ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Philippians 2.7-8

Book: Philippians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

Brands, events, influencers advertise here

ASV

5. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6. who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7. but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; 8. and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.

  1. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; 10. that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, (Philippians 2:5-10, ASV)
WEB

5. Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, 6. who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7. but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. 8. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.

  1. Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; 10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, (Philippians 2:5-10, WEB)
KJV

5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. fashion: or habit

  1. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (Philippians 2:5-10, KJV)
YLT

5. For, let this mind be in you that [is] also in Christ Jesus, 6. who, being in the form of God, thought [it] not robbery to be equal to God,

7. but did empty himself, the form of a servant having taken, in the likeness of men having been made, 8. and in fashion having been found as a man, he humbled himself, having become obedient unto death, death even of a cross,

  1. wherefore, also, God did highly exalt him, and gave to him a name that [is] above every name, 10. that in the name of Jesus every knee may bow, of heavenlies, and earthlies, and what are under the earth (Philippians 2:5-10, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle, writing with Timothy named as co-sender (Phil 1:1).
  • Audience: The church at Philippi, a Roman colony in Macedonia and the first congregation Paul planted in Europe (Acts 16:11-40). The letter names overseers and deacons at 1:1 and thanks the church for repeated financial support.
  • Location: Written from imprisonment. Paul refers to his bonds and to "Caesar's household" (Phil 1:13, 4:22); the traditional identification is Roman custody, with Ephesus and Caesarea proposed as alternatives.
  • Time period: c. AD 60-62 on the traditional Roman-imprisonment dating.

Theological reading

The descent half of the Christ-hymn, in two stages.

The emptying has no object. Heauton ekenōsen says only that He emptied Himself; the sentence never states what was poured out. The three participles that follow supply the manner: labōn, taking the form of a servant; genomenos, becoming in the likeness of men; heuretheis, being found in fashion as a man. Grammatically the emptying is accomplished by assuming, not by discarding, which is why nineteenth-century kenotic theories that read it as the surrender of divine attributes are supplying a direct object the text withholds. See Kenosis.

Three terms of form, deliberately varied. Morphē doulou matches morphē theou in verse 6, so the servanthood is as real as the deity. Homoiōma anthrōpōn, likeness of men, guards against saying He was merely one man among others without remainder. Schēma, outward fashion, denotes observable configuration. Together they assert a genuine humanity without reducing the person to it.

The second stage. Verse 8 adds a further humbling: etapeinōsen heauton, He humbled Himself, genomenos hypēkoos mechri thanatou, becoming obedient unto death. So there are two descents, the incarnation and then the crucifixion, not one.

Thanatou de staurou, "yea, the death of the cross." The clause reads as an addition after the sentence seems complete, and its force depends on knowing what crucifixion meant to a Roman colony. Cicero called it the most cruel and hideous of punishments and said the very word should be kept far from Roman citizens. The Philippians held Roman citizenship. Paul is naming the one death his readers would have considered unspeakable, and attributing it to the one who was in the form of God.

Why obedience is named. Hypēkoos introduces a category the hymn needs for verse 9's "wherefore." The exaltation answers an obedience, which is the structural link between the two halves.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Lexicon:

Guides:

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.