---
title: Ecclesiastes 8:15 (JPS 1917) — So I commended mirth, that a man hath no better thing under the sun,… · tree and pragmatics
description: So I commended mirth, that a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry, and that this should accompany him in his labour all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun. Who acts: I, man, this, God. Ecclesiastes 8:15 in JPS 1917 with its depen
---

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# Ecclesiastes 8:15 · JPS 1917

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So I commended mirth, that a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry, and that this should accompany him in his labour all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.

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**Who acts:** I, man, this, God · **What happens:** commend, have, eat, drink, be, accompany · **To what, where:** mirth, better thing, sun, man, labour, days

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This is Ecclesiastes 8:15 · 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 (I, man, this, God), 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:ECC:167
# text = So I commended mirth, that a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry, and that this should accompany him in his labour all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	commended	commend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	mirth	mirth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	hath	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
10	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	12	det	_	_
11	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	12	amod	_	_
12	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
13	under	under	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	drink	drink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	conj	_	_
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
26	to	to	PART	TO	_	28	mark	_	_
27	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	cop	_	_
28	merry	merry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	conj	_	_
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
31	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
32	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	34	nsubj	_	_
33	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
34	accompany	accompany	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
35	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	obj	_	_
36	in	in	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	38	nmod:poss	_	_
38	labour	labour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
39	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	41	det:predet	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	34	obl:unmarked	_	_
42	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	44	nmod:poss	_	_
44	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nmod	_	_
45	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	48	obj	_	_
46	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	48	nsubj	_	_
47	hath	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	48	aux	_	_
48	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	41	acl:relcl	_	_
49	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	48	iobj	_	_
50	under	under	ADP	IN	_	52	case	_	_
51	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	52	det	_	_
52	sun.	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	obl	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **commend** | past | I | mirth |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | present | a man | no better thing |  | the sun |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Patient |
| 3 | **eat** | to-infinitive | a man *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **drink** | to-infinitive | a man *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **is** | to-infinitive | a man *not said here* |  |  |  |  | merry *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **accompany** | should | this | man |  | man's labour | day |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme in labour=Destination |
| 7 | **give** | present · perfect | God | all days of man's life | man | the sun. |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient which=Theme |

<!-- .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}

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וְשִׁבַּ֤חְתִּֽי אֲנִי֙ אֶת־הַשִּׂמְחָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אֵֽין־ט֤וֹב לָֽאָדָם֙ תַּ֣חַת הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ כִּ֛י אִם־לֶאֱכ֥וֹל וְלִשְׁתּ֖וֹת וְלִשְׂמ֑וֹחַ וְה֞וּא יִלְוֶ֣נּוּ בַעֲמָל֗וֹ יְמֵ֥י חַיָּ֛יו אֲשֶׁר־נָֽתַן־ל֥וֹ הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃

[Ecclesiastes 8:15: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.8.15/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:ECC:167` 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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- ← previous: [Ecclesiastes 8:14 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.166/)
- next →: [Ecclesiastes 8:16 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.168/)
- ↑ back to [Ecclesiastes 8:15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.8.15/)