---
title: Jeremiah 10:3 (JPS 1917) — For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for it is but a tree whic… · tree and pragmatics
description: For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for it is but a tree which one cutteth out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe. Who acts: customs, vanity, one, hands. Jeremiah 10:3 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Jeremiah 10:3 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for it is but a tree which one cutteth out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** customs, vanity, one, hands · **What happens:** be, cut out, work · **To what, where:** vanity, tree, forest

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This is Jeremiah 10:3 · 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 (customs, vanity, one, hands), 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:299
# text = For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for it is but a tree which one cutteth out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.
1	For	for	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	customs	custom	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	peoples	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	vanity	vanity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
9	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	15	punct	_	_
10	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
13	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	advcl	_	_
16	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	obj	_	_
17	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	cutteth	cut	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	acl:relcl	_	_
19	out	out	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	fixed	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	appos	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nmod	_	_
29	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	workman	workman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nmod	_	_
32	with	with	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	axe	axe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nmod	_	_
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: character
- polarity: neg
- teacher: changed act=assert, voice=character, polarity=neg

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the customs of the peoples | vanity |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | vanity | a tree |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **cut out** | present | one | a tree |  | the forest |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **work** |  | the hands of the workman with the axe |  |  |  |  |  | nom work «act intransitive»: of=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}

<!-- .vhe dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
כִּֽי־חֻקּ֥וֹת הָֽעַמִּ֖ים הֶ֣בֶל ה֑וּא כִּֽי־עֵץ֙ מִיַּ֣עַר כְּרָת֔וֹ מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יְדֵ֥י־חָרָ֖שׁ בַּֽמַּעֲצָֽד׃

[Jeremiah 10:3: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.10.3/)

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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:299` 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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