--- title: Deuteronomy 20:19 (JPS 1917) — When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it… · tree and pragmatics description: When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, but thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee? Who acts: th --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/DEU.560/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tanakh/) / [Torah](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/) / [Deuteronomy](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU/) / [chapter 20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU/20/) / [20:19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.20.19/) / JPS 1 # Deuteronomy 20:19 · JPS 1917 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, but thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee? **Who acts:** thou, tree · **What happens:** besiege, take, not destroy, wield, eat, not cut down · **To what, where:** city, war, trees, axe, people, tree This is Deuteronomy 20:19 · 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 (thou, tree), 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:DEU:560 # text = When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, but thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee? 1 When when SCONJ WRB _ 4 mark _ _ 2 thou thou PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 4 nsubj _ _ 3 shalt shall AUX MD Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 4 besiege besiege VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 23 advcl _ _ 5 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 city city NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 8 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 amod _ _ 9 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl:unmarked _ _ 10 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 11 in in ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 12 making make NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 advcl _ _ 13 war war NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obj _ _ 14 against against ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 15 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 obl _ _ 16 to to PART TO _ 17 mark _ _ 17 take take VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 advcl _ _ 18 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 obj _ _ 19 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 20 thou thou PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 23 nsubj _ _ 21 shalt shall AUX MD Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 22 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 23 advmod _ _ 23 destroy destroy VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 trees tree NOUN NNS Number=Plur 23 obj _ _ 26 thereof thereof ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 27 by by SCONJ IN _ 28 mark _ _ 28 wielding wield VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 23 advcl _ _ 29 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 axe axe NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obj _ _ 31 against against ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 32 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 obl _ _ 33 ; ; PUNCT : _ 37 punct _ _ 34 for for SCONJ IN _ 37 mark _ _ 35 thou thou PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 37 nsubj _ _ 36 mayest may AUX MD Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin 37 aux _ _ 37 eat eat VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 23 parataxis _ _ 38 of of ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 39 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 obl _ _ 40 , , PUNCT , _ 45 punct _ _ 41 but but CCONJ CC _ 45 cc _ _ 42 thou thou PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 45 nsubj _ _ 43 shalt shall AUX MD Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin 45 aux _ _ 44 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 45 advmod _ _ 45 cut cut VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 37 conj _ _ 46 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 obj _ _ 47 down down ADP RP _ 45 compound:prt _ _ 48 ; ; PUNCT : _ 52 punct _ _ 49 for for SCONJ IN _ 52 mark _ _ 50 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 52 cop _ _ 51 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 52 det _ _ 52 tree tree NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 advcl _ _ 53 of of ADP IN _ 56 case _ _ 54 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 56 det _ _ 55 field field NOUN NN Number=Sing 56 compound _ _ 56 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 52 nmod _ _ 57 , , PUNCT , _ 62 punct _ _ 58 that that SCONJ IN _ 62 mark _ _ 59 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 62 nsubj:pass _ _ 60 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 62 aux _ _ 61 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 62 aux:pass _ _ 62 besieged besiege VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 52 acl:relcl _ _ 63 of of ADP IN _ 64 case _ _ 64 thee thou PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 62 obl _ _ 65 ? ? PUNCT . _ 23 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} - form: yes/no question - act: warn - voice: narrator - polarity: none - teacher: changed form=q, act=warn, indirect=0 | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **besiege** | shall | thou | a city | | | time | | tree rules | | 2 | **take** | to-infinitive | thou *not said here* | war | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | | 3 | **not** **destroy** | shall | thou | the trees | | | | thereof *property* | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tree=Patient | | 4 | **wield** | gerund | thou *not said here* | a axe | | | | against people | vn hold-15.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent axe=Theme | | 5 | **eat** | may | thou | | | | | of people | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V PP.source»: agent=Agent of they=Source | | 6 | **not** **cut down** | shall | thou | people | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset they=Product | | 7 | **is a** | present | thou *not said here* | the tree | | | | of the field man | tree rules | | 8 | **besiege** | should · passive | the tree *not said here* | city | | | | of thee | tree rules | 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} כִּֽי־תָצ֣וּר אֶל־עִיר֩ יָמִ֨ים רַבִּ֜ים לְֽהִלָּחֵ֧ם עָלֶ֣יהָ לְתָפְשָׂ֗הּ לֹֽא־תַשְׁחִ֤ית אֶת־עֵצָהּ֙ לִנְדֹּ֤חַ עָלָיו֙ גַּרְזֶ֔ן כִּ֚י מִמֶּ֣נּוּ תֹאכֵ֔ל וְאֹת֖וֹ לֹ֣א תִכְרֹ֑ת כִּ֤י הָֽאָדָם֙ עֵ֣ץ הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה לָבֹ֥א מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ בַּמָּצֽוֹר׃ [Deuteronomy 20:19: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Onkelos →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.20.19/) **Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:DEU:560` 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. - ← previous: [Deuteronomy 20:18 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/DEU.559/) - next →: [Deuteronomy 20:20 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/DEU.561/) - ↑ back to [Deuteronomy 20:19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.20.19/)