---
title: Ecclesiastes 11:5 (JPS 1917) — As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones d… · tree and pragmatics
description: As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all things. Who acts: thou, bones, womb, God. Ecclesiastes 11:5 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause
---

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# Ecclesiastes 11:5 · JPS 1917

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As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all things.

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**Who acts:** thou, bones, womb, God · **What happens:** not know, be, grow, do, work · **To what, where:** way, womb, work, things · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is Ecclesiastes 11:5 · 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 (thou, bones, womb, 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:212
# text = As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all things.
1	As	as	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	3	nsubj	_	_
3	knowest	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	32	advcl	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
5	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	nor	nor	CCONJ	CC	Polarity=Neg	18	cc	_	_
14	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj	_	_
17	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	womb	womb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
22	of	of	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nmod	_	_
24	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	27	nsubj	_	_
25	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	27	cop	_	_
26	with	with	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	acl:relcl	_	_
28	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	32	punct	_	_
29	even	even	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	_
30	so	so	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
31	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	32	nsubj	_	_
32	knowest	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
33	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	32	advmod	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obj	_	_
36	of	of	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
37	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	35	nmod	_	_
38	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	39	nsubj	_	_
39	doeth	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	37	acl:relcl	_	_
40	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	41	det	_	_
41	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	39	obj	_	_
42	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	32	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: narrator
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **know** | present | thou |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is a** | present |  | the way |  |  |  | of the wind | tree rules |
| 3 | **grow** | present · do-support | the bones |  |  | the womb of her |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in womb=Location |
| 4 | **is** | present | the womb of her |  |  |  |  | with child | tree rules |
| 5 | **not** **know** | present | thou | the work of God |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer work=Stimulus |
| 6 | **do** | present | God | all things |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Eventuality |
| 7 | **work** |  | God |  |  |  |  |  | nom work «act intransitive»: of=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 -->
כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר אֵֽינְךָ֤ יוֹדֵ֙עַ֙ מַה־דֶּ֣רֶךְ הָר֔וּחַ כַּעֲצָמִ֖ים בְּבֶ֣טֶן הַמְּלֵאָ֑ה כָּ֗כָה לֹ֤א תֵדַע֙ אֶת־מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה אֶת־הַכֹּֽל׃

[Ecclesiastes 11:5: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.11.5/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:ECC:212` 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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