---
title: Genesis 43:7 (JPS 1917) — And they said: 'The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and con… · tree and pragmatics
description: And they said: 'The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying: Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words; could we in any wise know that he would say: Bring your brother down?' Who acts: they, man, fathe
---

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# Genesis 43:7 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And they said: 'The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying: Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words; could we in any wise know that he would say: Bring your brother down?'

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**Who acts:** they, man, father, ye, we · **What happens:** say, ask, be, have, tell, accord · **To what, where:** brother, man, wise · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is Genesis 43:7 · 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 (they, man, father, ye), 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:1406
# text = And they said: 'The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying: Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words; could we in any wise know that he would say: Bring your brother down?'
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
5	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	_
6	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
9	straitly	straitly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	concerning	concern	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	ourselves	ourselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	8	obl	_	_
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	concerning	concern	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	kindred	kindred	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
18	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
19	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	24	punct	_	_
20	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
21	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
22	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
23	yet	yet	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
24	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	ccomp	_	_
25	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	24	punct	_	_
26	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	ccomp	_	_
27	ye	ye	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	26	nsubj	_	_
28	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	29	det	_	_
29	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obj	_	_
30	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	26	punct	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
32	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	33	nsubj	_	_
33	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
34	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	obj	_	_
35	according	accord	VERB	VBG	ExtPos=ADP|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	38	case	_	_
36	to	to	ADP	IN	_	35	fixed	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	tenor	tenor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obl	_	_
39	of	of	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	41	det	_	_
41	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	nmod	_	_
42	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	48	punct	_	_
43	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	48	aux	_	_
44	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	48	nsubj	_	_
45	in	in	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	47	det	_	_
47	wise	wise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	obl	_	_
48	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	33	parataxis	_	_
49	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	52	mark	_	_
50	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	52	nsubj	_	_
51	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	52	aux	_	_
52	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	48	ccomp	_	_
53	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	54	punct	_	_
54	Bring	bring	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	52	ccomp	_	_
55	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	56	nmod:poss	_	_
56	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	obj	_	_
57	down	down	ADP	RP	_	54	compound:prt	_	_
58	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	48	punct	_	_
59	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	48	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the man |  |  |  |  | concern ourselves; concern our kindred; straitly *property* | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | the man *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **is** | present | your father |  |  |  | yet | alive *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **have** | present | ye | another brother |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent brother=Patient |
| 6 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | we |  | man |  |  | accord the tenor of this words | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 7 | **accord** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent |
| 8 | **know** | could | we |  |  | any wise |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 9 | **say** *speech: assert* | would | man |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 10 | **bring down** | infinitive |  |  | your brother |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument brother=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
וַיֹּאמְר֡וּ שָׁא֣וֹל שָֽׁאַל־הָ֠אִישׁ לָ֣נוּ וּלְמֽוֹלַדְתֵּ֜נוּ לֵאמֹ֗ר הַע֨וֹד אֲבִיכֶ֥ם חַי֙ הֲיֵ֣שׁ לָכֶ֣ם אָ֔ח וַנַ֨גֶּד־ל֔וֹעַל־פִּ֖י הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֑לֶּה הֲיָד֣וֹעַ נֵדַ֔ע כִּ֣י יֹאמַ֔ר הוֹרִ֖ידוּ אֶת־אֲחִיכֶֽם׃

[Genesis 43:7: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Onkelos →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.43.7/)

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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:1406` 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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