Phillipians 3:3 Is πνεύματι a dative of direct object here?

[Scott Lawson]

Phillipians 3:3 ἡμεῖς γάρ ἐσμεν ἡ περιτομή, οἱ πνεύματι θεοῦ λατρεύοντες καὶ καυχώμενοι ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐν σαρκὶ πεποιθότες,

Hello all. It has been suggested to me that at Phillipians 3:3 that πνεύματι should be read as a dative of direct object and so mean "We are the ones worshipping the spirit of God" rather than take it as instrumental and so read "We are the ones worshipping by the spirit of God".

Why can't it be taken as a dative of direct object here?

I note that πνεύμα takes its direct object in the dative and that Greek participles can be transitive and so take a direct object.

Also BDAG under the λατρεύω glosses it as "those who worship by the Spirit of God."

λατρεύω fut. λατρεύσω; 1 aor. ἐλάτρευσα (trag. et al. in var. senses, ‘work for pay, be in servitude, render cultic service’; ins, LXX; ApcMos 13; En, Philo, SibOr 4, 104; Just.) serve, in our lit. only of the carrying out of religious duties, esp. of a cultic nature, by human beings: λ. θεῷ (Eur., Ion 152; Plut., Mor. 405c; 407e; Philo, Spec. Leg. 1, 300 ὅλῃ τ. ψυχῇ; cp. En 10:21; Orig., C. Cels. 5, 11, 39 [w. προσκυνέω]) Mt 4:10; Lk 4:8 (both Dt 6:13); 1:74; Ac 7:7 (cp. Ex 3:12); 24:14; 27:23; Hb 9:14; Rv 7:15; 22:3; Pol 2:1. τῷ ὀνόματι (θεοῦ) 1 Cl 45:7; τῷ διαβόλῳ λ. serve the devil (in reality) ISm 9:1. Of the Jews λ. ἀγγέλοις PtK 2 p. 14, 26. Of image-worship (Ex 20:5; 23:24; Ezk 20:32; En 99:7; Just., A I, 53, 6; Theoph. Ant. 2, 34 p. 184, 26; 3, 9 p. 222, 23) Ac 7:42; Ro 1:25; εἰδώλοις AcPl Ha 2, 32.—W. indication of the manner in which the service (τῷ θεῷ) is performed (cp. τὴν ἀληθῆ λαθρείαν λ. τῷ θεῷ Orig., C. Cels. 2, 2, 42) (τῷ θεῷ) ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει serve (God) w. a clear conscience 2 Ti 1:3. (διὰ χάριτος) λ. εὐαρέστως τῷ θεῷ μετὰ εὐλαβείας καὶ δέους (in thankfulness) serve God acceptably with reverence and awe Hb 12:28. (τῷ θεῷ) λ. ἐν τῷ πνεύματί μου ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ I serve (God) with my spirit in the gospel Ro 1:9 (cp. Phil 3:3 v.l.).—Without the dat. of the one to whom service is given: ἐν ἐκτενείᾳ νύκτα κ. ἡμέραν λ. serve (God) earnestly night and day Ac 26:7. νηστείαις κ. δεήσεσιν λ. νύκτα κ. ἡμέραν serve (God) night and day w. fasting and prayer Lk 2:37.

οἱ πνεύματι θεοῦ λατρεύοντες those who worship by the Spirit of God Phil 3:3

(HKoester, NTS 8, ’62, 320f: work as a missionary in the Spirit of God). ὁ λατρεύων the worshiper (who is concerned w. the rituals prescribed by Mosaic ordinance) Hb 9:9; 10:2.—Hb also adds to λ. in the dat. the holy objects by means of which the priest renders service 8:5; 13:10.—WBrandt, Dienst u. Dienen im NT ’31; CCranfield, Interpretation 12, ’58, 387–98; BReicke, NT Studies: TManson memorial vol., ’59, 194–209.—DELG s.v. λάτρον. M-M. EDNT. TW.

[Jonathan Robie]

Why can't it be taken as a dative of direct object here?

Isn't a dative of manner more straightforward?

Two things to consider:

1. The "dative of direct object" is a somewhat suspect category. See, for instance:

https://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/vi ... 3fb7c74211

http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/project/f ... on-62.html

2. A dative of manner handles this nicely, and it's what BDAG suggests for this verse. From the quote you provided:

W. indication of the manner in which the service (τῷ θεῷ) is performed (cp. τὴν ἀληθῆ λαθρείαν λ. τῷ θεῷ Orig., C. Cels. 2, 2, 42) (τῷ θεῷ) ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει serve (God) w. a clear conscience 2 Ti 1:3. (διὰ χάριτος) λ. εὐαρέστως τῷ θεῷ μετὰ εὐλαβείας καὶ δέους (in thankfulness) serve God acceptably with reverence and awe Hb 12:28. (τῷ θεῷ) λ. ἐν τῷ πνεύματί μου ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ I serve (God) with my spirit in the gospel Ro 1:9 (cp. Phil 3:3 v.l.).

