independentpurposecausecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
The man in the land of Uz 1:1–5
1
A man there was in the land of Uz —independent — the inverted opening — אִישׁ הָיָה, subject first: the once-upon-a-time cadence, and a land outside Israel
Job was his name;independent — verbless naming formula
and that man was blameless and upright, one fearing God and turning from evil.independent — the four-fold verdict — תָּם וְיָשָׁר, fearing and turning: the narrator's own testimony, soon to be God's (v. 8)
2
And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.independent — seven and three — the tens of a complete house
3
His livestock was seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-donkeys, and a very great household;independent — the sevens and threes again, in thousands; עֲבֻדָּה — the whole service of servants
and that man was greater than all the sons of the east.independent — בְּנֵי־קֶדֶם — the fabled sages of the east; Job the greatest of them
4
His sons would go and hold a feast, each at his house on his day,independent — weqatal habituals — the settled round of festivity
and they would send and invite their three sistersindependent — the Kethiv אחיתיהם / Qere אַחְיוֹתֵיהֶם sit side by side in the text here
to eat and drink with them.purpose — purpose infinitives — the feast's whole agenda
5
And when the days of the feast had run their round,conditional — temporal frame — הִקִּיפוּ, the circuit completed; leaning on the mainline below
Job would send and consecrate them;independent — קִדֵּשׁ — the father as household priest
he would rise early in the morningindependent — הִשְׁכִּים — the diligence formula
and offer burnt offerings by the number of them all;independent — one עֹלָה per child — piety by arithmetic
for Job said,cause — the motive clause — כִּי אָמַר
'Perhaps my children have sinnedcontent — אוּלַי — piety against a mere maybe
and blessed God in their hearts.'content — בֵּרְכוּ — the famous scribal EUPHEMISM: 'blessed' written where 'cursed' is meant (again vv. 11; 2:5, 9)
Thus Job would do all the days.independent — the exposition closes on habit — כָּל־הַיָּמִים
The first council in heaven 1:6–12
6
Now the day cameindependent — וַיְהִי הַיּוֹם — the scene-shift formula; earth gives way to heaven
when the sons of God cameindependent — בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים — the divine council in session
to present themselves before YHWH,purpose — הִתְיַצֵּב עַל — courtiers standing in attendance
and the satan too came among them.independent — הַשָּׂטָן with the ARTICLE — a title, 'the adversary/accuser', not yet a proper name
7
And YHWH said to the satan,independent — the dialogue opens from the throne
'From where do you come?'content — the court's opening formality
And the satan answered YHWH and said,independent — the full answering formula
'From roaming the earth, and from walking about on it.'content — מִשּׁוּט — the roving patrol; the accuser as the eyes of the court
8
And YHWH said to the satan,independent — YHWH raises the case — the boast is God's, not Job's
'Have you set your heart on my servant Job?content — עַבְדִּי — 'my servant': the honorific of Abraham, Moses, David
For there is none like him in the earth —cause — the incomparability formula
a man blameless and upright, fearing God and turning from evil.'phrase modifier — v. 1's four-fold verdict repeated verbatim — now in God's own mouth
9
And the satan answered YHWH and said,independent — the wager begins
'Is it for nothing that Job fears God?content — הַחִנָּם — 'gratis?': the book's central question, asked in one word
10
Have you not yourself hedged him about, and his house, and all that he has, on every side?content — שַׂכְתָּ — the hedge; note the Kethiv את / Qere אַתָּה pair in the text
The work of his hands you have blessed,content — בֵּרַכְתָּ in its TRUE sense — the accuser can say the word straight
and his livestock bursts out in the land.content — פָּרַץ — herds breaking every fence but the satan's point: the hedge
11
But stretch out your hand nowcontent — וְאוּלָם — the adversative pivot of the wager
and touch all that he has —content — נָגַע — a mere touch, from heaven
he will bless you to your face!'content — אִם־לֹא oath formula ('if he does not… !') — and the euphemistic 'bless' again, meaning its opposite
12
And YHWH said to the satan,independent — the wager accepted
'Look — all that he has is in your hand;content — the possessions handed over — verbless, instantaneous
only against him do not stretch out your hand.'content — רַק — the limit; the satan's own verb (v. 11) bounded
And the satan went out from the presence of YHWH.independent — the council adjourns; the scene drops to earth
