Philippians 1:9
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
Study Note
Study Note
Paul's prayer that love 'may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment (aisthēsis, perception/discernment)' defines Christian love not as undifferentiated emotion but as an intelligent faculty that requires epistemological growth to function rightly. The combination 'knowledge' (epignōsis) and 'all perception' (aisthēsis) suggests both systematic theological understanding and the intuitive moral sensitivity to read situations — what Aristotle called phronēsis (practical wisdom). The purpose — 'that ye may approve things that are excellent' (dokimazein ta diapheronta) — is the Greek test of assaying metals for purity: love must be able to distinguish the genuinely excellent from the merely acceptable. This verse has been central to Christian moral formation theory, insisting that virtue requires cultivated perception, not just good intentions.
Other Translations
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment;
and this I pray, that your love yet more and more may abound in full knowledge, and all judgment,
And my prayer is that you may be increased more and more in knowledge and experience;
Cross References
And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that …
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Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us …
And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as …
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see …
Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid …
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, …
Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their …
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: