---
title: 1 Kings 3:23 (JPS 1917) — Then said the king: 'The one saith: This is my son that liveth, and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then said the king: 'The one saith: This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead; and the other saith: Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.' Who acts: king, one, This, son. 1 Kings 3:23 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# 1 Kings 3:23 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Then said the king: 'The one saith: This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead; and the other saith: Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.'

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** king, one, This, son, other · **What happens:** say, be, live · **To what, where:** son, dead, living · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is 1 Kings 3:23 · 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 (king, one, This, 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:1KI:131
# text = Then said the king: 'The one saith: This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead; and the other saith: Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.'
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
2	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
6	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	_
7	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nsubj	_	_
9	saith	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
10	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	14	punct	_	_
11	This	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	14	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	ccomp	_	_
15	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
16	liveth	live	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	acl:relcl	_	_
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
19	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj	_	_
21	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	cop	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	dead	dead	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
24	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	28	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	other	other	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nsubj	_	_
28	saith	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
29	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
30	Nay	nay	INTJ	UH	_	28	discourse	_	_
31	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	37	punct	_	_
32	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
33	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	34	nmod:poss	_	_
34	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	_
35	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	37	cop	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	conj	_	_
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	44	punct	_	_
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	44	cc	_	_
40	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	41	nmod:poss	_	_
41	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	nsubj	_	_
42	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	44	cop	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	living	living	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	conj	_	_
45	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
46	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the king |  |  |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the one |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present | This | my son and the dead |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **live** | present | my son and the dead |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **is a** | present | thy son | the dead |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the other |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **is** | present | thy son |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **is a** | present | my son | the living |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ זֹ֣את אֹמֶ֔רֶת זֶה־בְּנִ֥י הַחַ֖י וּבְנֵ֣ךְ הַמֵּ֑ת וְזֹ֤את אֹמֶ֙רֶת֙ לֹ֣א כִ֔י בְּנֵ֥ךְ הַמֵּ֖ת וּבְנִ֥י הֶחָֽי׃פ

[1 Kings 3:23: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1KI.3.23/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:1KI:131` 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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