---
title: Exodus 14:12 (JPS 1917) — Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, saying: Let u… · tree and pragmatics
description: Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, saying: Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? Who acts: this, we. Exodus 14:12 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Exodus 14:12 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 of 2

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Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, saying: Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** this, we · **What happens:** not be, speak, say, let, serve · **To what, where:** word, Egypt, us, Egyptians · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is Exodus 14:12 · 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 (this, we), 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:396
# text = Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, saying: Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?
1	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
2	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
3	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	nsubj	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obj	_	_
7	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	spoke	speak	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	8	obl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Egypt	Egypt	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	saying	say	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	advcl	_	_
15	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	16	punct	_	_
16	Let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	ccomp	_	_
17	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
18	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	16	xcomp	_	_
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
20	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
21	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
22	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
23	serve	serve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	advcl	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	Egyptians	egyptian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	23	obj	_	_
26	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: yes/no question
- act: suggest
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is a** | present | this | the word |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* | past | we | the word |  | Egypt |  | unto thee | tree rules |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | we *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **let** | infinitive |  | us |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent we=Theme |
| 5 | **serve** | may | we | the Egyptians |  |  |  |  | vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent egyptian=Attribute |

<!-- .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 -->
הֲלֹא־זֶ֣ה הַדָּבָ֗ר אֲשֶׁר֩ דִּבַּ֨רְנוּ אֵלֶ֤יךָ בְמִצְרַ֙יִם֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר חֲדַ֥ל מִמֶּ֖נּוּ וְנַֽעַבְדָ֣ה אֶת־מִצְרָ֑יִם כִּ֣י ט֥וֹב לָ֙נוּ֙ עֲבֹ֣ד אֶת־מִצְרַ֔יִם מִמֻּתֵ֖נוּ בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃

[Exodus 14:12: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Onkelos →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/EXO.14.12/)

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

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1. **Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, saying: Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?**
2. [For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.'](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.397/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:EXO:396` 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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