1 THESSALONIANS 3:12 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:”
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, even as we do for you — the prayer-wish (optative) invokes Christ's power to multiply love (agapē) both intra-communal and universal. 'Increase and abound' (pleonazo, increase; perisseuō, overflow) suggests exponential growth, not mere static virtue. Paul models the love he invokes; his own affection becomes the paradigm.
Church Fathers on 1 Thessalonians 3:12
This is a proof of excessive love, that he not only prays for them by himself, but even in his Epistles inserts his prayer This argues a fervent soul, and one truly not to be restrained. This is a proof of the prayers made there also, and at the same time also an excuse, as showing that it was not voluntarily, nor from indolence, that they did not go to them. As if he had said, May God Himself cut short the temptations that everywhere distract us, so that we may come directly…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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