---
title: Jeremiah 2:31 (JPS 1917) — O generation, see ye the word of the LORD: have I been a wilderness… · tree and pragmatics
description: O generation, see ye the word of the LORD: have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of thick darkness? Who acts: ye, I. Jeremiah 2:31 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Jeremiah 2:31 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 of 2

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O generation, see ye the word of the LORD: have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of thick darkness?

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**Who acts:** ye, I · **What happens:** see, be, word · **To what, where:** word, wilderness, LORD

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This is Jeremiah 2:31 · 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 (ye, I), 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:57
# text = O generation, see ye the word of the LORD: have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of thick darkness?
1	O	o	INTJ	UH	_	2	discourse	_	_
2	generation	generation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	vocative	_	_
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	ye	ye	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	4	nsubj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	LORD	LORD	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	4	punct	_	_
12	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
13	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
14	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	16	cop	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	wilderness	wilderness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	_
17	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	Israel	Israel	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
20	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	conj	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod	_	_
26	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: wh-question
- act: ask
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: changed voice=character

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | infinitive | ye | the word of the LORD |  |  | generation |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is a** | present · perfect | I | a wilderness or a land of thick darkness |  |  |  | unto Israel | tree rules |
| 3 | **word** |  |  | the LORD |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: of=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}

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הַדּ֗וֹר אַתֶּם֙ רְא֣וּ דְבַר־יְהוָ֔ה הֲמִדְבָּ֤ר הָיִ֙יתִי֙ לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אִ֛ם אֶ֥רֶץ מַאְפֵּ֖לְיָ֑ה מַדּ֜וּעַ אָמְר֤וּ עַמִּי֙ רַ֔דְנוּ לֽוֹא־נָב֥וֹא ע֖וֹד אֵלֶֽיךָ׃

[Jeremiah 2:31: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.2.31/)

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This verse in JPS 1917:

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1. **O generation, see ye the word of the LORD: have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of thick darkness?**
2. [Wherefore say My people: 'We roam at large; we will come no more unto Thee'?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/JER.58/)

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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:57` 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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