---
title: Isaiah 50:2 (JPS 1917) — Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there n… · tree and pragmatics
description: Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Who acts: I. Isaiah 50:2 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Isaiah 50:2 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 of 4

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Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer?

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**Who acts:** I · **What happens:** come, call, answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is Isaiah 50:2 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 of 4 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 (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:ISA:1116
# text = Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer?
1	Wherefore	wherefore	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	5	mark	_	_
4	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	7	expl	_	_
9	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	10	det	_	_
10	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
12	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	14	mark	_	_
13	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	_
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
16	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	parataxis	_	_
17	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	16	expl	_	_
18	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	16	nsubj	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	answer	answer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	acl	_	_
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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- form: wh-question
- act: ask
- voice: narrator
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **call** | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **answer** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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מַדּ֨וּעַ בָּ֜אתִי וְאֵ֣ין אִ֗ישׁ קָרָֽאתִי֮וְאֵ֣ין עוֹנֶה֒ הֲקָצ֨וֹר קָצְרָ֤ה יָדִי֙ מִפְּד֔וּת וְאִם־אֵֽין־בִּ֥י כֹ֖חַ לְהַצִּ֑יל הֵ֣ן בְּגַעֲרָתִ֞י אַחֲרִ֣יב יָ֗ם אָשִׂ֤ים נְהָרוֹת֙ מִדְבָּ֔ר תִּבְאַ֤שׁ דְּגָתָם֙ מֵאֵ֣ין מַ֔יִם וְתָמֹ֖ת בַּצָּמָֽא׃

[Isaiah 50:2: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/ISA.50.2/)

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This verse in JPS 1917:

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1. **Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer?**
2. [Is My hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/ISA.1117/)
3. [Or have I no power to deliver?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/ISA.1118/)
4. [Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish become foul, because there is no water, and die for thirst.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/ISA.1119/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:ISA:1116` 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: [Isaiah 50:1 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/ISA.1115/)
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