---
title: Genesis 47:4 (JPS 1917) — And they said unto Pharaoh: 'To sojourn in the land are we come; for… · tree and pragmatics
description: And they said unto Pharaoh: 'To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants' flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan. Who acts: servants, we, pasture, famine. Genesis 47:4 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Genesis 47:4 · JPS 1917, sentence 1 of 2

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And they said unto Pharaoh: 'To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants' flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** servants, we, pasture, famine · **What happens:** say, sojourn, come, be · **To what, where:** land · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Genesis 47:4 · 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 (servants, we, pasture, famine), 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:1541
# text = And they said unto Pharaoh: 'To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants' flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan.
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	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Pharaoh	Pharaoh	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	15	punct	_	_
7	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	_
8	To	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	sojourn	sojourn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	advcl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	come	come	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	ccomp	_	_
16	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	19	punct	_	_
17	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
18	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	19	expl	_	_
19	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	advcl	_	_
20	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	21	det	_	_
21	pasture	pasture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
22	for	for	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
23	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	nmod:poss	_	_
25	'	's	PART	POS	_	24	case	_	_
26	flocks	flock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	nmod	_	_
27	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	32	punct	_	_
28	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	famine	famine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nsubj	_	_
31	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	32	cop	_	_
32	sore	sore	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	advcl	_	_
33	in	in	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	_
36	of	of	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
37	Canaan	Canaan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	35	nmod	_	_
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: changed polarity=none

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | servants *= servant* |  |  |  |  | unto Pharaoh | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **sojourn** | to-infinitive | we *not said here* |  |  | the land |  |  | vn weekend-56 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in land=Location |
| 3 | **come** | present · passive | we |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **be** | present | no pasture for thy servants's flocks |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **is** | present | the famine |  |  | the land of Canaan |  | sore *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֗ה לָג֣וּר בָּאָרֶץ֮ בָּאנוּ֒ כִּי־אֵ֣ין מִרְעֶ֗ה לַצֹּאן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לַעֲבָדֶ֔יךָ כִּֽי־כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וְעַתָּ֛ה יֵֽשְׁבוּ־נָ֥א עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ בְּאֶ֥רֶץ גֹּֽשֶׁן׃

[Genesis 47:4: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Onkelos →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.47.4/)

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

<!-- .ens -->
1. **And they said unto Pharaoh: 'To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants' flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan.**
2. [Now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.'](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1542/)

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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:1541` 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 47:3 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1540/)
- next →: [Genesis 47:4 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1542/)
- ↑ back to [Genesis 47:4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.47.4/)