Dative

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Dative and Genitive

The dative case is multifunctional, typically indicating the indirect object ("to/for"), means or instrument ("with"), or location ("in/at").

The dative identifies the recipient of an action or the tool used (e.g., "he gave a book to John" or "he wrote with a pen").

  • While both dative and genative can express possession, the genitive is the standard form for "of."
  • While the dative of possession is often used to express "to" or "for" in a benefactive sense (e.g., "a dog to Sara").

Example

Philippians 3:9 "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith(pisteōs Gen.)[1] of Christ(Christou), the righteousness which is of God by faith(pistei Dat.):"[1]

  • The first phrase dia pisteōs Christou ("through the faith of Christ") uses the genitive case for Christou and pisteōs for the word faith. This construction is the center of a major scholarly or theological debate regarding whether it is a subjective or objective genitive:
  • πιστεως pisteōs noun - genitive singular feminine from πίστις pistis[1]: persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself -- assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.

Many scholars argue this refers to Christ’s own faithfulness or fidelity to God and not merely human faith or belief. Of course the genitive here may function to identify the source or author of the righteousness as Christ and not merely the individual's power to have faith or choose to be faithful.

This should not be that complex of a problem since it is God that must write upon the heart and mind[2] of a true believer faith being a gift.[3]

  • The second phrase, epi tē pistei ("upon/by faith"), uses the dative case (pistei).
  • πιστει pistei noun - dative singular feminine from πίστις pistis[1]: persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself -- assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.

Summary

Paul is clarifying that true righteousness is not self-generated through legal observance of rituals and ceremonies like like keeping of days and Sabbaths or circumcision of the flesh but is sourced in Christ (genitive) and received through faith (dative) through the circumcision of the heart and mind[2] which is done by Christ[4] and His Comforter.[5]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 4102 ~πίστις~ pistis \@pis’-tis\@ from 3982; TDNT-6:174,849; {See TDNT 634} n f AV-faith 239, assurance 1, believe + 1537 1, belief 1, them that believe 1, fidelity 1; 244
    1) conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
    1a) relating to God
    1a1) the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
    1b) relating to Christ
    1b1) a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
    1c) the religious beliefs of Christians
    1d) belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same
    2) fidelity, faithfulness
    2a) the character of one who can be relied on
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Heart and mind
    Jeremiah 31:33 "But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
    Isaiah 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, [and] hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
    Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
    Hebrews 8:10 For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
    Hebrews 10:16 This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
    James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [ye] sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [ye] double minded.
    Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
    Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.
    Luke 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
  3. ↑ The Gift of Faith
    • Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
    • Philippians 1:29: "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ(Christou Gen.) you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake."
    • Romans 12:3 "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith(pisteōs Gen.)."
    • Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
    • James 2:19: "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."
    • Romans 10:10: "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
    • John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."... 65 "And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."
  4. ↑ Write on heart and mind
    Deuteronomy 30:9 "And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: 10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, [and] if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul."
    2 Kings 23:3 "And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all [their] heart and all [their] soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant."
    2 Chronicles 34:31 "And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book."
    Proverbs 3:3 "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:"
    Proverbs 7:3 "Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart."
    Jeremiah 31:33 "But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."
    Hebrews 8:10 "For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:"
    Hebrews 10:16 "This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws : into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;"
    2 Corinthians 3:3 [Forasmuch as ye are] manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
    Deuteronomy 6:8 "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes."
    Deuteronomy 11:18 "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes." (See Meditation)
  5. ↑ The comforter
    Lamentations 1:16 For these [things] I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.
    John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
    John 14:26 But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
    John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
    John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
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