One of the oral reader's most helpful tools is the pause. It's the means of phrasing, of grouping words into units of meaning. In Daniel 6:2, "And over these three presidents," the meaning suggests grouping the words "And over these" into a unit of thought and pausing after it, even though there is no punctuation mark to signal such phrasing. Meaning, not written punctuation, determines pausing.
Pause is also one of our means of emphasizing a point—pausing after and/or before it will make it stand out. For instance, in John 9:7, "He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing," a pause before "seeing" emphasizes the healing.
The pause may indicate change—change of time, place, persons, or circumstances; or a shift from narration to direct discourse or vice versa. We find in Luke 15:24, 25: . . he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field . . . ." A significant pause after "and is found" clearly distinguishes between the direct discourse and the narration that follows. Also, a pause following "And they began to be merry" designates a change in focus from the younger son to the elder and from the house to the field. When a pause signifies any of these changes, it becomes an important part of the transition, because it enables both reader and listener to make the necessary mental adjustment to a new thought.
