---
title: Ecclesiastes 5:7 (JPS 1917) — If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent perverting… · tree and pragmatics
description: If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent perverting of justice and righteousness in the state, marvel not at the matter; for one higher than the high watcheth, and there are higher than they. Who acts: thou, you, one, higher. Ecclesiastes 5:7 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and
---

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# Ecclesiastes 5:7 · JPS 1917

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If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent perverting of justice and righteousness in the state, marvel not at the matter; for one higher than the high watcheth, and there are higher than they.

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**Who acts:** thou, you, one, higher · **What happens:** see, not marvel, high, watch, be · **To what, where:** oppression, matter

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This is Ecclesiastes 5:7 · 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, you, one, higher), 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:98
# text = If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent perverting of justice and righteousness in the state, marvel not at the matter; for one higher than the high watcheth, and there are higher than they.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	3	nsubj	_	_
3	seest	see	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	advcl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	oppression	oppression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	nmod	_	_
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	violent	violent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	perverting	pervert	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	justice	justice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	righteousness	righteousness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
22	marvel	marvel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
23	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	22	advmod	_	_
24	at	at	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
27	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
28	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
29	one	one	PRON	NN	_	30	nsubj	_	_
30	higher	high	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	advcl	_	_
31	than	than	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
33	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
34	watcheth	watch	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	acl	_	_
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
37	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	38	expl	_	_
38	are	be	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	conj	_	_
39	higher	high	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	38	nsubj	_	_
40	than	than	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
41	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	39	obl	_	_
42	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	22	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | thou | the oppression of the poor and the violent perverting of justice and righteousness in the state |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer oppression=Stimulus |
| 2 | **not** **marvel** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  | the matter |  |  | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **high** |  | one |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **watch** | present | higher *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **be** | present | higher |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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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אִם־עֹ֣שֶׁק רָ֠שׁ וְגֵ֨זֶל מִשְׁפָּ֤ט וָצֶ֙דֶק֙ תִּרְאֶ֣ה בַמְּדִינָ֔ה אַל־תִּתְמַ֖הּ עַל־הַחֵ֑פֶץ כִּ֣י גָבֹ֜הַּ מֵעַ֤ל גָּבֹ֙הַ֙שֹׁמֵ֔ר וּגְבֹהִ֖ים עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃

[Ecclesiastes 5:7: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.5.7/)

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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:98` 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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