---
title: Ezra 8:21 (JPS 1917) — Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might hu… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a straight way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. Who acts: I, we. Ezra 8:21 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Ezra 8:21 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a straight way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

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**Who acts:** I, we · **What happens:** proclaim, humble, seek · **To what, where:** fast, river, ourselves, straight way

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Ezra 8:21 · 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, we), 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:EZR:210
# text = Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a straight way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	proclaimed	proclaim	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	fast	fast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
11	Ahava	Ahava	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	_
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
15	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	humble	humble	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
17	ourselves	ourselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	16	obj	_	_
18	before	before	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	seek	seek	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	advcl	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	Him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	obl	_	_
26	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
27	straight	straight	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	amod	_	_
28	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
30	for	for	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	23	obl	_	_
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
33	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
34	for	for	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
35	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	37	nmod:poss	_	_
36	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	37	amod	_	_
37	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	conj	_	_
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
40	for	for	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
41	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	43	det:predet	_	_
42	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	43	nmod:poss	_	_
43	substance	substance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	conj	_	_
44	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	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 | **proclaim** | past | I | a fast |  | the river; there | then |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fast=Theme |
| 2 | **humble** | might | we | ourselves |  |  | before our God |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus ourselves=Experiencer |
| 3 | **seek** | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | a straight way |  |  |  | of God; for us | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent way=Location for we=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}

<!-- .vhe dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
וָאֶקְרָ֨א שָׁ֥ם צוֹם֙ עַל־הַנָּהָ֣ר אַהֲוָ֔א לְהִתְעַנּ֖וֹת לִפְנֵ֣י אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ לְבַקֵּ֤שׁ מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ דֶּ֣רֶךְ יְשָׁרָ֔ה לָ֥נוּ וּלְטַפֵּ֖נוּ וּלְכָל־רְכוּשֵֽׁנוּ׃

[Ezra 8:21: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/EZR.8.21/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:EZR:210` 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: [Ezra 8:20 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/EZR.209/)
- next →: [Ezra 8:22 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/EZR.211/)
- ↑ back to [Ezra 8:21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/EZR.8.21/)