---
title: 2 Samuel 12:23 (JPS 1917) — But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back ag… · tree and pragmatics
description: But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? Who acts: David, I. 2 Samuel 12:23 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# 2 Samuel 12:23 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 of 2

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But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again?

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**Who acts:** David, I · **What happens:** be, fast, bring back · **To what, where:** David

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This is 2 Samuel 12:23 · 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 (David, I), 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:325
# text = But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again?
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	wherefore	wherefore	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
8	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	fast	fast	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
12	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
13	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	bring	bring	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	back	back	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
17	again	again	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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- form: yes/no question
- act: express
- voice: narrator
- polarity: neg
- teacher: changed act=express

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | David |  |  |  | now | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **fast** | should | I |  |  |  |  | wherefore *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **bring back** | can | I |  | David |  | again |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument he=Destination |

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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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וְעַתָּ֣ה ׀ מֵ֗ת לָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙ אֲנִ֣י צָ֔ם הַאוּכַ֥ל לַהֲשִׁיב֖וֹ ע֑וֹד אֲנִי֙ הֹלֵ֣ךְ אֵלָ֔יו וְה֖וּא לֹֽא־יָשׁ֥וּב אֵלָֽי׃

[2 Samuel 12:23: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2SA.12.23/)

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This verse in JPS 1917:

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1. **But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again?**
2. [I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.'](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/2SA.326/)

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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:325` 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 Samuel 12:22 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/2SA.324/)
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