[Eeli Kaikkonen]

Whether it's called "direct object" or "indirect" or something else isn't the most relevant question. As we can see even in the beginning of the BDAG quote the default case for the target of worship is dative ("λ. θεῷ"). It's of course interesting why it has been interpreted as manner (or something else) rather than the target of the worship. It's probably contextual, and I, along with translators etc., would have difficulties seeing the phrase as an object. "Manner" feels more natural interpretation.

It's possible that there are systematic-theological presumptions at work. I can see how someone could argue for trinitarian personhood of the Spirit based on this. But it would be circular reasoning and as I said, I don't think it's the most natural contextual reading.

[Scott Lawson]

I did a quick search of πνεύματι in the bare dative and found the following examples. I see that at Luke 9:42 it is used as a dative complement but πνεύματι is a clear reference to an agent, in this case an unclean spirit.

ἔτι δὲ προσερχομένου αὐτοῦ ἔρρηξεν αὐτὸν τὸ δαιμόνιον καὶ συνεσπάραξεν· ἐπετίμησεν δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ καὶ ἰάσατο τὸν παῖδα καὶ ἀπέδωκεν αὐτὸν τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ.
(Luke 9:42 GNT28-T)


Σκληροτράχηλοι καὶ ἀπερίτμητοι καρδίαις καὶ τοῖς ὠσίν, ὑμεῖς ἀεὶ τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ ἀντιπίπτετε ὡς οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ ὑμεῖς.
(Acts 7:51 GNT28-T)


ἔδοξεν γὰρ τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ ἡμῖν μηδὲν πλέον ἐπιτίθεσθαι ὑμῖν βάρος πλὴν τούτων τῶν ἐπάναγκες,
(Acts 15:28 GNT28-T)

ὁ γὰρ λαλῶν γλώσσῃ οὐκ ἀνθρώποις λαλεῖ ἀλλὰ θεῷ· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀκούει, πνεύματι δὲ λαλεῖ μυστήρια·
(1 Corinthians 14:2 GNT28-T)



οὕτως ἀνόητοί ἐστε, ἐναρξάμενοι πνεύματι νῦν σαρκὶ ἐπιτελεῖσθε;
(Galatians 3:3 GNT28-T)

ἡμεῖς γὰρ πνεύματι ἐκ πίστεως ἐλπίδα δικαιοσύνης ἀπεκδεχόμεθα.
(Galatians 5:5 GNT28-T)


Λέγω δέ, πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν σαρκὸς οὐ μὴ τελέσητε.
(Galatians 5:16 GNT28-T)


εἰ δὲ πνεύματι ἄγεσθε, οὐκ ἐστὲ ὑπὸ νόμον.
(Galatians 5:18 GNT28-T)


Εἰ ζῶμεν πνεύματι, πνεύματι καὶ στοιχῶμεν.
(Galatians 5:25 GNT28-T)


Ἐν ᾧ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀκούσαντες τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς σωτηρίας ὑμῶν, ἐν ᾧ καὶ πιστεύσαντες ἐσφραγίσθητε τῷ πνεύματι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῷ ἁγίῳ,
(Ephesians 1:13 GNT28-T)



ἀνανεοῦσθαι δὲ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ νοὸς ὑμῶν
(Ephesians 4:23 GNT28-T)


καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος, ὃν ὁ κύριος [Ἰησοῦς] ἀνελεῖ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργήσει τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ,
(2 Thessalonians 2:8 GNT28-T)

[Jonathan Robie]

Whether it's called "direct object" or "indirect" or something else isn't the most relevant question. As we can see even in the beginning of the BDAG quote the default case for the target of worship is dative ("λ. θεῷ"). It's of course interesting why it has been interpreted as manner (or something else) rather than the target of the worship. It's probably contextual, and I, along with translators etc., would have difficulties seeing the phrase as an object. "Manner" feels more natural interpretation.

Yes. Here are examples where the dative is used for the object of worship:

Romans 1:9
μάρτυς γάρ μού ἐστιν ὁ Θεός, ᾧ λατρεύω ἐν τῷ πνεύματί μου ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ

MAT 4:10
γέγραπται γάρ Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις.

2TI 1:3
Χάριν ἔχω τῷ Θεῷ, ᾧ λατρεύω ...

LUK 1:75
τοῦ δοῦναι ἡμῖν ἀφόβως ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν ῥυσθέντας λατρεύειν αὐτῷ ἐν ὁσιότητι καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ πάσαις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἡμῶν

Regardless, I think it's important to consider the verb, not just πνεύματι, which can mean very different things in different contexts with different verbs, e.g.

in [the] spirit
a spirit
spirit
breath
in spirit
Spirit
by [the] Spirit
[the] Spirit
[the] spirit
in the Spirit

[Jonathan Robie]

Update: you can use these links to see full results for the queries we have been discussing. Turn on English glosses if you need them ...

1. πνεύματι - all instances - probably not the most useful
2. Objects of λατρεύω
3. Adverbials with λατρεύω

[Scott Lawson]

Thank you Jonathan and everyone who chipped in.