---
title: Psalms 139:18 (JPS 1917) — If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand; were I… · tree and pragmatics
description: If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand; were I to come to the end of them, I would still be with Thee. Who acts: I, eyes. Psalms 139:18 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Psalms 139:18 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand; were I to come to the end of them, I would still be with Thee.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** I, eyes · **What happens:** count, be, come · **To what, where:** eyes, number, end

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This is Psalms 139:18 · 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, eyes), 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:2543
# text = If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand; were I to come to the end of them, I would still be with Thee.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	count	count	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
12	than	than	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	19	punct	_	_
16	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
17	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	advcl	_	_
20	to	to	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nmod	_	_
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
26	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
27	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
28	still	still	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
29	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	cop	_	_
30	with	with	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	Thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	9	parataxis	_	_
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	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 | **count** *a condition, not said to happen* | would | I | eyes *= eye* |  |  |  |  | vn multiply-108 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | eyes *= eye* |  |  | number than the sand |  | more *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **come** | past | I |  |  |  | to the end of eyes |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to end=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **is** | would | I |  |  |  | still | with Thee | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
אֶ֭סְפְּרֵם מֵח֣וֹל יִרְבּ֑וּן הֱ֝קִיצֹ֗תִי וְעוֹדִ֥י עִמָּֽךְ׃

[Psalms 139:18: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.139.18/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:PSA:2543` 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: [Psalms 139:17 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.2542/)
- next →: [Psalms 139:19 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.2544/)
- ↑ back to [Psalms 139:18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.139.18/)