---
title: Genesis 26:7 (JPS 1917) — And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said: 'She is… · tree and pragmatics
description: And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said: 'She is my sister'; for he feared to say: 'My wife'; 'lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is fair to look upon.' Who acts: men, Isaac, wife. Genesis 26:7 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics
---

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# Genesis 26:7 · JPS 1917

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said: 'She is my sister'; for he feared to say: 'My wife'; 'lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is fair to look upon.'

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** men, Isaac, wife · **What happens:** ask, say, be, fear, kill, look · **To what, where:** Isaac, sister, wife, me · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is Genesis 26:7 · 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 (men, Isaac, wife), 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:740
# text = And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said: 'She is my sister'; for he feared to say: 'My wife'; 'lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is fair to look upon.'
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
12	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	15	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
16	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	21	punct	_	_
17	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	21	punct	_	_
18	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
19	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
20	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	ccomp	_	_
22	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	21	punct	_	_
23	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	26	punct	_	_
24	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	26	mark	_	_
25	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
26	feared	fear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
27	to	to	PART	TO	_	28	mark	_	_
28	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	xcomp	_	_
29	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	32	punct	_	_
30	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	32	punct	_	_
31	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	32	nmod:poss	_	_
32	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obj	_	_
33	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	32	punct	_	_
34	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	43	punct	_	_
35	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	43	punct	_	_
36	lest	lest	SCONJ	IN	_	43	mark	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	43	nsubj	_	_
39	of	of	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nmod	_	_
42	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	43	aux	_	_
43	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	advcl	_	_
44	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	43	obj	_	_
45	for	for	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
46	Rebekah	Rebekah	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	43	obl	_	_
47	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	51	punct	_	_
48	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	51	mark	_	_
49	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	51	nsubj	_	_
50	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	51	cop	_	_
51	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	43	advcl	_	_
52	to	to	PART	TO	_	53	mark	_	_
53	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	51	csubj	_	_
54	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	53	obl	_	_
55	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
56	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: character
- polarity: neg
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the men of the place |  | Isaac |  |  | of Isaac's wife | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Isaac |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present | wife | my sister |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **fear** | past | Isaac |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | Isaac *not said here* | My wife |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent wife=Topic |
| 6 | **kill** | should | the men of the place | me |  |  |  | for Rebekah | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme |
| 7 | **is** | present | wife |  |  |  |  | fair *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **look** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
וַֽיִּשְׁאֲל֞וּ אַנְשֵׁ֤י הַמָּקוֹם֙ לְאִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֲחֹ֣תִי הִ֑וא כִּ֤י יָרֵא֙ לֵאמֹ֣ר אִשְׁתִּ֔י פֶּן־יַֽהַרְגֻ֜נִי אַנְשֵׁ֤י הַמָּקוֹם֙ עַל־רִבְקָ֔ה כִּֽי־טוֹבַ֥ת מַרְאֶ֖ה הִֽיא׃

[Genesis 26:7: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Onkelos →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.26.7/)

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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:740` 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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