---
title: 1 Samuel 15:22 (JPS 1917) — Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fa… · tree and pragmatics
description: Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# 1 Samuel 15:22 · JPS 1917, sentence 2 of 2

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

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**What happens:** obey, be, hearken

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This is 1 Samuel 15:22 · 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: 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:1SA:405
# text = Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1	Behold	behold	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	_
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	obey	obey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	csubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	better	better	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	sacrifice	sacrifice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	hearken	hearken	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	csubj	_	_
13	than	than	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	fat	fat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	rams	ram	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	_
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **obey** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | than sacrifice; better *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **hearken** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | than the fat of rams | 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 שְׁמוּאֵ֗ל הַחֵ֤פֶץ לַֽיהוָה֙ בְּעֹל֣וֹת וּזְבָחִ֔ים כִּשְׁמֹ֖עַ בְּק֣וֹל יְהוָ֑ה הִנֵּ֤ה שְׁמֹ֙עַ֙ מִזֶּ֣בַח ט֔וֹב לְהַקְשִׁ֖יב מֵחֵ֥לֶב אֵילִֽים׃

[1 Samuel 15:22: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.15.22/)

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This verse in JPS 1917:

<!-- .ens -->
1. [And Samuel said: 'Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearkening to the voice of the LORD?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/1SA.404/)
2. **Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.**

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:1SA:405` 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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