---
title: 2 Samuel 20:21 (JPS 1917) — The matter is not so; but a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheb… · tree and pragmatics
description: The matter is not so; but a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city.' And the woman said unto Joab: 'Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.' W
---

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# 2 Samuel 20:21 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The matter is not so; but a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city.' And the woman said unto Joab: 'Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.'

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**Who acts:** matter, man, I, woman · **What happens:** not be, lift up, deliver, depart, say, throw · **To what, where:** hand, David, man, city, head, wall · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is 2 Samuel 20:21 · 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 (matter, man, I, woman), 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:625
# text = The matter is not so; but a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city.' And the woman said unto Joab: 'Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.'
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	_
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	27	punct	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	nsubj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
12	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
13	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	_
14	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	Ephraim	Ephraim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
18	Sheba	Sheba	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	appos	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	appos	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	Bichri	Bichri	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	_
23	by	by	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod	_	_
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
26	hath	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
27	lifted	lift	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
28	up	up	ADP	RP	_	27	compound:prt	_	_
29	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	30	nmod:poss	_	_
30	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	_
31	against	against	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	_
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
35	even	even	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	_
36	against	against	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
37	David	David	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	_
38	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	39	punct	_	_
39	deliver	deliver	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
40	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	39	obj	_	_
41	only	only	ADV	RB	_	39	advmod	_	_
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
43	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
44	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj	_	_
45	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	46	aux	_	_
46	depart	depart	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	39	conj	_	_
47	from	from	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
48	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	49	det	_	_
49	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	_
50	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
51	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	55	punct	_	_
52	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	55	cc	_	_
53	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	54	det	_	_
54	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	nsubj	_	_
55	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
56	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	57	case	_	_
57	Joab	Joab	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	55	obl	_	_
58	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	66	punct	_	_
59	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	66	punct	_	_
60	Behold	behold	INTJ	UH	_	66	discourse	_	_
61	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	60	punct	_	_
62	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	63	nmod:poss	_	_
63	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	66	nsubj:pass	_	_
64	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	66	aux	_	_
65	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	66	aux:pass	_	_
66	thrown	throw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	55	ccomp	_	_
67	to	to	ADP	IN	_	68	case	_	_
68	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	66	obl	_	_
69	over	over	ADP	IN	_	71	case	_	_
70	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	71	det	_	_
71	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	66	obl	_	_
72	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	55	punct	_	_
73	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	55	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: character
- polarity: neg
- teacher: changed act=assert

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | the matter |  |  |  |  | so *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **lift up** | present · perfect | a man of the hill country of Ephraim | man's hand |  | David |  | against the king | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Agent hand=Theme against king=Destination against david=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **deliver** | infinitive |  | man |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |
| 4 | **depart** | future | I |  |  | the city |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from city=Initial\_Location |
| 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the woman |  |  |  |  | unto Joab | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 6 | **throw** | shall · passive |  | Joab's head |  | the wall |  | to thee | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: subject=Theme to thou=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
לֹא־כֵ֣ן הַדָּבָ֗ר כִּ֡י אִישׁ֩ מֵהַ֨ר אֶפְרַ֜יִם שֶׁ֧בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִ֣י שְׁמ֗וֹ נָשָׂ֤א יָדוֹ֙ בַּמֶּ֣לֶךְ בְּדָוִ֔ד תְּנֽוּ־אֹת֣וֹ לְבַדּ֔וֹ וְאֵלְכָ֖ה מֵעַ֣ל הָעִ֑יר וַתֹּ֤אמֶר הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ אֶל־יוֹאָ֔ב הִנֵּ֥ה רֹאשׁ֛וֹ מֻשְׁלָ֥ךְ אֵלֶ֖יךָ בְּעַ֥ד הַחוֹמָֽה׃

[2 Samuel 20:21: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2SA.20.21/)

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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:625` 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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