---
title: Proverbs 17:28 (JPS 1917) — Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; and he that… · tree and pragmatics
description: Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed as a man of understanding. Who acts: son. Proverbs 17:28 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Proverbs 17:28 · JPS 1917

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Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed as a man of understanding.

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**Who acts:** son · **What happens:** hold, count, shut, esteem, pacify · **To what, where:** peace, fool, lips, son

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This is Proverbs 17:28 · 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 (son), 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:PRO:504
# text = Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed as a man of understanding.
1	Even	even	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	fool	fool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	7	mark	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	holdeth	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	advcl	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	peace	peace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	counted	count	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
13	wise	wise	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	_
14	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	22	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj:pass	_	_
17	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	nsubj	_	_
18	shutteth	shut	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	acl:relcl	_	_
19	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	lips	lip	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obj	_	_
21	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux:pass	_	_
22	esteemed	esteem	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	conj	_	_
23	as	as	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	understanding	understanding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nmod	_	_
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | present | son | son's peace |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent peace=Theme |
| 2 | **count** | present · passive |  | a fool |  |  |  | wise *property* | vn multiply-108 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 3 | **shut** | present |  | son's lips |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent lip=Patient |
| 4 | **esteem** | present · passive |  | son |  |  |  | as a man of understanding | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |
| 5 | **pacify** |  | son |  |  |  |  |  | nom peace «state transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
גַּ֤ם אֱוִ֣יל מַ֭חֲרִישׁ חָכָ֣ם יֵחָשֵׁ֑ב אֹטֵ֖ם שְׂפָתָ֣יו נָבֽוֹן׃

[Proverbs 17:28: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.17.28/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:PRO:504` 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: [Proverbs 17:27 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.503/)
- next →: [Proverbs 18:1 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.505/)
- ↑ back to [Proverbs 17:28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.17.28/)