τῷ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 τῷ

   tôi

   to the
2. sentence🔊 τί οὖν ἐστιν προσεύξομαι τῷ πνεύματι προσεύξομαι δὲ καὶ τῷ νοΐ ψαλῶ τῷ πνεύματι ψαλῶ δὲ καὶ τῷ νοΐ

   TEE oun ES-tin pro-SEU-kso-mai tôi PNEU-ma-ti pro-SEU-kso-mai de KAI tôi no-I psa-LO tôi PNEU-ma-ti psa-LO de KAI tôi no-I

   what then is I will pray to the spirit I will pray but also to the mind I will sing to the spirit I will sing but also to the mind

Exegesis

Two closely parallel clauses follow, each in the future tense first person singular, expressing Paul’s resolved intention: proseuxomai tō pneumati, proseuxomai de kai tō noi {προσεύξομαι τῷ πνεύματι, προσεύξομαι δὲ καὶ τῷ νοΐ | pro-seú-xo-mai tôi pneú-ma-ti, pro-seú-xo-mai dé kaí tôi no-ï} and psalō tō pneumati, psalō de kai tō noi {ψαλῶ τῷ πνεύματι, ψαλῶ δὲ καὶ τῷ νοΐ | psa-lô tôi pneú-ma-ti, psa-lô dé kaí tôi no-ï}. The repeated futures convey a firm, programmatic decision. The dative constructions with tō pneumati and tō noi indicate means or sphere (“with/by the spirit,” “with/by the mind”), highlighting that both inner spiritual engagement and cognitive understanding are involved in prayer and singing. The particles de and kai create tightly balanced parallelism and a both–and structure, countering any either–or division between “spirit” and “mind.” The English renderings preserve the rhetorical question, the two paired commitments, and the symmetry of the parallel clauses to reflect Paul’s emphasis on integrated, intelligible worship.

Root and etymology

pneuma🔊 πνεῦμαpi–nu–epsilon–upsilon–mu–alpha

“spirit, breath, wind”

• 🔊 πνευματικόςpneu-ma-ti-kósspiritualRomans 1:11