---
title: Isaiah 10:15 (JPS 1917) — Should the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? as if a ro… · tree and pragmatics
description: Should the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? as if a rod should move them that lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood. Who acts: saw, rod, staff. Isaiah 10:15 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Isaiah 10:15 · JPS 1917, sentence 2 of 2

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Should the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? as if a rod should move them that lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood.

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**Who acts:** saw, rod, staff · **What happens:** magnify, move, lift up, not be · **To what, where:** saw, eggs, hand, wood

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Isaiah 10:15 · JPS 1917, sentence 2 of 2 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 (saw, rod, staff), 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:231
# text = Should the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? as if a rod should move them that lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood.
1	Should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	saw	saw	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	magnify	magnify	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	4	obj	_	_
6	against	against	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	moveth	move	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
13	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	rod	rod	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
16	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	move	move	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
18	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	_
19	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj	_	_
20	lift	lift	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	acl:relcl	_	_
21	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	_
22	up	up	ADP	RP	_	20	compound:prt	_	_
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
24	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
25	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
26	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
27	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	staff	staff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nsubj	_	_
29	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
30	lift	lift	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	conj	_	_
31	up	up	ADP	RP	_	30	compound:prt	_	_
32	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	obj	_	_
33	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	36	nsubj	_	_
34	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	36	cop	_	_
35	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	36	advmod	_	_
36	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	acl:relcl	_	_
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	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 | **magnify** | should | the saw | saw |  |  |  | against hand | vn remedy-45.7-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent itself=Patient |
| 2 | **move** | present |  | saw |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 3 | **move** | should | a rod | eggs *= egg* |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 4 | **lift up** | present |  | saw |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 5 | **lift up** *a condition, not said to happen* | should | a staff | hand |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 6 | **not** **is a** | present |  | wood |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
הֲיִתְפָּאֵר֙ הַגַּרְזֶ֔ן עַ֖ל הַחֹצֵ֣ב בּ֑וֹ אִם־יִתְגַּדֵּ֤ל הַמַּשּׂוֹר֙ עַל־מְנִיפ֔וֹ כְּהָנִ֥יף שֵׁ֙בֶט֙ וְאֶת־מְרִימָ֔יו כְּהָרִ֥ים מַטֶּ֖ה לֹא־עֵֽץ׃

[Isaiah 10:15: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/ISA.10.15/)

<!-- .note -->
This verse in JPS 1917:

<!-- .ens -->
1. [Should the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/ISA.230/)
2. **Should the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? as if a rod should move them that lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood.**

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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:231` 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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