---
title: 2 Samuel 12:18 (JPS 1917) — And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead… · tree and pragmatics
description: And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said: 'Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice; how then shall we tell him that the child is dead, so that he do himself some harm?' Who acts: servants, child, childre
---

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# 2 Samuel 12:18 · JPS 1917, sentence 2 of 2

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said: 'Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice; how then shall we tell him that the child is dead, so that he do himself some harm?'

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**Who acts:** servants, child, children, we, David · **What happens:** fear, tell, be, say, speak, not hearken · **To what, where:** David, harm · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is 2 Samuel 12:18 · JPS 1917, sentence 2 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 (servants, child, children, we), 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:2SA:320
# text = And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said: 'Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice; how then shall we tell him that the child is dead, so that he do himself some harm?'
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	David	David	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	feared	fear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	iobj	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	ccomp	_	_
15	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	_
16	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
17	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
19	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	31	punct	_	_
20	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	31	punct	_	_
21	Behold	behold	INTJ	UH	_	31	discourse	_	_
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
23	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	28	mark	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nsubj	_	_
26	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	cop	_	_
27	yet	yet	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	_
28	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	advcl	_	_
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
30	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
31	spoke	speak	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	ccomp	_	_
32	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	obl	_	_
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
35	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
36	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	nsubj	_	_
37	hearkened	hearken	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	conj	_	_
38	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	37	advmod	_	_
39	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	41	nmod:poss	_	_
41	voice	voice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obl	_	_
42	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	47	punct	_	_
43	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	47	advmod	_	_
44	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	47	advmod	_	_
45	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	47	aux	_	_
46	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	47	nsubj	_	_
47	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	parataxis	_	_
48	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	47	iobj	_	_
49	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	53	mark	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
51	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	53	nsubj	_	_
52	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	53	cop	_	_
53	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	47	ccomp	_	_
54	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	58	punct	_	_
55	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	58	mark	_	_
56	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	55	fixed	_	_
57	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	58	nsubj	_	_
58	do	do	VERB	VB	Mood=Sub|VerbForm=Fin	47	advcl	_	_
59	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	58	iobj	_	_
60	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	61	det	_	_
61	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	58	obj	_	_
62	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	31	punct	_	_
63	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	31	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: narrate
- voice: narrator
- polarity: none
- teacher: changed form=decl, act=narrate, polarity=none, voice=narrator

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fear** | past | the servants of David |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | the servants of David *not said here* |  | David |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 3 | **is** | past | the child |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | children *= child* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **is** | past | the child |  |  |  | yet | alive *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **speak** *speech: other* | past | we |  |  |  |  | unto David | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **not** **hearken** | past | David |  |  |  |  | unto our voice | tree rules |
| 8 | **tell** *speech: assert* | shall | we |  | David |  | then |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 9 | **is** | present | the child |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 10 | **do** | infinitive | David | some harm | David |  |  |  | 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 -->
וַיְהִ֛י בַּיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י וַיָּ֣מָת הַיָּ֑לֶד וַיִּֽרְאוּ֩ עַבְדֵ֨י דָוִ֜ד לְהַגִּ֥יד ל֣וֹ ׀ כִּי־מֵ֣ת הַיֶּ֗לֶד כִּ֤י אָֽמְרוּ֙ הִנֵּה֩ בִהְי֨וֹת הַיֶּ֜לֶד חַ֗י דִּבַּ֤רְנוּ אֵלָיו֙ וְלֹא־שָׁמַ֣ע בְּקוֹלֵ֔נוּ וְאֵ֨יךְ נֹאמַ֥ר אֵלָ֛יו מֵ֥ת הַיֶּ֖לֶד וְעָשָׂ֥ה רָעָֽה׃

[2 Samuel 12:18: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2SA.12.18/)

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

<!-- .ens -->
1. [And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/2SA.319/)
2. **And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said: 'Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice; how then shall we tell him that the child is dead, so that he do himself some harm?'**

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:2SA:320` 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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