---
title: 1 Samuel 20:6 (JPS 1917) — If thy father miss me at all, then say: David earnestly asked leave… · tree and pragmatics
description: If thy father miss me at all, then say: David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family. Who acts: father, you, David, leave. 1 Samuel 20:6 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# 1 Samuel 20:6 · JPS 1917

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If thy father miss me at all, then say: David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.

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**Who acts:** father, you, David, leave · **What happens:** miss, say, ask, run, be · **To what, where:** me, all, leave, Beth, yearly sacrifice · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is 1 Samuel 20:6 · 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 (father, you, David, leave), 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:581
# text = If thy father miss me at all, then say: David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	miss	miss	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
5	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	all	all	PRON	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
9	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	advmod	_	_
10	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
11	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	14	punct	_	_
12	David	David	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	earnestly	earnestly	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	ccomp	_	_
15	leave	leave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	nmod	_	_
18	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
20	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	ccomp	_	_
22	to	to	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	Beth	Beth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
24	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	25	punct	_	_
25	lehem	lehem	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	23	flat	_	_
26	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	appos	_	_
28	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	34	punct	_	_
29	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
30	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
31	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	34	cop	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
33	yearly	yearly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
34	sacrifice	sacrifice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	parataxis	_	_
35	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	34	advmod	_	_
36	for	for	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
37	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	39	det:predet	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nmod	_	_
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: command
- act: request
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: changed form=imp, polarity=none

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **miss** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | thy father | me |  | all |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer i=Stimulus |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | David | leave of me |  |  |  | earnestly *property* | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent leave=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **run** | might | David |  | Beth |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme to beth=Result |
| 5 | **is a** | present | leave | the yearly sacrifice |  | there |  | for all family | 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 -->
אִם־פָּקֹ֥ד יִפְקְדֵ֖נִי אָבִ֑יךָ וְאָמַרְתָּ֗ נִשְׁאֹל֩ נִשְׁאַ֨ל מִמֶּ֤נִּי דָוִד֙ לָרוּץ֙ בֵּֽית־לֶ֣חֶםבֵּֽית־לֶ֣חֶם עִיר֔וֹ כִּ֣י זֶ֧בַח הַיָּמִ֛ים שָׁ֖ם לְכָל־הַמִּשְׁפָּחָֽה׃

[1 Samuel 20:6: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.20.6/)

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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:581` 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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