The four blows 1:13–19
13
Now the day came,independent — the formula of v. 6 again — but this time the day belongs to earth
while his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their firstborn brother's house,independent — circumstantial participles — the feast of v. 4 in progress as the blow falls
14
a messenger came to Job and said,independent — the first of four — the relay begins
'The oxen were plowingcontent — the report opens on ordinary work
and the she-donkeys grazing beside them,content — עַל־יְדֵיהֶם — 'at their hands', close by
15
and Sheba fell on them and took them;content — the Sabeans — the first blow, by human raiders
the servants they struck with the edge of the sword;content — לְפִי־חָרֶב — 'by the mouth of the sword'
and I alone have escaped —content — the survivor formula, first sounding — וָאִמָּלְטָה רַק־אֲנִי לְבַדִּי
to tell you.'purpose — the survivor exists to carry the news
16
While this one was still speaking,conditional — עוֹד זֶה מְדַבֵּר — the relay formula: no gap between blows
another came and said,independent — the second messenger
'The fire of God fell from the heavenscontent — אֵשׁ אֱלֹהִים — the second blow, from the sky: the blows alternate human and heavenly
and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them;content — the flocks of v. 3 gone
and I alone have escaped —content — the formula again, verbatim
to tell you.'purpose
17
While this one was still speaking,conditional — the relay formula, third time
another came and said,independent — the third messenger
'Chaldeans formed three columnscontent — שְׁלֹשָׁה רָאשִׁים — a three-pronged raid; human agency again
and raided the camels and took them,content — the three thousand camels of v. 3
and the servants they struck with the edge of the sword;content — the same clause as v. 15 — the reports rhyme
and I alone have escaped —content
to tell you.'purpose
18
While this one was yet speaking,conditional — עַד for עוֹד — the formula's one variation, at the worst news
another came and said,independent — the fourth messenger
'Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their firstborn brother's house —content — v. 13's idyll repeated word for word — the narrator has already shown us what this sentence precedes
19
and look — a great wind came from across the wildernesscontent — רוּחַ גְּדוֹלָה — the fourth blow, from the sky: the alternation completes
and struck the four corners of the house,content — four corners, four blows
and it fell on the young people, and they died;content — הַנְּעָרִים — here the CHILDREN; the word that meant 'servants' in every prior report now takes everything
and I alone have escaped —content — the formula's fourth and final sounding
to tell you.'purpose
YHWH gave, and YHWH has taken 1:20–22
20
Then Job rose,independent — five wayyiqtols in a row — grief enacted before it speaks
tore his robeindependent — קָרַע — the mourning rite
and shaved his head;independent — גָּזַז — the second rite
and he fell to the earthindependent — אַרְצָה — down to the dust
and worshiped.independent — וַיִּשְׁתָּחוּ — the astonishing fifth verb: not cursing but prostration
21
And he said,independent — the confession
'Naked I came from my mother's womb,content — the Kethiv יצתי / Qere יָצָאתִי pair sits in the text here
and naked I shall return there.content — שָׁמָה — 'there': the womb become the earth
YHWH gave,content — two words in the Hebrew
and YHWH has taken;content — the same hand in both clauses
may the name of YHWH be blessed.'content — מְבֹרָךְ — the true blessing, where the satan predicted cursing: the wager lost in one line
22
In all this Job did not sin,independent — the narrator's verdict
nor did he charge God with anything unseemly.independent — תִּפְלָה — a rare word: 'unseemliness, folly'; Job gave God nothing of it
Analysis. The prose prologue, laid out clause by clause. The narrative mainline runs flush-left in wayyiqtol chains — nowhere more starkly than v. 20, where five verbs in a row (rose, tore, shaved, fell, worshiped) enact grief before a word is spoken, and the fifth verb is not the one the wager predicted. All speech hangs as content-clauses under its verb of saying: the heavenly dialogue of vv. 7–12 alternates speaker by speaker, and the four messenger reports of vv. 14–19 share one shape — report, the survivor formula ('and I alone have escaped'), and the purpose tail 'to tell you' — with the relay formula 'while this one was still speaking' leaning forward between them. The famous euphemism (בֵּרַךְ written for 'curse', vv. 5, 11) and its reversal in Job's true blessing (v. 21) are flagged in the tags, as are the chapter's three Kethiv-Qere pairs, which stand as adjacent words in the running text.