ֖ים לָ֥א לְהַשְׁנָיָֽה׃

[Daniel 6:16: the Aramaic tree, its pragmatics →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/DAN.6.16/)

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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:192` 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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