Tag Archives: James 4:8

ἐγγίσατε τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν. καθαρίσατε χεῖρας ἁμαρτωλοί καὶ ἁγνίσατε καρδίας δίψυχοι. (James 4:8)

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse hands, sinners, and purify hearts, double-minded ones.

Grammatical Structure and Spiritual Urgency

This piercing exhortation from the epistle of James combines imperative verbs with powerfully declined nouns and vocatives. Through dative, accusative, and vocative cases, the verse calls for decisive, inward and outward repentance, grounding its message in formal syntactic clarity. The declensions not only identify who is being addressed—but what kind of transformation they need.

Declinable Elements: A Closer Look Greek Word Morphology Case & Syntactic Role Notes τῷ Θεῷ 2nd declension masculine dative singular noun with article Dative of direction (“toward”) “Draw near to God” — the indirect object of nearness and communion ὑμῖν 2nd person personal pronoun, dative plural Dative of advantage (indirect object) “He will draw near to you” — reciprocal action marked by case parallel χεῖρας 3rd declension feminine accusative plural noun Accusative direct object of καθαρίσατε Outward deeds symbolized — the hands to be cleansed ἁμαρτωλοί 2nd declension masculine vocative plural adjective Vocative of direct address A wake-up call — identifying the audience as sinners καρδίας 1st declension feminine accusative plural noun Accusative direct object of ἁγνίσατε Symbolic of inner life — hearts must be purified δίψυχοι 2nd declension masculine vocative plural adjective Vocative of direct address Literally “double-souled” — denotes wavering loyalty Case Patterns and Theological Force

– The dative τῷ Θεῷ and ὑμῖν frame a mutual approach: you move toward God, and He moves toward you.… Learn Koine Greek