---
title: Joshua 20:9 (JPS 1917) — These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and… · tree and pragmatics
description: These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person through error might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation. Who acts: These, stranger, who
---

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# Joshua 20:9 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person through error might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.

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**Who acts:** These, stranger, whosoever, person · **What happens:** be, sojourn, kill, flee, not die, stand · **To what, where:** appointed cities, person, error, congregation

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Joshua 20:9 · 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 (These, stranger, whosoever, person), 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:JOS:551
# text = These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person through error might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.
1	These	this	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	5	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	appointed	appoint	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	9	det:predet	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	Israel	Israel	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
17	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	nsubj	_	_
18	sojourneth	sojourn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	acl:relcl	_	_
19	among	among	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obl	_	_
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
22	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
23	whosoever	whosoever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	30	nsubj	_	_
24	killeth	kill	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	acl:relcl	_	_
25	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	26	det	_	_
26	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	_
27	through	through	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	error	error	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	_
29	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
30	flee	flee	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
31	thither	thither	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	_
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
33	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
34	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	35	advmod	_	_
35	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	30	conj	_	_
36	by	by	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obl	_	_
39	of	of	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	avenger	avenger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nmod	_	_
42	of	of	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
43	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nmod	_	_
44	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
45	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	47	mark	_	_
46	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	47	nsubj	_	_
47	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	advcl	_	_
48	before	before	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
50	congregation	congregation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	obl	_	_
51	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: narrator
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | These | the appointed cities |  |  |  | for all children of Israel and the stranger | tree rules |
| 2 | **sojourn** | present | the stranger |  |  |  |  | among cities *= city* | vn weekend-56 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme among they=Location |
| 3 | **kill** | present |  | any person |  | error |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent person=Theme |
| 4 | **flee** | might | whosoever |  |  |  |  | thither *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **not** **die** | infinitive | whosoever *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by the hand of the avenger of blood | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 6 | **stand** | past | person |  |  | the congregation |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent before congregation=Location |

<!-- .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 -->
אֵ֣לֶּה הָיוּ֩ עָרֵ֨י הַמּֽוּעָדָ֜ה לְכֹ֣ל ׀ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְלַגֵּר֙ הַגָּ֣ר בְּתוֹכָ֔ם לָנ֣וּס שָׁ֔מָּה כָּל־מַכֵּה־נֶ֖פֶשׁ בִּשְׁגָגָ֑ה וְלֹ֣א יָמ֗וּת בְּיַד֙ גֹּאֵ֣ל הַדָּ֔ם עַד־עָמְד֖וֹ לִפְנֵ֥י הָעֵדָֽה׃פ

[Joshua 20:9: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JOS.20.9/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:JOS:551` 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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