# Philippians 1.10

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-10-20 | updated: 2026-10-20 -->

**Book:** [Philippians](/codex/philippians/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 8. For God is my witness, how I long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. 9. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment;
>
> **10. so that ye may approve the things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day of Christ;**
>
> 11. being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. 12. Now I would have you know, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel; (Philippians 1:8-12, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 8. For God is my witness, how I long after all of you in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. 9. This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment;
>
> **10. so that you may approve the things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ;**
>
> 11. being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. 12. Now I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the Good News; (Philippians 1:8-12, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 8. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. 9. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; <sup>judgment: or, sense</sup>
>
> **10. That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; <sup>approve: or, try</sup> <sup>are: or, differ</sup>**
>
> 11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. 12. But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; (Philippians 1:8-12, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 8. For God is my witness, how I long for you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ, 9. and this I pray, that your love yet more and more may abound in full knowledge, and all judgment,
>
> **10. for your proving the things that differ, that ye may be pure and offenceless, to a day of Christ,**
>
> 11. being filled with the fruit of righteousness, that [is] through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. 12. And I wish you to know, brethren, that the things concerning me, rather to an advancement of the good news have come, (Philippians 1:8-12, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** [Paul the Apostle](/codex/paul-the-apostle/), writing with Timothy named as co-sender (Philippians 1:1).
- **Audience:** The [Church at Philippi](/codex/church-at-philippi/), in a Roman colony of Macedonia (Acts 16:12), founded on the mission narrated in Acts 16 and addressed with its bishops and deacons (Philippians 1:1). The church had sent Paul a gift by Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-30, 4:18). The verse states the purpose of the prayer begun in Philippians 1:9, which moves from love and discernment to readiness for the day of Christ (Philippians 1:9-11).
- **Location:** Written from imprisonment (Philippians 1:7, 1:13). The place is debated: Rome is the traditional identification, and Ephesus and Caesarea are proposed as alternatives.
- **Time period:** Depends on the imprisonment: c. AD 60-62 if Rome, c. AD 57-59 if Caesarea, the mid-50s if Ephesus.

## Theological reading

**The prayer aims at tested judgment.** "so that ye may approve the things that are excellent" (Philippians 1:10, ASV). The verb *dokimazō* (G1381) means to test something and, having tested it, to approve it. Its object, *ta diapheronta* (G1308), can mean "the things that differ" or "the things that excel", and the ASV takes the second. Paul uses the same verb and object in Romans 2:18, of the Jewish teacher who "approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law" (Romans 2:18, ASV). Here the capacity grows instead out of love that abounds "in knowledge and all discernment" (Philippians 1:9, ASV).

**"Sincere" and "void of offence" describe the result.** *Eilikrinēs* (G1506) means pure or unmixed; its only other New Testament use is 2 Peter 3:1, "your sincere mind" (2 Peter 3:1, ASV). *Aproskopos* (G677) is debated. Read intransitively it means not stumbling, the sense of Acts 24:16, "a conscience void of offence toward God and men always" (Acts 24:16, ASV). Read transitively it means not causing others to stumble, as in "Give no occasion of stumbling" (1 Corinthians 10:32, ASV). Both fit a prayer for a church Paul will soon urge toward unity (Philippians 2:1-4), and some readers hold that both are in view.

**The horizon is "the day of Christ".** The phrase looks back to 1:6, "he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6, ASV), and forward to 2:16. Paul holds the two together without strain: God completes the work, and the church is to grow in discernment so as to be found pure on that day. The same pairing returns in 2:12-13, where the church works out its salvation because God is at work in it.

## Key words

_Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._

- [G5547 - christos](/codex/g5547-christos/), *christos*, Strong's G5547

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## Quoted in

**Arguments and defeaters:**

- [Tree of Knowledge Objection Defeater](/codex/tree-of-knowledge-objection-defeater/), via [Philippians 1.9-10](/codex/philippians-1-9-10/)

**Concepts:**

- [Atheism](/codex/atheism/), via [Philippians 1.9-10](/codex/philippians-1-9-10/)
- [Christian Discernment](/codex/christian-discernment/), via [Philippians 1.9-10](/codex/philippians-1-9-10/)
- [Tree of Knowledge Objection](/codex/tree-of-knowledge-objection/), via [Philippians 1.9-10](/codex/philippians-1-9-10/)

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## Notes

_Your annotations._

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.