ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Philippians 2.9-11

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

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.

9. 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, 11. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  1. So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13. for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:7-13, ASV)
WEB

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.

9. 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, 11. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  1. So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:7-13, WEB)
KJV

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

9. 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; 11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  1. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:7-13, KJV)
YLT

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,

9. 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 11. and every tongue may confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  1. So that, my beloved, as ye always obey, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, with fear and trembling your own salvation work out, 13. for God it is who is working in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:7-13, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Setting

  • Speaker: Paul, in the hymn or encomium of Philippians 2
  • Audience: the church at Philippi
  • Location: written from prison; Rome, Ephesus, and Caesarea have all been proposed
  • Time period: c. AD 60-62 on the Roman imprisonment view

Theological reading

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is a quotation, and identifying its source is what gives the passage its weight.

The source is Isaiah 45:23, where the LORD swears by himself that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. The context in Isaiah is the most emphatically monotheistic passage in the Hebrew Bible: there is no God else beside me, I am the LORD, and there is none else. Isaiah is stating what is owed to YHWH alone and stating it precisely in a passage that denies any rival.

Paul takes that text and applies it to Jesus. He does so without qualification and without apparent sense of difficulty, and he closes by saying that this universal confession is to the glory of God the Father, which shows he does not regard the application as displacing the Father. Whatever else is happening, a first-century Jewish monotheist has assigned to Jesus the homage that his own scriptures reserve exclusively for God, and has treated the assignment as glorifying rather than compromising God.

The name that is above every name is best read against the same background. Since the passage is quoting a text about the LORD, and since Kyrios is the Septuagint's rendering of the divine name, the name bestowed is most plausibly that title rather than the personal name Jesus, which he already had. The confession the passage anticipates is therefore that Jesus Christ is Kyrios, in the sense the Isaiah citation supplies.

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:

Passages:

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.