---
title: 2 Samuel 12:21 (JPS 1917) — Then said his servants unto him: 'What thing is this that thou hast… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then said his servants unto him: 'What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.' Who acts: servants, thing, thou, child. 2 Samuel 12:21 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragm
---

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# 2 Samuel 12:21 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Then said his servants unto him: 'What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.'

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**Who acts:** servants, thing, thou, child · **What happens:** say, be, do, fast, weep, rise · **To what, where:** this, bread · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is 2 Samuel 12:21 · 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 (servants, thing, thou, child), 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:323
# text = Then said his servants unto him: 'What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.'
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
2	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
5	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
7	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
8	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	_
9	What	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	10	det	_	_
10	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	ccomp	_	_
13	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	obj	_	_
14	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	16	nsubj	_	_
15	hast	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	acl:relcl	_	_
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
18	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	20	nsubj	_	_
19	didst	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
20	fast	fast	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	parataxis	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
22	weep	weep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	conj	_	_
23	for	for	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
27	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
28	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
29	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	cop	_	_
30	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	advcl	_	_
31	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	41	punct	_	_
32	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	41	cc	_	_
33	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	37	mark	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	_
36	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	37	cop	_	_
37	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	advcl	_	_
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
39	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	41	nsubj	_	_
40	didst	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	41	aux	_	_
41	rise	rise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	conj	_	_
42	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
43	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	41	conj	_	_
44	bread	bread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	obj	_	_
45	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
46	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: yes/no question
- act: ask
- voice: character
- polarity: neg
- indirect: yes
- teacher: changed form=q, act=ask, indirect=1

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | David's servants |  |  |  | then | unto David | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | what thing | this |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **do** | present · perfect | thou |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Eventuality |
| 4 | **fast** | past · do-support | thou |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **weep** | infinitive | thou *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for the child | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **is** | past | thing |  |  |  |  | alive *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **is** | past | the child |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **rise** | past · do-support | thou |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **eat** | infinitive | thou *not said here* | bread |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bread=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ עֲבָדָיו֙ אֵלָ֔יו מָֽה־הַדָּבָ֥ר הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשִׂ֑יתָה בַּעֲב֞וּר הַיֶּ֤לֶד חַי֙ צַ֣מְתָּ וַתֵּ֔בְךְּ וְכַֽאֲשֶׁר֙ מֵ֣ת הַיֶּ֔לֶד קַ֖מְתָּ וַתֹּ֥אכַל לָֽחֶם׃

[2 Samuel 12:21: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2SA.12.21/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:2SA:323` 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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