ἀληθείᾳ (aletheia) in John 17:17: Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀληθείᾳ (aletheia) in John 17:17
Textual Witness
The Textus Receptus witness for John 17:17 reads ἀληθείᾳ with the morphology label Noun Dative Singular Feminine.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form places truth inside the sanctification request, preparing the next statement that the Father's word is truth.
How To Communicate It
When teaching John 17:17, use this form to show that sanctification is not detached from truth or from the Father's word.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not treat this occurrence as a complete word study for G225.
- Do not make a morphology label carry doctrine or application apart from the verse.
- Do not turn grammatical gender into a biological or theological claim by itself.
- The dative relation should be explained from the phrase and clause, not forced into one narrow category apart from context.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the word names a person, reality, title, idea, or thing in the sentence. Context determines what the noun contributes here.
Dative: the case marks how the form relates to the surrounding words in this occurrence.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular or plural in this occurrence and should be read within the clause context.
Feminine: the form belongs to this grammatical class here. Grammatical gender does not by itself make a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ἁγίασον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου· ὁ λόγος ὁ
The request to sanctify them in the truth
ἀληθείᾳ is a Noun Dative Singular Feminine within "ἁγίασον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου· ὁ λόγος ὁ". The dative noun stands in the phrase that relates sanctification to the truth.
The dative does not make truth a technique or impersonal force.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form matters because it functions as dative-relation in John 17:17.
Noun Dative Singular Feminine. marks the sphere or means connected with sanctification. Attached to the prepositional phrase in the sanctification request. Governed by the request to sanctify them in the truth. The syntax should be explained from the clause, not isolated from the passage.
How is sanctification related to truth in this clause? The dative noun stands in the phrase that relates sanctification to the truth.
Direct: The dative in the prepositional phrase directly supports wording such as in the truth.
The same morphology label can function differently in another verse. The immediate wording should decide the contextual force. Grammar identifies the form's role; the passage supplies the interpretive weight. Grammatical gender is not a separate theological claim.
Grammar alone proves doctrine: The form supports interpretation only as it serves the verse and its context. dative case has only one possible force: The dative relation should be explained from the phrase and clause, not forced into one narrow category apart from context. grammatical gender proves theology: Grammatical gender is a language feature and should not be pressed beyond the verse.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The Textus Receptus witness for John 17:17 reads ἀληθείᾳ with the morphology label Noun Dative Singular Feminine.
The lemma is ἀλήθεια. The guide uses the gloss "truth" only to orient this occurrence.
ἀληθείᾳ appears in the phrase "ἁγίασον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου· ὁ λόγος ὁ". The dative noun stands in the phrase that relates sanctification to the truth.
John 17:17 relates sanctification to the truth and then identifies the Father's word as truth.
The form fits John's insistence that truth is not abstract but is bound to God's word and Jesus' mission.
When teaching John 17:17, use this form to show that sanctification is not detached from truth or from the Father's word.
Do not force the dative to choose only one English category such as sphere or means. The phrase should be explained from the whole clause.