---
title: Ecclesiastes 9:12 (JPS 1917) — For man also knoweth not his time; as the fishes that are taken in a… · tree and pragmatics
description: For man also knoweth not his time; as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. Who acts: man, race. Ecclesiastes 9:12 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the p
---

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# Ecclesiastes 9:12 · JPS 1917

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For man also knoweth not his time; as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** man, race · **What happens:** not know, take, catch, snare, fall · **To what, where:** fishes, evil net, birds, snare, sons

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Ecclesiastes 9:12 · 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 (man, race), 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:181
# text = For man also knoweth not his time; as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
1	For	for	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	also	also	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	knoweth	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
9	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	fishes	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	obl	_	_
12	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	acl:relcl	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	evil	evil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	net	net	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
21	as	as	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	obl	_	_
24	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	26	nsubj:pass	_	_
25	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux:pass	_	_
26	caught	catch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	23	acl:relcl	_	_
27	in	in	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	snare	snare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	_
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
31	even	even	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
32	so	so	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
33	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	38	aux:pass	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	nsubj:pass	_	_
36	of	of	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
37	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	35	nmod	_	_
38	snared	snare	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	parataxis	_	_
39	in	in	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
40	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	42	det	_	_
41	evil	evil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	42	amod	_	_
42	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obl	_	_
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
44	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	46	mark	_	_
45	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj	_	_
46	falleth	fall	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	38	advcl	_	_
47	suddenly	suddenly	ADV	RB	_	46	advmod	_	_
48	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
49	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	obl	_	_
50	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: narrator
- polarity: neg
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **know** | present | man |  |  |  | time |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **take** | present · passive |  | the fishes |  | a evil net |  |  | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Value in net=Location |
| 3 | **catch** | present · passive |  | the birds |  | the snare |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 4 | **snare** | present · passive |  | the sons of men |  |  | time | as the fishes; as the birds | vn pocket-9.10 «NP V NP.theme»: subject=Theme |
| 5 | **fall** | present | race |  |  |  |  | upon sons *= son*; suddenly *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon they=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 Hebrew of this verse {#hebrew}

<!-- .vhe dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
כִּ֡י גַּם֩ לֹֽא־יֵדַ֨ע הָאָדָ֜ם אֶת־עִתּ֗וֹ כַּדָּגִים֙ שֶׁנֶּֽאֱחָזִים֙ בִּמְצוֹדָ֣ה רָעָ֔ה וְכַ֨צִּפֳּרִ֔ים הָאֲחֻז֖וֹת בַּפָּ֑ח כָּהֵ֗ם יֽוּקָשִׁים֙ בְּנֵ֣י הָֽאָדָ֔ם לְעֵ֣ת רָעָ֔ה כְּשֶׁתִּפּ֥וֹל עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם פִּתְאֹֽם׃

[Ecclesiastes 9:12: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.9.12/)

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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:181` 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 9:11 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.180/)
- next →: [Ecclesiastes 9:13 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.182/)
- ↑ back to [Ecclesiastes 9:12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.9.12/)