A Syntactical Note on the Dative τῷ κόσμῳ in James 2:5 103 eral idea of the dative of reference that the poor are poor “with reference to the world”. Finally, this reading also adds precision to the dativus iudicantis. It may be argued that the dativus instrumentalis of the causual type is a kind of reversed dativus iudicantis in that the cosmos in not the agent of judgment but the object that is itself judged. Does the context support this reading? It does insofar as God is the agent who chose the poor16, presumably because he himself has judged that the cosmos is mistaken in its judgment on the poor. Having said all this, I am proposing as a plausible rendering of James 2:5 the following translation: “Listen now, my dear brothers [and sisters], did God not choose those who are poor on account of this world [as those who are] rich in faith and who inherit the reign which he promised to those who love him?” Peter FRICK St. Paul’s United College, University of Waterloo Westmount Road North Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G5 (CANADA) The negative particle οὐχ in the clause οὐχ ὁ θεὸς ἐξελέξατο τοὺς πτωχοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ 16 πλουσίους ἐν πίστει expects a positive answer; cf. S.E. Porter, Idioms of the Greek New Testament (Sheffield 21994) 278-79. It is, therefore, possible to translate James 2:5 in a positive manner: “God has (indeed) chosen those who are poor on account of the world [to be] rich in faith”.