The dative case has several uses in ancient Greek 1) the indirect object of an action ("Matthew gave his Gospel...to all.") 2) the instrumental dative ("Matthew wrote...with a pen.") 3) the location (in time or place) dative (...in Judea.") 4) to declare a purpose (]..as a testimony"), 5) a benefit ( ."..for our benefit"); 6) possession (."..of his own") 7) an agent (."..by himself") and 8) a comparison (."..as the longest") 9) area of effect ("in the sphere of men") -- The form of this word requires the addition of a preposition in English to capture its meaning, a "to" as an indirect object, a "with" for instruments, an "in" for locations, an "as" for purposes, an "of" for possession, a "by" for agents, an "as" for comparisons, and an "in" for area of effect.