epignosis is knowledge directed toward God, Christ, truth, God’s will, or sin, and is described as received, pursued, or lacking.

The term consistently denotes knowledge with a specified object or content: God and Christ, the truth, God’s will, every good thing, or sin. The verses portray it as something to be sought, received, increased, or absent, rather than merely an abstract possession.

1. Knowledge with specified content · dominant

   The singular noun names knowledge directed toward a stated object or content. In Colossians 1:9 the accusative singular occurs in the prayer that readers be filled concerning God’s will; in 1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Timothy 3:7, the APB renders the clauses as coming, or failing to come, “to the knowledge of the truth.” It also occurs with God or Christ in Ephesians 1:17 and 2 Peter 1:2, while Romans 3:20 places it in the clause the APB renders “through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”

   Colossians 1:91 Timothy 2:42 Timothy 3:7Ephesians 1:172 Peter 1:2Romans 3:20

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the supplied verses, the APB commonly presents the relevant clauses with “knowledge,” including knowledge of truth, God, God’s will, Christ, and sin. In Romans 1:28 it instead renders the clause “acknowledge God”; This variation should not be treated as a separate lexical sense.