---
title: Ecclesiastes 2:17 (JPS 1917) — So I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun was… · tree and pragmatics
description: So I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind. Who acts: I, work, all. Ecclesiastes 2:17 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Ecclesiastes 2:17 · JPS 1917

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So I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

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**Who acts:** I, work, all · **What happens:** hate, work, be · **To what, where:** life, work, sun, vanity

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This is Ecclesiastes 2:17 · 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, work, all), 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:36
# text = So I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	hated	hate	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	16	punct	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	wrought	work	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl:relcl	_	_
12	under	under	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
16	grievous	grievous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
17	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	obl	_	_
19	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	23	punct	_	_
20	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
21	all	all	PRON	DT	PronType=Tot	23	nsubj	_	_
22	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	cop	_	_
23	vanity	vanity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	advcl	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	striving	strive	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	conj	_	_
27	after	after	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	_
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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- form: statement
- act: narrate
- voice: narrator
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hate** | past | I | life |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer life=Stimulus |
| 2 | **work** | present · passive |  | the work |  | the sun |  |  | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material»: subject=Material |
| 3 | **is** | past | the work |  |  |  |  | unto me; grievous *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **is a** | present | all | vanity and a striving after wind |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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וְשָׂנֵ֙אתִי֙ אֶת־הַ֣חַיִּ֔ים כִּ֣י רַ֤ע עָלַי֙ הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ כִּֽי־הַכֹּ֥ל הֶ֖בֶל וּרְע֥וּת רֽוּחַ׃

[Ecclesiastes 2:17: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.2.17/)

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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:36` 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 2:16 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.35/)
- next →: [Ecclesiastes 2:18 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.37/)
- ↑ back to [Ecclesiastes 2:17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.2.17/)