QUESTION—What is the force of the dative case in the phrase τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ‘to the church’? 1. This is the simple dative, denoting the indirect object [AB, Alf, EGT, MNTC, NIC, Rob, Si, St, TH, WBC, We; KJV, NASB, REB, TEV, TNT]: ‘to the church’. Paul doesn’t think of Christ as supreme over all creation for the benefit of the church, but the other way around [MNTC]. He is the head of the church in order that ultimately he may be the head of everything in existence [Cal, MNTC]. The church is to
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