Passage

Philippians 2.3

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, 2. make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;

3. doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself;

not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. 5. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:1-5, ASV)

WEB

If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, 2. make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;

3. doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;

each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. 5. Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 2:1-5, WEB)

KJV

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2. Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

3. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:1-5, KJV)

YLT

If, then, any exhortation [is] in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2. fulfil ye my joy, that ye may mind the same thing, having the same love, of one soul, minding the one thing,

3. nothing in rivalry or vain-glory, but in humility of mind one another counting more excellent than yourselves

each not to your own look ye, but each also to the things of others. 5. For, let this mind be in you that [is] also in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 2:1-5, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle, writing with Timothy named as co-sender (Philippians 1:1).
Audience: The Church at Philippi, in a Roman colony of Macedonia (Acts 16:12), founded on the mission narrated in Acts 16 and addressed with its bishops and deacons (Philippians 1:1). The verse names the attitudes that destroy the unity Paul has just asked for (2:2).
Location: Written from imprisonment (Philippians 1:7, 1:13). The place is debated: Rome is the traditional identification, and Ephesus and Caesarea are proposed as alternatives.
Time period: Depends on the imprisonment: c. AD 60-62 if Rome, c. AD 57-59 if Caesarea, the mid-50s if Ephesus.

Theological reading

Two motives ruled out. "doing nothing through faction or through vainglory" (Philippians 2:3, ASV). "Faction" is eritheia (G2052), selfish rivalry. Paul has used it of those who preach Christ to add to his affliction (1:17), and it appears in his lists of works that divide churches (2 Corinthians 12:20; Galatians 5:20). "Vainglory" is kenodoxia (G2754), literally empty glory, found in the New Testament only here. Its adjective appears at Galatians 5:26: "Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another" (Galatians 5:26, ASV), where the KJV tags it G2755.

Lowliness of mind is the alternative. Tapeinophrosynē (G5012) is the virtue Paul claims for his own ministry, "serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind" (Acts 20:19, ASV), and commends elsewhere: "Put on therefore, as God's elect, ... lowliness" (Colossians 3:12, ASV). In this letter it is defined by the next verses. Christ "humbled himself" (2:8), and the cognate verb is tapeinoō (G5013).

"Counting" ties the letter together. "each counting other better than himself." The verb is hēgeomai (G2233). Christ "counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped" (Philippians 2:6, ASV), and Paul says of his own credentials, "these have I counted loss for Christ" (Philippians 3:7, ASV). The KJV tags all three with the same number. The humility asked of the church has the same shape as Christ's self-giving and Paul's revaluation of his past.

What "better than himself" asks. "Better than" is hyperechō (G5242), to surpass. Paul uses it of "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:8, ASV) and of "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding" (Philippians 4:7, ASV). The verse is not a demand to believe that every other person is superior in every respect. It is a deliberate reckoning, a choice to treat others' interests as weightier than one's own, which 2:4 spells out: "not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others" (Philippians 2:4, ASV).

Key words

No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches found in this passage. (Lexicon coverage is curated, ~159 of the most apologetically-loaded Greek/Hebrew terms.)

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.

Quoted in

Concepts:

Spirit of Pride