---
title: 2 Samuel 15:34 (JPS 1917) — but if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom: I will be thy… · tree and pragmatics
description: but if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom: I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant in time past, so will I now be thy servant; then wilt thou defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. Who acts: thou, I. 2 Samuel 15:34 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the 
---

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# 2 Samuel 15:34 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
but if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom: I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant in time past, so will I now be thy servant; then wilt thou defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** thou, I · **What happens:** return, say, be, defeat · **To what, where:** servant, counsel · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is 2 Samuel 15:34 · 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 (thou, 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:453
# text = but if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom: I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant in time past, so will I now be thy servant; then wilt thou defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.
1	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
2	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
3	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	4	nsubj	_	_
4	return	return	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	46	conj	_	_
11	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Absalom	Absalom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
13	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	_
14	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
15	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
16	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	cop	_	_
17	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	ccomp	_	_
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	O	o	INTJ	UH	_	21	discourse	_	_
21	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	vocative	_	_
22	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
23	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
24	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
25	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
26	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	30	cop	_	_
27	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	28	nmod:poss	_	_
28	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nmod:poss	_	_
29	's	's	PART	POS	_	28	case	_	_
30	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	advcl	_	_
31	in	in	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
32	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
33	past	past	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	41	punct	_	_
35	so	so	ADV	RB	_	41	advmod	_	_
36	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	41	aux	_	_
37	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	41	nsubj	_	_
38	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	41	advmod	_	_
39	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	41	cop	_	_
40	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	41	nmod:poss	_	_
41	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	parataxis	_	_
42	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	46	punct	_	_
43	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	46	advmod	_	_
44	wilt	will	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	46	aux	_	_
45	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	46	nsubj	_	_
46	defeat	defeat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
47	for	for	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
48	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	46	obl	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
50	counsel	counsel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obj	_	_
51	of	of	ADP	IN	_	52	case	_	_
52	Ahithophel	Ahithophel	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	50	nmod	_	_
53	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	46	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: request
- voice: narrator
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **return** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | thou |  |  |  |  | to the city *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to city=Result |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | thou *not said here* |  |  |  |  | unto Absalom | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | future | I | thy servant |  |  |  | king *vocative* | tree rules |
| 4 | **is a** | present · perfect | I | thy father's servant |  |  | time |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **is a** | future | I | thy servant |  |  | now |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **defeat** | future | thou | the counsel of Ahithophel |  |  | then | for me | 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 -->
וְאִם־הָעִ֣יר תָּשׁ֗וּב וְאָמַרְתָּ֤ לְאַבְשָׁלוֹם֙ עַבְדְּךָ֨אֲנִ֤י הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֶֽהְיֶ֔ה עֶ֣בֶד אָבִ֤יךָ וַֽאֲנִי֙ מֵאָ֔ז וְעַתָּ֖ה וַאֲנִ֣י עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ וְהֵפַרְתָּ֣ה לִ֔י אֵ֖ת עֲצַ֥ת אֲחִיתֹֽפֶל׃

[2 Samuel 15:34: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2SA.15.34/)

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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:453` 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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