---
title: Ecclesiastes 4:3 (JPS 1917) — but better than they both is he that hath not yet been, who hath not… · tree and pragmatics
description: but better than they both is he that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. Who acts: power. Ecclesiastes 4:3 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Ecclesiastes 4:3 · JPS 1917

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but better than they both is he that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

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**Who acts:** power · **What happens:** be, not see, do · **To what, where:** evil work, sun.

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This is Ecclesiastes 4:3 · 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 (power), 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:75
# text = but better than they both is he that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
1	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	2	cc	_	_
2	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
3	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
5	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	cop	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
9	hath	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
11	yet	yet	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	acl:relcl	_	_
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	17	nsubj	_	_
15	hath	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	17	advmod	_	_
17	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	acl:relcl	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	evil	evil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
21	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	23	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux:pass	_	_
23	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	acl:relcl	_	_
24	under	under	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	sun.	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: character
- polarity: neg
- teacher: changed voice=character

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | power |  |  |  |  | than tears *= tear*; good *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **see** | present · perfect |  | the evil work |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer work=Stimulus |
| 3 | **do** | present · passive |  | the evil work |  | the sun. |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

<!-- .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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וְטוֹב֙ מִשְּׁנֵיהֶ֔ם אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־עֲדֶ֖ן לֹ֣א הָיָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־רָאָה֙ אֶת־הַמַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה הָרָ֔ע אֲשֶׁ֥ר נַעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃

[Ecclesiastes 4:3: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.4.3/)

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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:75` 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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- ↑ back to [Ecclesiastes 4:3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.4.3/)