Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle said, “There are good and bad times, but our mood changes more often than our fortune.” It’s no less true for the authors of Bible books than it is for us.
When you sit down to study a Bible passage, you’ll make great progress by observing words, grammar, structure, and genre. One further element is important, although more subjective: mood.
What is mood? Let me demonstrate by writing the same sentence a few different ways:
- I’m not upset with you.
- I’m not upset with you.
- I’m not upset with you.
- I’M NOT UPSET WITH YOU!!!
Can you sense a slightly different intention behind each one of those statements? Can you picture a context in which you might express yourself simliarly? For example, #1 might be a simple statement, but #4 might come after days of pestering (and it might be followed with, “but I will be if you keep this up!”).
Although ancient literature didn’t have conventions like bold and italic fonts or punctuation, there are certainly other ways to communicate mood.
Look at Luke 2:13, NET: “Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying…” What sort of a mood comes across?
How might the mood come across differently if Luke had said, “Other angels were present to affirm the message.”
Or, “With a grand chorus, multitudes of angels gave voice to their delight at this new development in world history.”
Or, “Spiritual forces of darkness were able to run rampant around the world that day, because all the good guys had gathered in one place to proclaim what a big deal this little baby was going to be.”
Or, “The shepherds listened with delight to the tune of these humble servants of God.”
The author of a Bible passage is able to communicate not just the details, but how the participants experienced those details. In doing so, he desires the audience to experience this story similarly.
As far as the mood goes, Luke 2:13-14 should make you think more of “I don’t know what I’ve been told” than “Silent Night.”
Make sure you pay attention to the mood.
But doesn’t the mood of the passage come across different depending on translation? Wouldn’t it be different dependent on how they wanted to translate the bible? How should the translations of mood effect our studying?
You’re correct that mood can come across differently in different translations. Mood is the least tangible of the main things to observe, and so it’s also the thing I would hold most loosely in my study. I would recommend that, before drawing any major conclusions about the mood, you’re using a careful translation.
One reason why I like the NET is because they worked hard to make the four Gospels each sound different, since they were written by different men with different styles. In some translations, it’s difficult to tell the difference in mood between Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
This is not to say that we CAN’T observe mood. We must do our best. Sometimes it will be clear. For example, no matter what translation you read, you can tell a major difference in Paul’s mood between Galatians 1 and Philippians 1.