---
title: Habakkuk 2:18 (JPS 1917) — What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven… · tree and pragmatics
description: What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it, even the molten image, and the teacher of lies; that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? Who acts: graven image, maker. Habakkuk 2:18 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every claus
---

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# Habakkuk 2:18 · JPS 1917

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What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it, even the molten image, and the teacher of lies; that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

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**Who acts:** graven image, maker · **What happens:** profit, grave, trust, make, work · **To what, where:** image, dumb idols

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This is Habakkuk 2:18 · 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 (graven image, maker), 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:HAB:38
# text = What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it, even the molten image, and the teacher of lies; that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	obj	_	_
2	profiteth	profit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	graven	grave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	image	image	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	maker	maker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
10	thereof	thereof	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
11	hath	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	graven	grave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	ccomp	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	even	even	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	molten	molten	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	image	image	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	conj	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	lies	lie	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	nmod	_	_
25	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	32	punct	_	_
26	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	maker	maker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nsubj	_	_
29	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
31	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nmod	_	_
32	trusteth	trust	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
33	therein	therein	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
35	to	to	PART	TO	_	36	mark	_	_
36	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	advcl	_	_
37	dumb	dumb	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
38	idols	idol	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	obj	_	_
39	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: yes/no question
- act: ask
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- indirect: yes
- teacher: changed form=q, act=ask, indirect=1, voice=character

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **profit** | present | the graven image |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **grave** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **grave** | present · perfect | the maker | image |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **trust** | present | the maker of maker's work |  |  |  |  | therein *property* | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **make** | to-infinitive | the maker of maker's work *not said here* | dumb idols |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset idol=Product |
| 6 | **work** |  | maker |  |  |  |  |  | nom work «act intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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}

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מָֽה־הוֹעִ֣יל פֶּ֗סֶל כִּ֤י פְסָלוֹ֙ יֹֽצְר֔וֹ מַסֵּכָ֖ה וּמ֣וֹרֶה שָּׁ֑קֶר כִּ֣י בָטַ֞ח יֹצֵ֤ר יִצְרוֹ֙ עָלָ֔יו לַעֲשׂ֖וֹת אֱלִילִ֥ים אִלְּמִֽים׃ס

[Habakkuk 2:18: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/HAB.2.18/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:HAB:38` 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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