---
title: 1 Samuel 26:21 (JPS 1917) — Then said Saul: 'I have sinned; return, my son David; for I will no… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then said Saul: 'I have sinned; return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious in thine eyes this day; behold, I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.' Who acts: Saul, I, life. 1 Samuel 26:21 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every 
---

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# 1 Samuel 26:21 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Then said Saul: 'I have sinned; return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious in thine eyes this day; behold, I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.'

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**Who acts:** Saul, I, life · **What happens:** say, sin, return, do, be, play · **To what, where:** harm, thee, eyes, fool · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is 1 Samuel 26:21 · 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, life), 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:791
# text = Then said Saul: 'I have sinned; return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious in thine eyes this day; behold, I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.'
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
2	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	Saul	Saul	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
5	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	_
6	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	sinned	sin	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	ccomp	_	_
9	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
10	return	return	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	vocative	_	_
14	David	David	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	flat	_	_
15	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	21	punct	_	_
16	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
17	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
18	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
19	no	no	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	21	advmod	_	_
21	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	advcl	_	_
22	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	21	iobj	_	_
23	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	_
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
25	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
26	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nsubj	_	_
28	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	cop	_	_
29	precious	precious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	advcl	_	_
30	in	in	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	thine	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	32	nmod:poss	_	_
32	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	obl	_	_
33	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	34	det	_	_
34	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obl:unmarked	_	_
35	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	40	punct	_	_
36	behold	behold	INTJ	UH	_	40	discourse	_	_
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
38	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	40	nsubj	_	_
39	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	40	aux	_	_
40	played	play	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	conj	_	_
41	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	42	det	_	_
42	fool	fool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obj	_	_
43	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	44	cc	_	_
44	erred	err	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	40	conj	_	_
45	exceedingly	exceedingly	ADV	RB	_	44	advmod	_	_
46	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
47	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: promise
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Saul |  |  |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **sin** | present · perfect | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn rebel-71.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **return** | infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | my son *vocative* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **do** | future | I | harm | thee |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **is** | past | my life |  |  | thine eyes | day | precious *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **play** | present · perfect | I | the fool |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fool=Theme |
| 7 | **err** | participle | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | exceedingly *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 -->
וַיֹּאמֶר֩ שָׁא֨וּל חָטָ֜אתִי שׁ֣וּב בְּנִֽי־דָוִ֗ד כִּ֠י לֹֽא־אָרַ֤ע לְךָ֙ ע֔וֹד תַּ֠חַת אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָקְרָ֥ה נַפְשִׁ֛י בְּעֵינֶ֖יךָ הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה הִנֵּ֥ה הִסְכַּ֛לְתִּי וָאֶשְׁגֶּ֖ה הַרְבֵּ֥ה מְאֹֽד׃

[1 Samuel 26:21: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.26.21/)

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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:791` 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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