---
title: 2 Samuel 2:26 (JPS 1917) — Then Abner called to Joab, and said: 'Shall the sword devour for eve… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then Abner called to Joab, and said: 'Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?' Who acts: Abner, sword, thou. 2 Samuel 2:26 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree an
---

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# 2 Samuel 2:26 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Then Abner called to Joab, and said: 'Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?'

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**Who acts:** Abner, sword, thou · **What happens:** call, say, devour, not know, be, bid · **To what, where:** Joab, bitterness, end, people, brethren · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is 2 Samuel 2:26 · 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 (Abner, sword, thou), 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:60
# text = Then Abner called to Joab, and said: 'Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?'
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
2	Abner	Abner	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Joab	Joab	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	14	punct	_	_
10	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	_
11	Shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	devour	devour	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	ccomp	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	ever	ever	ADV	RB	_	14	obl	_	_
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
18	knowest	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	parataxis	_	_
19	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	18	nsubj	_	_
20	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
21	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
22	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
23	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
24	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	cop	_	_
25	bitterness	bitterness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	ccomp	_	_
26	in	in	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	_
29	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	_
30	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	31	advmod	_	_
31	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	parataxis	_	_
32	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
33	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
34	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	cop	_	_
35	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	31	advmod	_	_
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
37	ere	ere	SCONJ	IN	_	39	mark	_	_
38	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	39	nsubj	_	_
39	bid	bid	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	31	advcl	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	39	obj	_	_
42	return	return	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	39	ccomp	_	_
43	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	44	mark	_	_
44	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	42	advcl	_	_
45	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	46	nmod:poss	_	_
46	brethren	brethren	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	44	obj	_	_
47	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	31	punct	_	_
48	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	31	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: yes/no question
- act: ask
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: changed act=ask, indirect=0

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | past | Abner |  | Joab |  | then |  | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to joab=Recipient |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Abner *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **devour** | shall | the sword |  |  |  |  |  | vn devour-39.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **not** **know** | present | thou |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **is a** | future | sword | bitterness |  |  | in the end |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **is** | shall | sword |  |  |  | then | long *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **bid** | present | thou | the people |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **return** | infinitive | thou *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 9 | **follow** | gerund | thou *not said here* | Joab's brethren |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent brethren=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
וַיִּקְרָ֨א אַבְנֵ֜ר אֶל־יוֹאָ֗ב וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הֲלָנֶ֙צַח֙ תֹּ֣אכַל חֶ֔רֶב הֲל֣וֹא יָדַ֔עְתָּה כִּֽי־מָרָ֥ה תִהְיֶ֖ה בָּאַחֲרוֹנָ֑ה וְעַד־מָתַי֙ לֹֽא־תֹאמַ֣ר לָעָ֔ם לָשׁ֖וּב מֵאַחֲרֵ֥י אֲחֵיהֶֽם׃

[2 Samuel 2:26: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2SA.2.26/)

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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:60` 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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