---
title: Genesis 47:19 (JPS 1917) — Wherefore should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy… · tree and pragmatics
description: Wherefore should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be bondmen unto Pharaoh; and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not desolate.' Who acts: we, you, land. Genesis 47:19 in JPS 1917 with its dependenc
---

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# Genesis 47:19 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Wherefore should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be bondmen unto Pharaoh; and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not desolate.'

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**Who acts:** we, you, land · **What happens:** die, buy, be, give, live, not die · **To what, where:** us, bondmen, seed

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Genesis 47:19 · 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 (we, you, 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:1560
# text = Wherefore should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be bondmen unto Pharaoh; and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not desolate.'
1	Wherefore	wherefore	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	parataxis	_	_
5	before	before	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	thine	thine	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	both	both	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc:preconj	_	_
10	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	appos	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
15	buy	buy	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
16	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	conj	_	_
20	for	for	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	bread	bread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
24	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
26	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	conj	_	_
28	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
29	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	30	cop	_	_
30	bondmen	bondman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	conj	_	_
31	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
32	Pharaoh	Pharaoh	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	30	nmod	_	_
33	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	35	punct	_	_
34	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
35	give	give	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	15	conj	_	_
36	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	35	iobj	_	_
37	seed	seed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obj	_	_
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
39	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	42	mark	_	_
40	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	42	nsubj	_	_
41	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	42	aux	_	_
42	live	live	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	35	advcl	_	_
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
44	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
45	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	46	advmod	_	_
46	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	42	conj	_	_
47	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	54	punct	_	_
48	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	54	cc	_	_
49	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	54	mark	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
51	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	nsubj	_	_
52	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	54	cop	_	_
53	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	54	advmod	_	_
54	desolate	desolate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	42	conj	_	_
55	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
56	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: request
- voice: character
- polarity: neg
- indirect: yes
- teacher: changed act=request

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** | should | we |  |  |  | before thine eyes | wherefore *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **buy** | imperative | you *not said here* | us |  |  |  | for bread | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent we=Theme for bread=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **is a** | future | we | bondmen |  |  |  | unto Pharaoh | tree rules |
| 4 | **give** | infinitive | you *not said here* | seed | us |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent we=Recipient seed=Theme |
| 5 | **live** | may | we |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **not** **die** | infinitive | we *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 7 | **not** **is** | infinitive | the land |  |  |  |  | desolate *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 -->
לָ֧מָּה נָמ֣וּת לְעֵינֶ֗יךָ גַּם־אֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙ גַּ֣ם אַדְמָתֵ֔נוּ קְנֵֽה־אֹתָ֥נוּ וְאֶת־אַדְמָתֵ֖נוּ בַּלָּ֑חֶם וְנִֽהְיֶ֞ה אֲנַ֤חְנוּ וְאַדְמָתֵ֙נוּ֙ עֲבָדִ֣ים לְפַרְעֹ֔ה וְתֶן־זֶ֗רַע וְנִֽחְיֶה֙ וְלֹ֣א נָמ֔וּת וְהָאֲדָמָ֖ה לֹ֥א תֵשָֽׁם׃

[Genesis 47:19: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Onkelos →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.47.19/)

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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:1560` 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 47:18 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1559/)
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- ↑ back to [Genesis 47:19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.47.19/)