καὶ αἰτούμενοι] The words have an exact parallel in Mark xi. 24 (as correctly read) πάντα ὅσα προσεύχεσθε καὶ αἰτεῖσθε.
ἵνα] With words like προσεύχεσθαι, αἰτεῖσθαι, etc., the earlier and stronger force of ἵνα, implying design, glides imperceptibly into its later and weaker use, signifying merely purport or result, so that the two are hardly separable, unless one or other is directly indicated by something in the context. See the notes on Phil. i. 9, and comp. Winer § xliv. p. 420 sq.
τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν] A favourite word in the later epistles of St Paul; see the note on Phil. i. 9. In all the four epistles of the first Roman captivity it is an element in the Apostle’s opening prayer for his correspondents’ well-being (Phil. i. 9, Ephes. i. 17, Philem. 6, and here). The greater stress which is thus laid on the contemplative aspects of the Gospel may be explained partly by St Paul’s personal circumstances, partly by the requirements of the Church. His enforced retirement and comparative leisure would lead his own thoughts in this direction, while at the same time the fresh dangers threatening the truth from the side of mystic speculation required to be confronted by an exposition of the Gospel from a corresponding point of view.
The compound ἐπίγνωσις is an advance upon γνῶσις, denoting a larger and more thorough knowledge. So Chrysostom here, ἔγνωτε, ἀλλὰ δεῖ τι καὶ ἐπιγνῶναι. Comp. Justin Mart. Dial. 3. p. 221 A, ἡ παρέχουσα αὐτῶν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων καὶ τῶν θείων γνῶσιν , ἔπειτα τῆς τούτων θειότητος καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἐπίγνωσιν . So too St Paul himself contrasts γινώσκειν, γνῶσις, with ἐπιγινώσκειν, ἐπίγνωσις, as the partial with the complete, in two passages, Rom. i. 21, 38, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. With this last passage (ἄρτι γινώσκω ἐκ μέρους, τότε δὲ ἐπιγνώσομαι) compare Clem. Alex. Strom. i. 17, p. 369, παρὰ τῶν Ἑβραϊκῶν προφητῶν μέρη τῆς ἀληθείας οὐ κατ’ ἐπίγνωσιν λαβόντες, where κατ’ ἐπίγνωσιν is commonly but wrongly translated ‘without proper recognition’ (comp. Tatian ad Græc. 40). Hence also ἐπίγνωσις is used especially of the knowledge of God and of Christ, as being the perfection of knowledge: e.g. Prov. ii. 5, Hos. iv. 1, vi. 6, Ephes. i. 17, iv. 13, 2 Pet. i. 2, 8, ii. 20, Clem. Alex. Pæd. ii. 1, p. 173.
I. 10]
[← ] πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει πνευματικῇ, 10περιπατῆσαι ἀξίως τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς πᾶσαν ἀρέσκειαν· ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ [ →]
σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει] ‘wisdom and intelligence.’ The two words are frequently found together: e.g. Exod. xxxi. 3, Deut. iv. 6, 1 Chron. xxii. 12, 2 Chron. i. 10 sq., Is. xi. 2, xxix. 14, Dan. ii. 20, Baruch iii. 23, 1 Cor. i. 19, Clem. Rom. 32. So too σοφοὶ καὶ συνετοί, Prov. xvi. 21, Matt. xi. 25, and elsewhere. In the parallel passage, Eph. i. 8, the words are ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ φρονήσει, and the substitution of φρόνησις for σύνεσις there is instructive. The three words are mentioned together, Arist. Eth. Nic. i. 13, as constituting the intellectual (διανοητικαὶ) virtues. Σοφία is mental excellence in its highest and fullest sense; Arist. Eth. Nic. vi. 7 ἡ ἀκριβεστάτη τῶν ἐπιστημῶν ... ὥσπερ κεφαλὴν ἔχουσα ἐπιστήμη τῶν τιμιωτάτων (see Waitz on Arist. Organ. II. p. 295 sq.), Cicero de Off. i. 43 ‘princeps omnium virtutum,’ Clem. Alex. Pæd. ii. 2, p. 181, τελεία ... ἐμπεριλαβοῦσα τὰ ὅλα. The Stoic definition of σοφία, as ἐπιστήμη θείων καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων καὶ τῶν τούτων αἰτιῶν, is repeated by various writers: e.g. Cic. de Off. ii. 5, Philo. Congr. erud. grat. 14, p. 530, [Joseph.] Macc. 2, Clem. Alex. Pæd. ii. 2, p. 181, Strom. i. 5, p. 333, Aristob. in Eus. Præp. Ev. xiii. 12 p. 667). And the glorification of σοφία by heathen writers was even surpassed by its apotheosis in the Proverbs and in the Wisdom of Solomon. While σοφία ‘wisdom’ is thus primary and absolute (Eth. Nic. vi. 7 μὴ μόνον τὰ ἐκ τῶν ἀρχῶν εἰδέναι ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἀληθεύειν), both σύνεσις ‘intelligence’ and φρόνησις ‘prudence’ are derivative and special (Eth. Nic. vi. 12 τῶν ἐσχάτων καὶ τῶν καθ’ ἕκαστον). They are both applications of σοφία to details, but they work on different lines; for, while σύνεσις is critical, φρόνησις is practical; while σύνεσις apprehends the bearings of things, φρόνησις suggests lines of action: see Arist. Eth. Nic. vi. 11 ἡ μὲν γὰρ φρόνησις ἐπιτακτική ἐστιν ... ἡ δὲ σύνεσις κριτική. For σύνεσις see 2 Tim. ii. 7 νόει ὃ λέγω, δώσει γάρ σοι ὁ Κύριος σύνεσιν ἐν πᾶσιν. This relation of σοφία to σύνεσις explains why in almost every case σοφία (σοφός) precedes σύνεσις (συνετός), where they are found together, and also why in Baruch iii. 23 οἱ ἐκζητηταὶ τῆς συνέσεως, ὁδὸν δὲ σοφίας οὐκ ἔγνωσαν, we find σύνεσις implying a tentative, partial, approach to σοφία. The relation of σοφία to φρόνησις will be considered more at length in the note on the parallel passage, Ephes. i. 8.
πνευματικῇ] The word is emphatic from its position. The false teachers also offered a σοφία, but it had only a show of wisdom (ii. 23); it was an empty counterfeit calling itself philosophy (ii. 8); it was the offspring of vanity nurtured by the mind of the flesh (ii. 18). See 2 Cor. i. 12 οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ σαρκικῇ, where a similar contrast is implied, and 1 Cor. i. 20, ii. 5, 6, 13, iii. 19, where it is directly expressed by σοφία τοῦ κόσμου, σοφία ἀνθρώπων, σοφία τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, ἀνθρωπίνη σοφία, etc.
10. περιπατῆσαι ἀξίως κ.τ.λ.] So 1 Thess. ii. 12, Ephes. iv. i; comp. Phil. i. 27. The infinitive here denotes the consequence (not necessarily the purpose) of the spiritual enlightenment described in ἵνα πληρωθῆτε κ.τ.λ.; see Winer § xliv. p. 399 sq. With the received text τοῦ περιπατῆσαι ὑμᾶς ἀξίως κ.τ.λ. the connexion might be doubtful; but this reading is condemned by external evidence. The emphasis of the sentence would be marred by the insertion of ὑμᾶς. The end of all knowledge, the Apostle would say, is conduct.