--- title: Nehemiah 6:3 (JPS 1917) — And I sent messengers unto them, saying: 'I am doing a great work, s… · tree and pragmatics description: And I sent messengers unto them, saying: 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?' Who acts: I, work. Nehemiah 6:3 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/NEH.124/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tanakh/) / [Ketuvim](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/) / [Nehemiah](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/NEH/) / [chapter 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/NEH/6/) / [6:3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/NEH.6.3/) / JPS 1 # Nehemiah 6:3 · JPS 1917 And I sent messengers unto them, saying: 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?' **Who acts:** I, work · **What happens:** send, say, do, not come down, cease, leave · **To what, where:** messengers, great work, work, you · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is Nehemiah 6:3 · 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 (I, work), 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:NEH:124 # text = And I sent messengers unto them, saying: 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?' 1 And and CCONJ CC _ 3 cc _ _ 2 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 sent send VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 messengers messenger NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 obj _ _ 5 unto unto ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 obl _ _ 7 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 8 saying say VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 3 advcl _ _ 9 : : PUNCT : _ 13 punct _ _ 10 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 13 punct _ _ 11 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 12 am be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ _ 13 doing do VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 8 ccomp _ _ 14 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 15 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 amod _ _ 16 work work NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obj _ _ 17 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 18 so so SCONJ IN ExtPos=SCONJ 23 mark _ _ 19 that that SCONJ IN _ 18 fixed _ _ 20 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 21 can can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 22 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 23 advmod _ _ 23 come come VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 13 advcl _ _ 24 down down ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 25 ; ; PUNCT : _ 30 punct _ _ 26 why why ADV WRB PronType=Int 30 advmod _ _ 27 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 30 aux _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 work work NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 nsubj _ _ 30 cease cease VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 13 parataxis _ _ 31 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 32 whilst whilst SCONJ IN _ 34 mark _ _ 33 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 34 nsubj _ _ 34 leave leave VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 30 advcl _ _ 35 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 obj _ _ 36 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 38 come come VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 30 conj _ _ 39 down down ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ _ 40 to to ADP IN _ 41 case _ _ 41 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 38 obl _ _ 42 ? ? PUNCT . _ 30 punct _ _ 43 ' ' PUNCT '' _ 30 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} - form: yes/no question - act: ask - voice: character - polarity: none - teacher: changed act=ask, indirect=0 | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **send** | past | I | messengers | | | | unto messengers *= messenger* | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent messenger=Theme | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | I *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **do** | present · progressive | I | a great work | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent work=Eventuality | | 4 | **not** **come down** | can | I | | | | | down *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **cease** | should | the work | | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 6 | **leave** | present | I | work | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | | 7 | **come down** | infinitive | the work *not said here* | | you | | | down *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to you=Initial\_Location | 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} וָאֶשְׁלְחָ֨ה עֲלֵיהֶ֤ם מַלְאָכִים֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר מְלָאכָ֤ה גְדוֹלָה֙ אֲנִ֣י עֹשֶׂ֔ה וְלֹ֥א אוּכַ֖ל לָרֶ֑דֶת לָ֣מָּה תִשְׁבַּ֤ת הַמְּלָאכָה֙ כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר אַרְפֶּ֔הָ וְיָרַדְתִּ֖י אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃ [Nehemiah 6:3: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/NEH.6.3/) **Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:NEH:124` 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. - ← previous: [Nehemiah 6:2 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/NEH.123/) - next →: [Nehemiah 6:4 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/NEH.125/) - ↑ back to [Nehemiah 6:3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/NEH.6.3/)