---
title: Psalms 39:2 (JPS 1917) — I said: 'I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue;… · tree and pragmatics
description: I said: 'I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep a curb upon my mouth, while the wicked is before me.' Who acts: I. Psalms 39:2 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Psalms 39:2 · JPS 1917

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I said: 'I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep a curb upon my mouth, while the wicked is before me.'

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** I · **What happens:** say, take, not sin, keep, be · **To what, where:** heed, ways, curb, mouth · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Psalms 39:2 · 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), 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:639
# text = I said: 'I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep a curb upon my mouth, while the wicked is before me.'
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
4	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	_
5	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
8	heed	heed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	ways	way	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
14	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	sin	sin	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
16	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
17	with	with	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
20	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	23	punct	_	_
21	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
22	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
23	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	curb	curb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
26	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	28	nmod:poss	_	_
28	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
30	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	35	mark	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	wicked	wicked	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	advcl	_	_
33	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	32	cop	_	_
34	before	before	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	32	root	_	_
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
37	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: promise
- voice: character
- polarity: neg
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **take** | future | I | heed |  | my ways |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent heed=Theme to way=Destination |
| 3 | **not** **sin** | present | I |  |  |  |  | with my tongue | vn rebel-71.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **keep** | future | I | a curb |  | my mouth |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent curb=Theme upon mouth=Location |
| 5 | **is** | present | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | wicked *property* | 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 -->
אָמַ֗רְתִּי אֶֽשְׁמְרָ֣ה דְרָכַי֮ מֵחֲט֪וֹא בִלְשׁ֫וֹנִ֥י אֶשְׁמְרָ֥ה לְפִ֥י מַחְס֑וֹם בְּעֹ֖ד רָשָׁ֣ע לְנֶגְדִּֽי׃

[Psalms 39:2: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.39.2/)

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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:639` 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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