---
title: Job 1:16 (JPS 1917) — While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said: 'A fir… · tree and pragmatics
description: While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said: 'A fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.' Who acts: messenger, another, fire, I. Job 1:16 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and t
---

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# Job 1:16 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said: 'A fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.'

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**Who acts:** messenger, another, fire, I · **What happens:** speak, come, say, fall, burn up, consume · **To what, where:** heaven, sheep, thee, God · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Job 1:16 · 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 (messenger, another, fire, I), 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:JOB:16
# text = While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said: 'A fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.'
1	While	while	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	yet	yet	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	speaking	speak	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	8	expl	_	_
8	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	also	also	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	nsubj	_	_
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
14	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	13	punct	_	_
15	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	21	punct	_	_
16	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	_
20	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	fallen	fall	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	13	ccomp	_	_
22	from	from	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	heaven	heaven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
26	hath	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
27	burned	burn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	21	conj	_	_
28	up	up	ADP	RP	_	27	compound:prt	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	sheep	sheep	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	obj	_	_
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	conj	_	_
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
37	consumed	consume	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	21	conj	_	_
38	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	obj	_	_
39	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	44	punct	_	_
40	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	44	cc	_	_
41	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	44	nsubj	_	_
42	only	only	ADV	RB	_	41	advmod	_	_
43	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	44	aux	_	_
44	escaped	escape	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	21	conj	_	_
45	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	44	advmod	_	_
46	to	to	PART	TO	_	47	mark	_	_
47	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	44	advcl	_	_
48	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	47	obj	_	_
49	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	21	punct	_	_
50	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	21	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: changed act=assert, voice=character

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | past · progressive | messenger |  |  |  | yet |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **come** | past | another |  |  | there |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | another *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **fall** | present · passive | a fire of God |  |  | heaven |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from heaven=Initial\_Location |
| 5 | **burn up** | present · perfect | a fire of God *not said here* | the sheep and the servants |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent sheep=Theme |
| 6 | **consume** | participle | a fire of God *not said here* | sheep |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Asset |
| 7 | **escape** | present · passive | I |  |  |  |  | alone *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 8 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | thee |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent thou=Recipient |
| 9 | **fire** |  |  | God |  |  |  |  | nom fire «event transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
ע֣וֹד ׀ זֶ֣ה מְדַבֵּ֗ר וְזֶה֮ בָּ֣א וַיֹּאמַר֒ אֵ֣שׁ אֱלֹהִ֗ים נָֽפְלָה֙ מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַתִּבְעַ֥ר בַּצֹּ֛אן וּבַנְּעָרִ֖ים וַתֹּאכְלֵ֑ם וָאִמָּ֨לְטָ֧ה רַק־אֲנִ֛י לְבַדִּ֖י לְהַגִּ֥יד לָֽךְ׃

[Job 1:16: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.1.16/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:JOB:16` 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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