--- title: 1 Samuel 18:17 (JPS 1917) — And Saul said to David: 'Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I… · tree and pragmatics description: And Saul said to David: 'Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife; only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles.' For Saul said: 'Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.' Who acts: Saul, I, thou, hand. 1 Samuel 18:17 in JPS 1917 --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/1SA.531/) [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/) / [Nevi'im](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/) / [1 Samuel](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA/) / [chapter 18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA/18/) / [18:17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.18.17/) / JPS 1 # 1 Samuel 18:17 · JPS 1917 And Saul said to David: 'Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife; only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles.' For Saul said: 'Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.' **Who acts:** Saul, I, thou, hand, LORD · **What happens:** say, behold, give, be, fight, not let · **To what, where:** David, elder daughter, Merab, thee, battles, hand · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is 1 Samuel 18:17 · 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 (Saul, I, thou, hand), 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:531 # text = And Saul said to David: 'Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife; only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles.' For Saul said: 'Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.' 1 And and CCONJ CC _ 3 cc _ _ 2 Saul Saul PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 to to ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 5 David David PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 obl _ _ 6 : : PUNCT : _ 8 punct _ _ 7 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 8 punct _ _ 8 Behold behold VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 3 ccomp _ _ 9 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 11 nmod:poss _ _ 10 elder elder ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 11 amod _ _ 11 daughter daughter NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obj _ _ 12 Merab Merab PROPN NNP Number=Sing 11 appos _ _ 13 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 14 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 obj _ _ 15 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 17 aux _ _ 16 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 17 give give VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 8 parataxis _ _ 18 thee thou PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 17 iobj _ _ 19 to to ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 20 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obl _ _ 21 ; ; PUNCT : _ 25 punct _ _ 22 only only ADV RB _ 25 advmod _ _ 23 be be AUX VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 25 cop _ _ 24 thou thou PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 25 nsubj _ _ 25 valiant valiant ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 parataxis _ _ 26 for for ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 27 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 25 obl _ _ 28 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 30 fight fight VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 25 conj _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 LORD LORD PROPN NNP Number=Sing 34 nmod:poss _ _ 33 'S 's PART POS _ 32 case _ _ 34 battles battle NOUN NNS Number=Plur 30 obj _ _ 35 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ 36 ' ' PUNCT '' _ 8 punct _ _ 37 For for SCONJ IN _ 39 mark _ _ 38 Saul Saul PROPN NNP Number=Sing 39 nsubj _ _ 39 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 advcl _ _ 40 : : PUNCT : _ 42 punct _ _ 41 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 42 punct _ _ 42 Let let VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 39 ccomp _ _ 43 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 42 advmod _ _ 44 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 45 nmod:poss _ _ 45 hand hand NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 obj _ _ 46 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 48 cop _ _ 47 upon upon ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 48 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 xcomp _ _ 49 , , PUNCT , _ 51 punct _ _ 50 but but CCONJ CC _ 51 cc _ _ 51 let let VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 42 conj _ _ 52 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 53 det _ _ 53 hand hand NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 obj _ _ 54 of of ADP IN _ 56 case _ _ 55 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 56 det _ _ 56 Philistines Philistine PROPN NNPS Number=Plur 53 nmod _ _ 57 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 59 cop _ _ 58 upon upon ADP IN _ 59 case _ _ 59 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 51 xcomp _ _ 60 . . PUNCT . _ 42 punct _ _ 61 ' ' PUNCT '' _ 42 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} - form: command - act: request - voice: character - polarity: none - teacher: kept the draft | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Saul | | David | | | | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V PP.recipient that S»: agent=Pivot to david=Experiencer clause=Topic | | 2 | **behold** | infinitive | | my elder daughter | | | | | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer daughter=Stimulus | | 3 | **give** | future | I | Merab | thee | | | to wife | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent thou=Recipient she=Theme | | 4 | **is** | infinitive | thou | | | | | for me; valiant *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **fight** | infinitive | thou *not said here* | the LORD's battles | | | | | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent battle=Co-Agent | | 6 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Saul | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 7 | **not** **let** | infinitive | | my hand | | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hand=Theme | | 8 | **is** | infinitive | my hand *not said here* | | | | | upon David | tree rules | | 9 | **let** | infinitive | | the hand of the Philistines | | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hand=Theme | | 10 | **is** | infinitive | the hand of the Philistines *not said here* | | | | | upon David | tree rules | | 11 | **battle** | | the LORD | | | | | | nom battle «act transitive»: poss=agent | 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} וַיֹּ֨אמֶר שָׁא֜וּל אֶל־דָּוִ֗ד הִנֵּה֩ בִתִּ֨י הַגְּדוֹלָ֤ה מֵרַב֙ אֹתָהּ֙ אֶתֶּן־לְךָ֣ לְאִשָּׁ֔ה אַ֚ךְ הֱיֵה־לִּ֣י לְבֶן־חַ֔יִל וְהִלָּחֵ֖ם מִלְחֲמ֣וֹת יְהוָ֑ה וְשָׁא֣וּל אָמַ֗ר אַל־תְּהִ֤י יָדִי֙ בּ֔וֹ וּתְהִי־ב֖וֹ יַד־פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים׃ס [1 Samuel 18:17: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.18.17/) **Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:1SA:531` 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: [1 Samuel 18:16 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/1SA.530/) - next →: [1 Samuel 18:18 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/1SA.532/) - ↑ back to [1 Samuel 18:17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.18.17/)