--- title: Psalms 127:1 (JPS 1917) — Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it;… · tree and pragmatics description: Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Who acts: LORD, Ascents, watchman. Psalms 127:1 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/PSA.2397/) [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/) / [Psalms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA/) / [chapter 127](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA/127/) / [127:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.127.1/) / JPS 2 # Psalms 127:1 · JPS 1917, sentence 2 of 2 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. **Who acts:** LORD, Ascents, watchman · **What happens:** build, labour, keep, wake · **To what, where:** house, vain, city This is Psalms 127:1 · JPS 1917, sentence 2 of 2 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 (LORD, Ascents, watchman), 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:PSA:2397 # text = Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 1 Except except SCONJ IN _ 4 mark _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 LORD LORD PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 build build VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 advcl _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 house house NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 7 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 8 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 9 nsubj _ _ 9 labour labour VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 10 in in ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 11 vain vain ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 obl _ _ 12 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 9 nsubj _ _ 13 build build VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 acl:relcl _ _ 14 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 obj _ _ 15 ; ; PUNCT : _ 19 punct _ _ 16 except except SCONJ IN _ 19 mark _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 LORD LORD PROPN NNP Number=Sing 19 nsubj _ _ 19 keep keep VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 advcl _ _ 20 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 21 det _ _ 21 city city NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obj _ _ 22 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 23 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 watchman watchman NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 nsubj _ _ 25 waketh wake VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 9 parataxis _ _ 26 but but CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 27 in in ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 28 vain vain ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 25 obl _ _ 29 . . PUNCT . _ 9 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} - form: statement - act: narrate - voice: narrator - polarity: none - teacher: kept the draft | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **build** | infinitive | the LORD | the house | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent house=Product | | 2 | **labour** | present | Ascents *= ascent* | | | vain | | | vn work-73.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **build** | present | | house | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset it=Product | | 4 | **keep** | infinitive | the LORD | the city | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent city=Theme | | 5 | **wake** | present | the watchman | | | vain | | | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient | 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} שִׁ֥יר הַֽמַּֽעֲל֗וֹת לִשְׁלֹ֫מֹ֥האִם־יְהוָ֤ה ׀ לֹא־יִבְנֶ֬ה בַ֗יִת שָׁ֤וְא ׀ עָמְל֣וּ בוֹנָ֣יו בּ֑וֹ אִם־יְהוָ֥ה לֹֽא־יִשְׁמָר־עִ֝֗יר שָׁ֤וְא ׀ שָׁקַ֬ד שׁוֹמֵֽר׃ [Psalms 127:1: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.127.1/) This verse in JPS 1917: 1. [A Song of Ascents; of Solomon.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.2396/) 2. **Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.** **Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:PSA:2397` 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: [Psalms 127:1 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.2396/) - next →: [Psalms 127:2 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.2398/) - ↑ back to [Psalms 127:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.127.1/)