---
title: Isaiah 29:16 (JPS 1917) — Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say… · tree and pragmatics
description: Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him that made it: 'He made me not'; or the thing framed say of him that framed it: 'He hath no understanding?' Who acts: thing, LORD. Isaiah 29:16 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Isaiah 29:16 · JPS 1917, sentence 2 of 2

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Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him that made it: 'He made me not'; or the thing framed say of him that framed it: 'He hath no understanding?'

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**Who acts:** thing, LORD · **What happens:** esteem, make, say, not make, frame, have · **To what, where:** potter, thing, me, understanding · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Isaiah 29:16 · 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 (thing, LORD), 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:609
# text = Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him that made it: 'He made me not'; or the thing framed say of him that framed it: 'He hath no understanding?'
1	Shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	potter	potter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	esteemed	esteem	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	clay	clay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	14	punct	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
12	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	acl	_	_
13	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obl	_	_
17	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	nsubj	_	_
18	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	acl:relcl	_	_
19	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	23	punct	_	_
21	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	23	punct	_	_
22	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
23	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
24	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	23	obj	_	_
25	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	23	advmod	_	_
26	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	23	punct	_	_
27	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	31	punct	_	_
28	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nsubj	_	_
31	framed	frame	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	23	conj	_	_
32	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	xcomp	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
34	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	obl	_	_
35	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	36	nsubj	_	_
36	framed	frame	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	acl:relcl	_	_
37	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	obj	_	_
38	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	41	punct	_	_
39	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	41	punct	_	_
40	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	41	nsubj	_	_
41	hath	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
42	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	43	det	_	_
43	understanding	understanding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obj	_	_
44	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	41	punct	_	_
45	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	41	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: yes/no question
- act: ask
- voice: character
- polarity: neg
- teacher: changed polarity=neg

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **esteem** | shall · passive |  | the potter |  |  |  | as clay | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |
| 2 | **make** | participle |  | the thing *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | should | the thing |  |  |  |  | of LORD | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **make** | past |  | thing |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset it=Product |
| 5 | **not** **make** | past | LORD | me |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Product |
| 6 | **frame** | participle | the thing |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive | the thing *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of LORD | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 8 | **frame** | past |  | thing |  |  |  |  | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Destination |
| 9 | **have** | present | LORD | no understanding |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent understanding=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
הַ֨פְכְּכֶ֔ם אִם־כְּחֹ֥מֶר הַיֹּצֵ֖ר יֵֽחָשֵׁ֑ב כִּֽי־יֹאמַ֨ר מַעֲשֶׂ֤ה לְעֹשֵׂ֙הוּ֙ לֹ֣א עָשָׂ֔נִי וְיֵ֛צֶר אָמַ֥ר לְיוֹצְר֖וֹ לֹ֥א הֵבִֽין׃

[Isaiah 29:16: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/ISA.29.16/)

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

<!-- .ens -->
1. [O your perversity!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/ISA.608/)
2. **Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him that made it: 'He made me not'; or the thing framed say of him that framed it: 'He hath no understanding?'**

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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:609` 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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