Lexicon

G2758 - kenoo

Strong's: G2758 · BLB lookup Pronunciation: ken-o'-o Part of speech: verb Root: from G2756 - kenos (pending, κενός, "empty, vain") + the -oō causative suffix NT occurrences: 5

Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG)

To make empty, to empty out, literal emptying.
To make void / render ineffective / make of no effect, figurative; depriving of force or validity.
(Reflexively, of Christ) to empty oneself, the unique Pauline-Christological use in Philippians 2:7.
To expose as hollow / reduce to nothing, depreciating effect.

The verb is rare and theologically loaded. Its 5 NT occurrences are all theologically deliberate; kenoō is not casual vocabulary in NT usage.

Theological force, kenosis in Philippians 2:7

The word's most theologically critical use is in the Carmen Christi (Philippians 2.5-6):

v. 6: hos en morphē theou hyparchōn ouch harpagmon hēgēsato to einai isa theō v. 7: all' heauton ekenōsen morphēn doulou labōn, en homoiōmati anthrōpōn genomenos

"who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men"

The verb ekenōsen (aorist of kenoō), "He emptied Himself", generates the technical theological term kenōsis (the doctrine of Christ's self-emptying at the incarnation).

The interpretive question: of what did Christ empty Himself?

Three classical readings:

Reading 1: Strict-kenoticism / liberal-Lutheran. Christ literally "emptied" Himself of divine attributes, became less than fully divine during the incarnation. Some 19th-century German Lutherans (Thomasius, Frank) and contemporary process / open theists hold this. Refuted on three grounds:

Christ's divine activity during the incarnation. John 1:18, 5:17, 11:43, etc., Christ knows hidden things (John 4:18; Mark 2:8), forgives sins (Mark 2:5-11), creates / sustains (Hebrews 1:3), accepts worship (John 9:38, Matthew 14:33). These are divine acts performed by Jesus during the incarnation, refuting Christ's having "emptied" His divinity.
Colossians 2:9. "In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily", present indicative; even now (post-resurrection but as one identical with the incarnate Christ) the fullness of deity dwells in Christ. There was no period of less-than-full deity.
Hebrews 13:8. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever", divine immutability of Christ.

Reading 2: Functional-kenosis / orthodox. Christ emptied Himself not of divine attributes but of the independent exercise of certain divine prerogatives during the incarnation. He retained full deity but voluntarily did not exercise certain divine privileges (e.g., omniscience-without-limit, omnipresence) during His earthly mission. The orthodox-Reformed position. Defended by Calvin's extra Calvinisticum (the Word's incarnation does not exhaust His divine being); the Son's hypostatic union preserves both natures while operating through the human nature on earth.

Reading 3: Subjective / experiential kenosis. Christ emptied Himself in the sense of self-humbling, self-renunciation, the verb is metaphorical for radical humility. The participle labōn (taking) explains the manner of the kenosis: the emptying consists in taking the form of a slave. Christ added humanity-and-servitude to His divinity rather than subtracting deity. This reading is favored by many recent commentators (Gordon Fee, Markus Bockmuehl) and is largely compatible with Reading 2.

The dominant evangelical / Reformed reading combines (2) and (3): Christ retained full deity but voluntarily took on the morphē of slave, humbling Himself by addition of humanity-and-servitude, with voluntary non-use of some divine prerogatives during the earthly mission.

The chiastic structure of Philippians 2:6-11

The hymn forms a downward-then-upward arc:

Downward (kenosis):

v. 6, Existed in morphē theou
v. 7, Emptied Himself; took morphē doulou; in likeness of men
v. 8, Found in schēma as a man; humbled Himself; obedient to death; even death of cross

Upward (exaltation):

v. 9, God highly exalted Him; gave Him the name above every name
v. 10, every knee will bow
v. 11, every tongue confess Jesus Christ is kyrios

The verb kenoō names the bottom of the descent, the lowest point of self-emptying, from which the exaltation begins. The kenoō in v. 7 is paired structurally with hyperupsōsen (highly exalted) in v. 9.

Notable verses

The Christological kenoō

Philippians 2.5-6 v. 7, heauton ekenōsen, Christ emptied Himself

Other NT uses (all "make void / render ineffective" senses)

Romans 4:14, "if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void (kekenōtai)"
1 Corinthians 1:17, "lest the cross of Christ be made void (kenōthē)"
1 Corinthians 9:15, "no one shall make my boasting void (kenōsei)"
2 Corinthians 9:3, "lest our boasting about you should be made empty (kenōthē) in this case"

The non-Philippians uses all carry the "render-ineffective" sense; only Philippians 2:7 uses the verb in the unique reflexive Christological sense.

Patristic / scholarly note

Patristic Christology developed kenosis as a foundational doctrine. The Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) implicitly preserved the orthodox reading: Christ's two natures unite "without confusion, without change, without division, without separation", the kenosis did not change the divine nature, only added the human.

Cyril of Alexandria (On the Unity of Christ, c. AD 438) and Athanasius (Discourses Against the Arians III.34) explicitly argue against any reading of kenoō that diminishes Christ's deity. The 19th-century German strict-kenotic theologians (Thomasius, Gess, Frank) revived the deity-diminishing reading; their position has been almost universally rejected by orthodox theology.

Modern conservative: Stephen Wellum (God the Son Incarnate, 2016); Gordon Fee (Pauline Christology, 2007); Markus Bockmuehl (Philippians BNTC, 1998); Peter O'Brien (Philippians NIGTC, 1991); D. A. Carson and Doug Moo (Introduction to the New Testament); J. I. Packer (Knowing God, ch. 5, "God Incarnate"). The non-strict, functional-kenosis reading is the evangelical-Reformed consensus.

Verses in this codex

See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here.