---
title: 2 Kings 1:5 (JPS 1917) — And the messengers returned unto him, and he said unto them: 'Why is… · tree and pragmatics
description: And the messengers returned unto him, and he said unto them: 'Why is it that ye are returned?' Who acts: messengers, Elijah, it. 2 Kings 1:5 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# 2 Kings 1:5 · JPS 1917

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And the messengers returned unto him, and he said unto them: 'Why is it that ye are returned?'

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**Who acts:** messengers, Elijah, it · **What happens:** return, say, be · **To what, where:** ye · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is 2 Kings 1:5 · 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 (messengers, Elijah, it), 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:4
# text = And the messengers returned unto him, and he said unto them: 'Why is it that ye are returned?'
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	messengers	messenger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	_
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
11	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obl	_	_
13	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	15	punct	_	_
14	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	_
15	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	ccomp	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
18	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
19	ye	ye	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	21	nsubj:pass	_	_
20	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux:pass	_	_
21	returned	return	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	ccomp	_	_
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
23	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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- form: wh-question
- act: ask
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- indirect: yes
- teacher: changed polarity=none

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **return** | past | the messengers |  |  |  |  | unto Elijah | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Elijah |  |  |  |  | unto messengers *= messenger* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | why *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **return** | present · passive |  | ye |  |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

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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}

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וַיָּשׁ֥וּבוּ הַמַּלְאָכִ֖ים אֵלָ֑יו וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם מַה־זֶּ֥ה שַׁבְתֶּֽם׃

[2 Kings 1:5: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2KI.1.5/)

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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:4` 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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