---
title: 2 Kings 1:16 (JPS 1917) — And he said unto him: 'Thus saith the LORD: Forasmuch as thou hast s… · tree and pragmatics
description: And he said unto him: 'Thus saith the LORD: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whether thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.' Who acts: Eli
---

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# 2 Kings 1:16 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And he said unto him: 'Thus saith the LORD: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whether thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.'

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**Who acts:** Elijah, LORD, thou, God · **What happens:** say, send, inquire, be, not come down, go up · **To what, where:** messengers, bed · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is 2 Kings 1:16 · 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 (Elijah, LORD, thou, God), 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:2KI:19
# text = And he said unto him: 'Thus saith the LORD: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whether thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.'
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
7	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	_
8	Thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	saith	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	LORD	LORD	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
12	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
13	Forasmuch	forasmuch	SCONJ	RB	_	17	mark	_	_
14	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
15	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	17	nsubj	_	_
16	hast	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	sent	send	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	49	advcl	_	_
18	messengers	messenger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	obj	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	inquire	inquire	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	advcl	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	Baal	Baal	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
23	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	24	punct	_	_
24	zebub	zebub	PROPN	NN	Number=Sing	22	flat	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	god	god	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	appos	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	Ekron	Ekron	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	_
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
30	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	parataxis	_	_
31	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
32	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
33	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	34	expl	_	_
34	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	advcl	_	_
35	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	36	det	_	_
36	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	34	nsubj	_	_
37	in	in	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	Israel	Israel	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	36	nmod	_	_
39	to	to	PART	TO	_	40	mark	_	_
40	inquire	inquire	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	36	acl	_	_
41	of	of	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
42	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	43	nmod:poss	_	_
43	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obl	_	_
44	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
45	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	49	advmod	_	_
46	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	49	nsubj	_	_
47	shalt	shall	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	49	aux	_	_
48	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	49	advmod	_	_
49	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
50	down	down	ADV	RB	_	49	advmod	_	_
51	from	from	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
52	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	49	obl	_	_
54	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	57	mark	_	_
55	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	57	nsubj	_	_
56	art	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	57	aux	_	_
57	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	49	advcl	_	_
58	up	up	ADP	RP	_	57	compound:prt	_	_
59	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	63	punct	_	_
60	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	63	cc	_	_
61	shalt	shall	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	63	aux	_	_
62	surely	surely	ADV	RB	_	63	advmod	_	_
63	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	49	conj	_	_
64	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
65	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: narrator
- polarity: neg
- teacher: changed form=decl, act=assert, voice=narrator

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Elijah |  |  |  |  | unto king | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the LORD |  |  |  |  | thus *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **send** | present · perfect | thou | messengers |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent messenger=Theme |
| 4 | **inquire** *speech: other* | to-infinitive | thou *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of Baal | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent of baal=Recipient |
| 5 | **be** | present | no God in Israel |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **inquire** *speech: other* | to-infinitive | no God in Israel *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of Elijah's word | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent of word=Recipient |
| 7 | **not** **come down** | shall | thou |  |  | the bed |  | down, therefore *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from bed=Initial\_Location |
| 8 | **go up** | present · passive | thou |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 9 | **die** | shall | thou *not said here* |  |  |  |  | surely *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 10 | **word** |  | Elijah |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר אֵלָ֜יו כֹּֽה־אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֗ה יַ֜עַן אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַ֣חְתָּ מַלְאָכִים֮ לִדְרֹשׁ֮ בְּבַ֣עַל זְבוּב֮ בַ֣עַל זְבוּב֮ אֱלֹהֵ֣י עֶקְרוֹן֒ הַֽמִבְּלִ֤י אֵין־אֱלֹהִים֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לִדְרֹ֖שׁ בִּדְבָר֑וֹ לָ֠כֵן הַמִּטָּ֞ה אֲשֶׁר־עָלִ֥יתָ שָּׁ֛ם לֹֽא־תֵרֵ֥ד מִמֶּ֖נָּה כִּֽי־מ֥וֹת תָּמֽוּת׃

[2 Kings 1:16: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2KI.1.16/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:2KI:19` 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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- ← previous: [2 Kings 1:15 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/2KI.18/)
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