---
title: Ecclesiastes 3:19 (JPS 1917) — For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one… · tree and pragmatics
description: For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity. Who acts: that, one thing, one, other. Ecclesiastes 3:19 in JPS 1917 with 
---

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# Ecclesiastes 3:19 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity.

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**Who acts:** that, one thing, one, other, beasts, man · **What happens:** befall, die, have, be · **To what, where:** sons, beasts, one breath, pre-eminence, beast, vanity

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This is Ecclesiastes 3:19 · 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 (that, one thing, one, other), 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:69
# text = For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity.
1	For	for	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
2	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
3	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	befalleth	befall	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	csubj	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
9	befalleth	befall	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	beasts	beast	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
11	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	15	punct	_	_
12	even	even	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
14	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	befalleth	befall	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	parataxis	_	_
16	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
17	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	21	punct	_	_
18	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
21	dieth	die	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	advcl	_	_
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
23	so	so	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
24	dieth	die	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	parataxis	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	nsubj	_	_
27	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	31	punct	_	_
28	yea	yea	INTJ	UH	_	31	discourse	_	_
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
30	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
31	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	parataxis	_	_
32	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	34	det	_	_
33	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	34	nummod	_	_
34	breath	breath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obj	_	_
35	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	39	punct	_	_
36	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	39	mark	_	_
37	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	36	fixed	_	_
38	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	nsubj	_	_
39	hath	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	31	advcl	_	_
40	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	41	det	_	_
41	pre-eminence	pre-eminence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obj	_	_
42	above	above	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	beast	beast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nmod	_	_
45	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	49	punct	_	_
46	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	49	mark	_	_
47	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	49	nsubj	_	_
48	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	49	cop	_	_
49	vanity	vanity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	parataxis	_	_
50	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	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 | **befall** | present | that | the sons of men |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **befall** | present |  | beasts |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **befall** | present | one thing | beasts *= beast* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **die** | present | the one |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 5 | **die** | present | the other |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 6 | **have** | present | beasts *= beast* | all one breath |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent breath=Patient |
| 7 | **have** | present | man | no pre-eminence |  | a beast |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pre-eminence=Patient |
| 8 | **is a** | present | all | vanity |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
כִּי֩ מִקְרֶ֨ה בְֽנֵי־הָאָדָ֜ם וּמִקְרֶ֣ה הַבְּהֵמָ֗ה וּמִקְרֶ֤ה אֶחָד֙ לָהֶ֔ם כְּמ֥וֹת זֶה֙ כֵּ֣ן מ֣וֹת זֶ֔ה וְר֥וּחַ אֶחָ֖ד לַכֹּ֑ל וּמוֹתַ֨ר הָאָדָ֤ם מִן־הַבְּהֵמָה֙ אָ֔יִן כִּ֥י הַכֹּ֖ל הָֽבֶל׃

[Ecclesiastes 3:19: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.3.19/)

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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:69` 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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<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Ecclesiastes 3:18 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.68/)
- next →: [Ecclesiastes 3:20 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.70/)
- ↑ back to [Ecclesiastes 3:19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.3.19/)