---
title: 2 Kings 7:4 (JPS 1917) — If we say: We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the ci… · tree and pragmatics
description: If we say: We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Who acts: we, famine. 2 Kings 7:4 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# 2 Kings 7:4 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 of 2

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
If we say: We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** we, famine · **What happens:** say, enter, be, die, sit · **To what, where:** city · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is 2 Kings 7:4 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 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: who acts (we, famine), 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:201
# text = If we say: We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	advcl	_	_
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
5	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	enter	enter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
8	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
12	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	18	advmod	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	famine	famine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
21	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
22	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
23	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	conj	_	_
24	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	23	advmod	_	_
25	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	34	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
27	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
28	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
29	sit	sit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	34	advcl	_	_
30	still	still	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	xcomp	_	_
31	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	29	advmod	_	_
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
33	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
34	die	die	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	conj	_	_
35	also	also	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen* | present | we |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **enter** | future | We |  |  | the city |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into city=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **is** | present | the famine |  |  | the city | then |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **die** | shall | we |  |  | there |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 5 | **sit** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | we |  |  | here |  | still *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **die** | present | we |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

<!-- .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־אָמַרְנוּ֩ נָב֨וֹא הָעִ֜יר וְהָרָעָ֤ב בָּעִיר֙ וָמַ֣תְנוּ שָׁ֔ם וְאִם־יָשַׁ֥בְנוּ פֹ֖ה וָמָ֑תְנוּ וְעַתָּ֗ה לְכוּ֙ וְנִפְּלָה֙ אֶל־מַחֲנֵ֣ה אֲרָ֔ם אִם־יְחַיֻּ֣נוּ נִֽחְיֶ֔ה וְאִם־יְמִיתֻ֖נוּ וָמָֽתְנוּ׃

[2 Kings 7:4: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2KI.7.4/)

<!-- .note -->
This verse in JPS 1917:

<!-- .ens -->
1. **If we say: We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also.**
2. [Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Arameans; if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.'](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/2KI.202/)

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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:201` 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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