????In this seven-post series, we're examining the different factors that influence the tone and directness of exhortations in Greek, as well as how to map these Greek discourse features onto English in appropriate ways. Following the introductory post, this article looks at the INDICATIVE VERBAL MOOD. After this post, we'll review the IMPERATIVE and SUBJUNCTIVE verbal moods, followed by individual posts on grammatical person, negation, and discourse features and lexical semantics.

There are various options available in Greek and English for conveying an exhortation, and each of them brings about different pragmatic effects in the reader, hence the variety. One of these variables is verbal mood. 

We most often associate exhortations and commands with the imperative mood of the Greek verbal system. However, we also regularly find exhortations expressed using subjunctive and indicative mood verbs. This raises the ?so what? question about what difference the use of one mood over another makes to how a reader perceives the exhortation. The short answer is that the directness of the exhortation closely correlates to the concreteness of the verbal mood selected. The Greek verbal moods form a continuum with the indicative being the most concrete (aside from the future) and the optative being the least concrete. 

Concreteness: Relationship to Reality

Most Concrete         Least Concrete

Indicative     Imperative Subjunctive         Optative

The indicative is generally described as the most concrete or factual mood and with good reason. However, even though this is how we would expect things to work in theory, in practice?as with most things in language?reality is a bit messier. For example, what about future indicative or conditional clauses in the indicative? Are they as concrete as a present or aorist indicative? What about negated verbs that describe something that does not or did not happen? How concrete is that? This is where a prototype-theoretic understanding of language is helpful. Knowing that negation and conditionals can throw a wrench into the works, we can still observe how indicatives are generally used for communicating exhortations. 

The indicative mood is most often used for conveying indirect exhortations like wishes or desires that are largely grounded in relational connections between the writer and reader. Take a look at 1 Tim 2:8:

???????? ??? ???????????? ???? ?????? ?? ????? ????

Therefore I want the men in every place to pray (LEB)

Paul has not directly told his readers what to do but instead has expressed a desire that he reasonably expects his readers will comply with. Think about how we say things like, ?It would really mean a lot to me if you would?? in colloquial English, or ?How about you help me do the dishes?? Both of these are less direct ways of communicating to a listener that you expect them to be willing to help with something. Certain verbal lemmas have exhortations built into their lexical semantics, providing another less direct path. We have already mentioned ????????? + infinitive (?I urge/exhort?) that is regularly used to convey exhortations. 

In each of these instances the same intent could have been conveyed using the English imperative, ?Do X!? but such a direct command would not be appropriate in many social contexts. It might sound domineering or condescending, or like you are usurping the authority of the one who is really in charge. We consciously and unconsciously make decisions about these kinds of issues every day, or perhaps wish we had made them better after we have offended someone. We should not be surprised to find the same kinds of sociolinguistic principles in play in an ancient language. 

So in what kinds of contexts might a less direct form of exhortation be preferable to an imperative? Here are a few suggestions:

1. When the speaker assumes that the hearer is in basic agreement, so the greater need is naming the action than driving them to do it, as seems to be the case in 1 Tim 2:8. Paul has trained Timothy as a minister and he seems to be a willing learner. Using a more direct form could convey that the speaker does not expect the reader to agree. Think about how we ramp up requests, like being quiet at a library. You begin with ?Shhh? then move to ?Please keep it down,? to ?Be quiet!? Each step is in response to the failure of the other person to agree (and hence comply) with your demand.
2. When the speaker does not have the authority to use a more direct form. Think about the last time, if ever, you wanted to get a police officer to not do something, like give you a ticket. Most jurisdictions have laws in place that require us to comply with an officer?s directions, so efforts to redirect the officer could be viewed as obstruction of justice. 

Take a look at the kind of deference we observe in Acts 24:4, where the lawyer Tertullus prosecutes Paul before Felix, the governor:

??? ?? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ???????, ???????? ??????? ?? ???? ???????? ?? ?? ?????????.

Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, ?We have experienced* much peace through you, and reforms are taking place in this nation through your foresight. 3 Both in every way and everywhere we acknowledge this, most excellent Felix, with all gratitude. 4 But so that I may not impose on you for longer, I implore you to hear us briefly with your customary graciousness. (LEB)

I included some of the preceding text to make it easier to see how deferential he is to the governor, who has no obligation to do anything that Tertullus might ask. 

These are not the only possible reasons governing use of less direct forms of exhortation but are simply representative of the kinds of social factors that might inform such decisions.

So to summarize, the indicative is regularly employed to convey exhortations in the Greek NT just as in English today. However, the exhortation is based on the lexical semantics of the lemma rather than the morphology, and often relies heavily upon sociolinguistic or sociocultural implicatures to make them work, e.g., ?It would mean a lot to me if you?? or ?I want everyone to??

What are some other examples of less direct exhortations that you can think of from Scripture or from your present context? What factors might influence a speaker to use a less-direct form? Leave a comment below!