100 Peter Frick understands τῷ κόσμῳ as a dativus commodi referring to the “poor in view of the world”1. This understanding is in accordance with the vast majority of Bible translations and many exegetes on this verse, as we noted above. Robertson defines the dativus commodi (and incommodi) in this way: “The so-called dative of advantage or disadvantage does not differ greatly from the indirect object… The personal relation is expressed by the case and it may be favourable or unfavourable. Indeed, nowhere does the personal aspect of the dative come out more clearly than in this usage”2. In the context of reading the dative τῷ κόσμῳ in James 2:5, the significance of the dativus commodi lies in pointing out, in a rather general manner, some kind of relation that the poor have in the world. Since the context implies that relation between the poor and the world is essentially negative, some exegetes have rightly maintained that the dativus commodi is more precisely to be understood as a dativus incom- modi, namely a dative of disadvantage. The Dativus Incommodi The negative aspect of the dativus commodi is emphasized by the so- called dativus incommodi. Mußner, following Moulton, remarks that τῷ κόσμῳ “kann als Dativ der interessierten Person, hier besser als Dativ der uninteressierten Person bezeichnet werden: die Armen sind ‘für die Welt’ uninteressant, bedeuten für sie nichts”3. In this sense, the dative τῷ κόσμῳ implies that the poor have a disadvantage in the world; what the disadvantage entails is not, however, evident from this reading. Given the context of James 2:5, the dativus incommodi is somewhat more precise in its meaning than the dativus commodi given the fact that the relation between the poor and the world is evidently characterized as a detrimen- tal one. The Dative of Reference or Respect Recently Wallace suggested that the dative τῷ κόσμῳ in James 2:5 should be understood as a dative of reference, a dative he explains in these terms: “The dative substantive is that in reference to which something is presented as true. An author will use this dative to qualify a state- ment that would otherwise typically not be true. This dative can thus be called a frame of reference dative, limiting dative, qualifying dative, or P.H. Davids, The Epistle of James, The New International Greek Testament Commentary 1 (Grand Rapids 1982), 112. A.T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical 2 Research (Nashville [Reprint of 1934 edition]) 538-39. Franz Mußner, Der Jakobusbrief (Freiburg/Basel/Wien 41981) 120. 3