Very good - thanks. I agree with most of what you say.jdhadwin wrote:Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ are all Nominative Plural Masculine. τῷ πνεύματι are both Dative Singular Masculine. The dative words τῷ πνεύματι tells us by what means οἱ πτωχοὶ are ΜακάριοιJonathan Robie wrote:Let's focus on Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι. What can you tell me about this part of the sentence? How are οἱ and τῷ related - how are they similar, and how are they different? What do the three words that end in οι have in common? What are the different ways that the words in this clause combine to form the two meanings you say they have?
I think Μακάριοι is an adjective, not a noun, and I think this is a "dative of respect" -- see Funk's grammar, section 892.5:
Funk addresses this example specifically in section 703:The dative of respect (or relation) is used to denote the standard or person to which the assertion is limited (cf. the accusative of specification or respect, which is sometimes the virtual equivalent of the dative of respect, §894.6).
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(54) ἡμεῖς φύσει Ἰουδαῖοι Gal 2:15 We who are Jews by nature
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(55) ἐὰν μὴ περιτιμηθῆτε τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως, ... Acts 15:1 Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, ...
Example (56) provides the basis for comparing respect (τῷ προσώπῳ, by face) and relation (ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις, to the churches) : The former refers to that with respect to which the assertion holds, the latter denotes the person with respect to whom the assertion holds. Cf. Bl-D §197, Smyth §§1495, 1512, 1516.Code: Select all
(56) ἥμην δὲ ἀγνοούμενος τῷ προσώπῳ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τῆς Ἰουδαίας Gal 1:22 And I was unknown by sight to the churches of Judea
So I would tend to interpret this as an "adjective cluster with an attributive dative".703. Adjective clusters with an attributive dative fall into a number of categories, depending on what the dative specifies. For convenience, noun clusters are also included here (§6990).
703.1 The dative may be a dative of respect (denoting the respect in which the attribution applies):
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(11) oἱ πτωχοὶ / τῷ πνεύματι Mt 5:3 The poor in spirit (i.e., poor with respect to spirit)
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(12) νεκροὺς [μὲν] / τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ Rom 6:11 dead to sin (i.e., dead with respect to sin)
I think your question initially boils down to this: Can an attributive dative like τῷ πνεύματι depend on an adjective like Μακάριοι to form the construction μακάριοι τῷ πνεύματι or not? Frankly, I'm not sure.
I think context is also a clue here. All three of the following are related, if we interpret οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι as I do.jdhadwin wrote:While I am resisting exegetical commentary, I also can't help but notice that if αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν, then they are not spiritually poor, because the βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν is spirit
οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι,
οἱ πραεῖς,
οἱ πενθοῦντες,
Here's a second grouping:
οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην,
οἱ ἐλεήμονες,
οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ,
οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί,