The Temper of Verbal Moods IN New Testament Greek

New Testament Greek verbs, like English verbs, have moods. This is not how they’re feeling on the day. It is the form of the verb that shows the mode or manner in which the thought conveyed by the verb is expressed.

Confused? The best way to explain verbal moods is to jump right in and swim around.

English verbs have four moods. New Testament Greek verbs have the same four moods plus, strictly speaking, two others. We will get back to the “strictly speaking” part of that sentence later.

The big mood of both English and NT Greek verbs is:

The Indicative Mood

The indicative mood is the mood of statements or questions. It is the realm of “facts”, the realm of reality. An important concept to grasp at the outset is that the fact or reality does not need to be true - it may in fact be a deliberate lie - but it is presented as fact.

This is the default mood for narrative. The indicative mood is everywhere in the Gospels, Acts and Revelations. It is also common in the epistles where the author of the letter is making assertions or asking - often rhetorical - questions.

The mood is the same in English. For example:

• “Ostriches cannot fly” is in the indicative mood. It is a statement of fact. It also happens to be true but:

• “Ostriches fly south for the winter” is also in the indicative mood. It is also a statement of fact but in this case the fact is false.

• “Have you reviewed the declension of λόγος” is in the indicative mood. It is a question concerning facts.

The next most important mood is:

The Subjunctive Mood

If the indicative mood is the mood of reality, the subjunctive mood is the mood of unreality, the mood of uncertainty or contingency.

The subjunctive mood exists in English. That grand statement-making word “is” becomes a little less sure of itself and starts making noises like “would”, “could”, “should”.

“Should I graduate, I will take a vacation in Europe”.

There is nothing definite here but there is possibility. If the subjunctive is a mood of potential, it is a mood related to the future.

The next mood you need to be across is also related to the future but leaves the realm of possibility behind in the rear view mirror.

The Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is the mood of command, appeal or prohibition. As such, it is clearly related to the future and, as such, it is the most uncertain of the moods, the mood furthest removed from reality. You never know if the person you are commanding, entreating or prohibiting is going to take the slightest notice of you.

“Wash your teeth!” is in the imperative mood but is your thirteen year old son even listening?

An oddity in New Testament Greek is a mood that sits somewhere in between the potential of the subjunctive and the complete unknowability of the imperative. This is a mood called:

The Optative Mood

What is the optative mood? For our present purposes, I would suggest that you not worry your head about it. It occurs less than seventy times in the New Testament, but if you really want to know, it is a mood that leans further towards the realm of the less likely than the subjunctive does.

If you were reading Plato, you would need to be seriously across this mood.

We have two more moods to consider. This is where I would like to get back to the “strictly speaking” part of my opening remarks.

All good text books will tell you that Greek infinitives and participles are moods. That is, there is an infinitival mood and a participial mood.

This, strictly speaking, may be the case and far be it from me to argue the case with our worthy grammarians, but I have never found this to be a useful or even meaningful concept when learning NT Greek.

Infinitives and participles are confusing enough for the beginner without further dressing them up in grammatical finery.

I would like to suggest that in your early stages of reading NT Greek you ignore this piece of grammatical adornment and think of Greek infinitives as infinitives and Greek participles as participles.

Perhaps think of them this way also in the later stages of your NT Greek journey.

I am sure the error of my ways will be pointed out to me one day. On that day I will recant and tell you differently.

In Conclusion

This post is intended to introduce you to the moods of New Testament Greek verbs and give you a feel for the realm of reality, unreality or otherwise that they inhabit.

Their actual use in the New Testament is another subject altogether and something we will be addressing in subsequent posts.