καρδίᾳ· (kardia) in Matthew 5:8: Noun Dative Singular Feminine
καρδίᾳ· (kardia) in Matthew 5:8
Textual Witness
The witness reads καρδίᾳ· in Matthew 5:8.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The dative noun locates the purity in the heart or inner life.
How To Communicate It
Use it to keep the Beatitude from reducing purity to outward appearance.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Keep heart tied to pure in Matthew 5:8.
- Do not reduce the heart to emotion alone.
- Do not overstate the dative beyond its qualifying role.
- Do not detach inward purity from the promise that follows.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the form names a person, place, thing, or concept in the clause.
Dative: marks relation, sphere, means, or reference as the context requires.
Singular: the number should be read from this occurrence, not generalized beyond the clause.
Feminine: grammatical gender marks form agreement and does not by itself make a theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
Pure
The pure in heart description in Matthew 5:8
Qualifies where the purity is in view.
Do not treat heart as merely anatomical or as a vague feeling detached from the person.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The noun keeps the Beatitude's purity language inwardly focused.
Dative noun qualifying pure. specifies the sphere or respect of purity. Attached to pure. Governed by the pure in heart description in Matthew 5:8. Read with the adjective pure.
Where is the purity focused in Matthew 5:8? In the heart.
Direct: The form directly supports in heart.
The dative marks the occurrence-level relation, but context must govern whether to describe it as sphere, respect, or reference.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads καρδίᾳ· in Matthew 5:8.
The lemma καρδία carries the gloss "the heart, inner life, intention", and here it names the heart or inner life as the sphere of purity.
The dative noun works with the adjective pure to focus the description inwardly.
The people Jesus calls blessed are pure in heart, and they will see God.
The form fits Matthew's attention to inward integrity before God.
Use it to keep the Beatitude from reducing purity to outward appearance.
Do not use the dative noun alone to build a full biblical anthropology of the heart.