A Syntactical Note on the Dative τῷ κόσμῳ in James 2:5 101 contextual dative”4. The test case for the translation of this kind of dative is to substitute the usual “to” or “for” with the expression “with reference to”. Wallace would presumably translate the dative τῷ κόσμῳ in James 2:5 with these words: “God chose those who are poor ‘with reference to the world’”5. Johnson, in his commentary on James, identifies τῷ κόσμῳ also as a dative of reference or respect and translates it as “those who are poor in the world’s eyes”6. It is interesting to note, however, that Johnson’s explanation of the dative is much closer to the definition7 of a dativus iudicantis (see below) than to the dative of reference that he identified. He comments that “those who are economically poor are regarded by ‘the world’ as inferior to others”8. In other words, the dative τῷ κόσμῳ is representative of the fact that the world made a negative judgment on the poor. But this syntactical nuance may be understood more precisely as a dativus iudicantis. The Dativus Iudicantis One alternative suggestion to be preferred over the interpretations explored above is to interpret the dative τῷ κόσμῳ as dativus iudicantis. Otfried Hofius suggests that τῷ κόσμῳ is a dativus iudicantis and should be translated as “nach unserem Urteil”9, that is to say, “according to our opinion or judgement”. In his painstaking analysis of this kind of dative, Hofius notes that grammars of Koine Greek fail to discuss this dative while some grammars of classical Greek do explain it10. As evidence, Hofius cites several examples from classical antiquity11 and finds the da- tive iudicantis in New Testament, in addition to James 2:5, in the verses 1 Cor. 2:14; 8:6 and 2 Peter 3:14. D.B. Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics. An Exegetical Syntax of the New 4 Testament (Grand Rapids 1996) 144-46. Curiously, elsewhere Wallace translates the dative τῷ κόσμῳ in James 2:5 as a dativus 5 commodi: “Did God not choose the poor in the world [to become] rich in faith?”; cf. Greek Grammar beyond the Basics, 450. Cf. L.T. Johnson, The Letter of James (New York 1995) 224. 6 Indeed, Hofius offers as one possibility for translating the dativus iudicantis in James 7 2:5 the expression “in den Augen der Welt”; cf. “Christus als Schöpfungsmittler und Er- lösungsmittler. Das Bekenntnis 1 Kor 8,6 im Kontext der paulinischen Theologie” in: O. Hofius, Paulusstudien II (Tübingen 2002) 182-83, note 3. Johnson, James, 224 (original italics). 8 Otfried Hofius, “’Einer ist Gott – Einer ist Herr.’ Erwägungen zu Struktur und Aus- 9 sage des Bekenntnisses I Kor 8,6”, in Idem, Paulusstudien II, 173-174. Cf. Hofius, “’Einer ist Gott – Einer ist Herr”, 173, note 26. 10 Sophocles, Ajax 1282; OC 1446; Euripides, Medea 580f; Xenophon, Memorabilia iv 11 2:14; iv 4:6 and Plato, Phaedrus 101d; cf. Hofius, Paulusstudien II, 174 and 181, note 3.