ἀγαθῷ καρποφοροῦντες καὶ αὐξανόμενοι τῇ ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ Θεοῦ· ^{11}ἐν πάσῃ
δυνάμει δυναμούμενοι κατὰ τὸ
τῇ ἐπιγνώσει] ‘_by the knowledge_.’ The other readings, ἐν τῇ ἐπιγνώσει,
εἰς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν, are unsuccessful attempts to define the construction.
The simple instrumental dative represents the knowledge of God as the
dew or the rain which nurtures the growth of the plant; Deut. xxxii. 2,
Hos. xiv. 5.
11. δυναμούμενοι] A word found more than once in the Greek versions of
the Old Testament, Ps. lxvii (lxviii). 29 (LXX), Eccles. x. 10 (LXX),
Dan. ix. 27 (Theod.), Ps. lxiv (lxv). 4 (Aq.), Job xxxvi. 9 (Aq.), but
not occurring elsewhere in the New Testament, except in Heb. xi. 34 and
as a various reading in Ephes. vi. 10. The compound ἐνδυναμοῦν however
appears several times in St Paul and elsewhere.
κατὰ τὸ κράτος] The power communicated to the faithful corresponds to,
and is a function of, the Divine might whence it comes. Unlike δύναμις
or ἰσχὺς, the word κράτος in the New Testament is applied solely to God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------