---
title: Genesis 41:55 (JPS 1917) — And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pha… · tree and pragmatics
description: And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians: 'Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.' Who acts: people, Pharaoh, land. Genesis 41:55 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Genesis 41:55 · JPS 1917

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And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians: 'Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.'

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**Who acts:** people, Pharaoh, land · **What happens:** famish, cry, say, go, do · **To what, where:** land, Pharaoh, you · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is Genesis 41:55 · 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 (people, Pharaoh, land), 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:1357
# text = And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians: 'Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.'
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
2	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	9	mark	_	_
3	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	5	det:predet	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Egypt	Egypt	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	famished	famish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	advcl	_	_
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
13	cried	cry	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	Pharaoh	Pharaoh	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
16	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	bread	bread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
18	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	21	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
20	Pharaoh	Pharaoh	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
21	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	_
22	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
23	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	25	det:predet	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	Egyptians	Egyptian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	21	obl	_	_
26	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	28	punct	_	_
27	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	28	punct	_	_
28	Go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	21	ccomp	_	_
29	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	Joseph	Joseph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	_
31	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	34	punct	_	_
32	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	38	obj	_	_
33	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
34	saith	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	32	acl:relcl	_	_
35	to	to	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	34	obl	_	_
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
38	do	do	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	28	parataxis	_	_
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	28	punct	_	_
40	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	28	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: command
- act: request
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **famish** | past · passive |  | all land of Egypt |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **cry** *speech: express* | past | the people |  | Pharaoh |  |  | for bread | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to pharaoh=Recipient |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Pharaoh |  |  |  |  | unto all Egyptians | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **go** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | unto Joseph | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | land |  | you |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to you=Recipient |
| 6 | **do** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

<!-- .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}

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וַתִּרְעַב֙ כָּל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם וַיִּצְעַ֥ק הָעָ֛ם אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֖ה לַלָּ֑חֶם וַיֹּ֨אמֶר פַּרְעֹ֤ה לְכָל־מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ לְכ֣וּ אֶל־יוֹסֵ֔ף אֲשֶׁר־יֹאמַ֥ר לָכֶ֖ם תַּעֲשֽׂוּ׃

[Genesis 41:55: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Onkelos →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.41.55/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:GEN:1357` 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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- ← previous: [Genesis 41:54 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1356/)
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- ↑ back to [Genesis 41:55](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.41.55/)