---
title: Jeremiah 2:8 (JPS 1917) — The priests said not: 'Where is the LORD?' And they that handle the… · tree and pragmatics
description: The priests said not: 'Where is the LORD?' And they that handle the law knew Me not, and the rulers transgressed against Me; the prophets also prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. Who acts: priests, rulers, prophets, things. Jeremiah 2:8 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tre
---

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# Jeremiah 2:8 · JPS 1917

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The priests said not: 'Where is the LORD?' And they that handle the law knew Me not, and the rulers transgressed against Me; the prophets also prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

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**Who acts:** priests, rulers, prophets, things · **What happens:** not say, be, handle, not know, transgress, prophesy · **To what, where:** LORD, law, Me · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Jeremiah 2:8 · 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 (priests, rulers, prophets, things), 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:JER:26
# text = The priests said not: 'Where is the LORD?' And they that handle the law knew Me not, and the rulers transgressed against Me; the prophets also prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	priests	priest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
6	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	_
7	Where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	LORD	LORD	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	_
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
12	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
13	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
15	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
16	handle	handle	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	acl:relcl	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
19	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
20	Me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	_
21	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	19	advmod	_	_
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	rulers	ruler	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	nsubj	_	_
26	transgressed	transgress	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	conj	_	_
27	against	against	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	Me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	26	obl	_	_
29	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	33	punct	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	prophets	prophet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	33	nsubj	_	_
32	also	also	ADV	RB	_	33	advmod	_	_
33	prophesied	prophesy	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	conj	_	_
34	by	by	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	Baal	Baal	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	33	obl	_	_
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
37	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
38	walked	walk	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	conj	_	_
39	after	after	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
40	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	obl	_	_
41	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	44	nsubj	_	_
42	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	44	aux	_	_
43	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	44	advmod	_	_
44	profit	profit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	40	acl:relcl	_	_
45	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: wh-question
- act: ask
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **say** *speech: assert* | past | the priests |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present |  | the LORD |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **handle** | present |  | the law |  |  |  |  | vn hold-15.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent law=Theme |
| 4 | **not** **know** | past | priests *= priest* | Me |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer i=Stimulus |
| 5 | **transgress** | past | the rulers |  |  |  |  | against Me | tree rules |
| 6 | **prophesy** | past | the prophets |  |  |  |  | by Baal | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **walk** | past | the prophets *not said here* |  |  |  | after things |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 8 | **not** **profit** | present · do-support | things |  |  |  |  |  | vn benefit-72.2 «NP V»: agent=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 -->
הַכֹּהֲנִ֗ים לֹ֤א אָֽמְרוּ֙ אַיֵּ֣ה יְהוָ֔ה וְתֹפְשֵׂ֤י הַתּוֹרָה֙ לֹ֣א יְדָע֔וּנִי וְהָרֹעִ֖ים פָּ֣שְׁעוּ בִ֑י וְהַנְּבִיאִים֙ נִבְּא֣וּ בַבַּ֔עַל וְאַחֲרֵ֥י לֹֽא־יוֹעִ֖לוּ הָלָֽכוּ׃

[Jeremiah 2:8: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.2.8/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:JER:26` 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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