Philippianschapter 2
30 verses · BSBPhilippians book hub →
Speaks with:1 Corinthians 10×41 John 4×3Romans 12×21 Peter 3×21 Peter 2×2Matthew 5×2
Summary
Chapter summary
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name. That every knee should bow, every tongue confess Jesus Christ is Lord. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Timothy and Epaphroditus commended. Calvin reads the kenosis hymn as the christological centre of the epistle.
Context
Epistle · Paul — Philippians overview
- A. 1–11 He Emptied Himself: The Mind of Christ
- B. 12–18 Work It Out — God Works It In
- C. 19–24 Timothy: No One Else Cares Like He Does
- D. 25–30 Epaphroditus, Sick Nearly to Death
The outline
A.He Emptied Himself: The Mind of Christvv. 1 to 11
Read vv. 1 to 11 →B.Work It Out — God Works It Invv. 12 to 18
Read vv. 12 to 18 →C.Timothy: No One Else Cares Like He Doesvv. 19 to 24
Read vv. 19 to 24 →D.Epaphroditus, Sick Nearly to Deathvv. 25 to 30
Read vv. 25 to 30 →
The world behind this chapter
Philippians 2The history
The central passage has the rhythm and balance of an early Christian hymn, and many scholars think Paul is quoting something already sung in the churches rather than composing it here. Either way its shape is a descent and an ascent: equality with God not exploited, the form of a servant taken, obedience to death — even death on a cross — then the name above every name.
That last detail carried a specific horror. Crucifixion was the slave's death, and a Roman colony full of veterans knew exactly how the state used it. Putting it in a hymn of praise was an act of defiance against the whole honour system of the city.
"Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" adapts a line from Isaiah about God himself, and in a colony where loyalty to the emperor was public and expected, applying it to Jesus was a political sentence as well as a theological one.
Epaphroditus had carried the Philippians' gift to Rome and nearly died doing it. Paul's word for how he risked his life is a gambling term — he staked it. Sending him home with an explicit instruction to honour such men protects him from any suspicion that he had come back early.
What it meant to them
For the Philippians, the hymn was not abstract theology but the argument for the instruction before it: do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Humility was not a virtue in Greek or Roman ethics; the word had connotations of grovelling. Presenting it as the mind of Christ, and then pointing to Timothy who genuinely cared for their welfare and to Epaphroditus who nearly died, gave them three worked examples in one chapter.
Sources cited
- F. F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Philippians 2. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
Connections from this chapter
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.