ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Philippians 1.9-10

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

7. even as it is right for me to be thus minded on behalf of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as, both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers with me of grace. 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;

  1. 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 1:7-12, ASV)
WEB

7. It is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News, you all are partakers with me of grace. 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;

  1. 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 1:7-12, WEB)
KJV

7. Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. I have: or, ye have me in your heart of my: or, with me of grace 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; judgment: or, sense 10. That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; approve: or, try are: or, differ

  1. 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 1:7-12, KJV)
YLT

7. according as it is righteous for me to think this in behalf of you all, because of my having you in the heart, both in my bonds, and [in] the defence and confirmation of the good news, all of you being fellow-partakers with me of grace. 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,

  1. 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 1:7-12, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle, writing with Timothy named as co-sender (Phil 1:1).
  • Audience: The church at Philippi, a Roman colony in Macedonia and the first congregation Paul planted in Europe (Acts 16:11-40). The letter names overseers and deacons at 1:1 and thanks the church for repeated financial support.
  • Location: Written from imprisonment. Paul refers to his bonds and to "Caesar's household" (Phil 1:13, 4:22); the traditional identification is Roman custody, with Ephesus and Caesarea proposed as alternatives.
  • Time period: c. AD 60-62 on the traditional Roman-imprisonment dating.

Theological reading

The content of Paul's prayer, and it is more precise than devotional language usually is.

Love is asked to grow in knowledge and discernment. Hina hē agapē hymōn eti mallon kai mallon perisseuē en epignōsei kai pasē aisthēsei. Epignōsis is knowledge with a definite object, and aisthēsis, occurring only here in the New Testament, denotes perception or moral sensibility, the faculty of discrimination. So the prayer is not for more feeling but for love that has become more discriminating. Paul assumes love can be uninformed and treats that as a defect to be prayed against.

The purpose clause. Eis to dokimazein hymas ta diapheronta. Dokimazō is to test and approve after examination, used of assaying metal. Ta diapheronta can mean "the things that differ" or "the things that excel," and the two senses converge in practice: to approve what is excellent you must first tell things apart. The outcome of increased love is better judgment, which reverses the common assumption that love and discernment pull against each other.

Two words for the result. Eilikrineis, sincere, is popularly derived from being tested in sunlight, though the etymology is uncertain and should not be leaned on. Aproskopoi means without stumbling, and can be read either as not stumbling oneself or as not causing others to stumble; the ambiguity is probably productive.

The horizon again. Eis hēmeran Christou, unto the day of Christ, matching 1:6 and 2:16. Paul's prayers are consistently oriented to a verdict rather than to present comfort.

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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • 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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.