--- title: Exodus 8:12 (JPS 1917) — (8-12) And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Say unto Aaron: Stretch out th… · tree and pragmatics description: (8-12) And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Say unto Aaron: Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.' Who acts: LORD, dust. Exodus 8:12 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.218/) [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/) / [Exodus](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/EXO/) / [chapter 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/EXO/8/) / [8:12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/EXO.8.12/) / JPS 1 # Exodus 8:12 · JPS 1917 (8-12) And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Say unto Aaron: Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.' **Who acts:** LORD, dust · **What happens:** say, stretch out, smite, become · **To what, where:** rod, dust, gnats · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is Exodus 8:12 · 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 (LORD, dust), 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:EXO:218 # text = (8-12) And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Say unto Aaron: Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.' 1 ( ( PUNCT -LRB- _ 2 punct _ _ 2 8-12 8-12 NUM CD NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 7 dep _ _ 3 ) ) PUNCT -RRB- _ 2 punct _ _ 4 And and CCONJ CC _ 7 cc _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 LORD LORD PROPN NNP Number=Sing 7 nsubj _ _ 7 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 8 unto unto ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 9 Moses Moses PROPN NNP Number=Sing 7 obl _ _ 10 : : PUNCT : _ 12 punct _ _ 11 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 12 punct _ _ 12 Say say VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 7 ccomp _ _ 13 unto unto ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 14 Aaron Aaron PROPN NNP Number=Sing 12 obl _ _ 15 : : PUNCT : _ 16 punct _ _ 16 Stretch stretch VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 12 ccomp _ _ 17 out out ADP RP _ 16 compound:prt _ _ 18 thy thy PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 19 nmod:poss _ _ 19 rod rod NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obj _ _ 20 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 22 smite smite VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 16 conj _ _ 23 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 dust dust NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obj _ _ 25 of of ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 earth earth NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 nmod _ _ 28 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 29 that that SCONJ IN _ 32 mark _ _ 30 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 32 nsubj _ _ 31 may may AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 32 aux _ _ 32 become become VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 22 advcl _ _ 33 gnats gnat NOUN NNS Number=Plur 32 xcomp _ _ 34 throughout throughout ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 35 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 37 det:predet _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 land land NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 obl _ _ 38 of of ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 39 Egypt Egypt PROPN NNP Number=Sing 37 nmod _ _ 40 . . PUNCT . _ 7 punct _ _ 41 ' ' PUNCT '' _ 7 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} - form: command - act: request - voice: character - polarity: none - teacher: kept the draft | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the LORD | | | | | unto Moses | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive | | | | | | unto Aaron | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **stretch out** | infinitive | | thy rod | | | | | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent rod=Patient | | 4 | **smite** | infinitive | | the dust of the earth | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus dust=Experiencer | | 5 | **become** | may | dust | gnats | | | throughout all land of Egypt | | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient | 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} וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָה֮ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה֒ אֱמֹר֙ אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֔ן נְטֵ֣ה אֶֽת־מַטְּךָ֔ וְהַ֖ךְ אֶת־עֲפַ֣ר הָאָ֑רֶץ וְהָיָ֥ה לְכִנִּ֖ם בְּכָל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃ [Exodus 8:12: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Onkelos →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/EXO.8.12/) **Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:EXO:218` 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: [Exodus 8:11 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.217/) - next →: [Exodus 8:13 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.219/) - ↑ back to [Exodus 8:12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/EXO.8.12/)