---
title: Jeremiah 12:1 (JPS 1917) — Right wouldest Thou be, O LORD, were I to contend with Thee, yet wil… · tree and pragmatics
description: Right wouldest Thou be, O LORD, were I to contend with Thee, yet will I reason with Thee: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Who acts: I, way. Jeremiah 12:1 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Jeremiah 12:1 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 of 2

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Right wouldest Thou be, O LORD, were I to contend with Thee, yet will I reason with Thee: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?

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**Who acts:** I, way · **What happens:** be, reason, prosper

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This is Jeremiah 12:1 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 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 (I, way), 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:349
# text = Right wouldest Thou be, O LORD, were I to contend with Thee, yet will I reason with Thee: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?
1	Right	right	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	wouldest	would	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	Thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	4	nsubj	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	cop	_	_
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	O	o	INTJ	UH	_	7	discourse	_	_
7	LORD	LORD	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	vocative	_	_
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
9	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
10	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	contend	contend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	Thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	12	obl	_	_
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	yet	yet	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
17	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
18	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	reason	reason	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	conj	_	_
20	with	with	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	Thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	19	obl	_	_
22	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
23	Wherefore	wherefore	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	30	advmod	_	_
24	doth	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nsubj	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	wicked	wicked	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	nmod	_	_
30	prosper	prosper	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	parataxis	_	_
31	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: wh-question
- act: express
- voice: character
- polarity: pos
- teacher: changed act=express, polarity=pos

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | to-infinitive | I |  |  |  |  | with Thee; contend *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **reason** | future | I |  |  |  |  | with Thee | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **prosper** | present · do-support | the way of the wicked |  |  |  |  | wherefore *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
צַדִּ֤יק אַתָּה֙ יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֥י אָרִ֖יב אֵלֶ֑יךָ אַ֤ךְ מִשְׁפָּטִים֙ אֲדַבֵּ֣ר אוֹתָ֔ךְ מַדּ֗וּעַ דֶּ֤רֶךְ רְשָׁעִים֙ צָלֵ֔חָה שָׁל֖וּ כָּל־בֹּ֥גְדֵי בָֽגֶד׃

[Jeremiah 12:1: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.12.1/)

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

<!-- .ens -->
1. **Right wouldest Thou be, O LORD, were I to contend with Thee, yet will I reason with Thee: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?**
2. [Wherefore are all they secure that deal very treacherously?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/JER.350/)

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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:349` 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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