---
title: Genesis 37:2 (JPS 1917) — Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his br… · tree and pragmatics
description: Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being still a lad even with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought evil report of them unto their father. Who acts: Joseph. Genesis 37:2 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree a
---

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# Genesis 37:2 · JPS 1917, sentence 2 of 2

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being still a lad even with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought evil report of them unto their father.

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**Who acts:** Joseph · **What happens:** be, feed, bring, report · **To what, where:** flock, lad, evil report, wives

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Genesis 37:2 · JPS 1917, sentence 2 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 (Joseph), 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:GEN:1177
# text = Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being still a lad even with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought evil report of them unto their father.
1	Joseph	Joseph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	cop	_	_
4	seventeen	seventeen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	advcl	_	_
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	feeding	feed	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	flock	flock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	brethren	brethren	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	19	cop	_	_
17	still	still	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	lad	lad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	advcl	_	_
20	even	even	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
21	with	with	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nmod	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	Bilhah	Bilhah	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	_
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
28	with	with	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	conj	_	_
31	of	of	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
32	Zilpah	Zilpah	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	30	nmod	_	_
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
34	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	35	nmod:poss	_	_
35	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nmod:poss	_	_
36	's	's	PART	POS	_	35	case	_	_
37	wives	wife	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	appos	_	_
38	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	41	punct	_	_
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	41	cc	_	_
40	Joseph	Joseph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	41	nsubj	_	_
41	brought	bring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
42	evil	evil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	43	amod	_	_
43	report	report	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obj	_	_
44	of	of	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
45	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	43	nmod	_	_
46	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
47	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	48	nmod:poss	_	_
48	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obl	_	_
49	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	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** | gerund | Joseph *not said here* |  |  |  | year | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **feed** | past · progressive | Joseph | the flock |  |  |  | with Joseph's brethren | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent flock=Recipient |
| 3 | **is a** | gerund | Joseph *not said here* | a lad |  |  | still | with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah | tree rules |
| 4 | **bring** | past | Joseph | evil report of wives |  |  |  | unto wives's father | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent report=Theme |
| 5 | **report** |  |  | wives *= wife* |  |  |  |  | nom report «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}

<!-- .vhe dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
אֵ֣לֶּה ׀ תֹּלְד֣וֹת יַעֲקֹ֗ב יוֹסֵ֞ף בֶּן־שְׁבַֽע־עֶשְׂרֵ֤ה שָׁנָה֙ הָיָ֨ה רֹעֶ֤ה אֶת־אֶחָיו֙ בַּצֹּ֔אן וְה֣וּא נַ֗עַר אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י בִלְהָ֛ה וְאֶת־בְּנֵ֥י זִלְפָּ֖ה נְשֵׁ֣י אָבִ֑יו וַיָּבֵ֥א יוֹסֵ֛ף אֶת־דִּבָּתָ֥ם רָעָ֖ה אֶל־אֲבִיהֶֽם׃

[Genesis 37:2: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Onkelos →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.37.2/)

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

<!-- .ens -->
1. [These are the generations of Jacob.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1176/)
2. **Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being still a lad even with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought evil report of them unto their father.**

<!-- div src -->

**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:GEN:1177` 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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Genesis 37:2 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1176/)
- next →: [Genesis 37:3 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1178/)
- ↑ back to [Genesis 37:2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.37.2/)