Philippians 2:5–11, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Philippians 2:5–11
The Humble Path and Exaltation of Jesus
Christ's self-giving mind does not erase him, and it does not trap victims.
The mind among them is to be the mind that was in Christ Jesus: existing in the form of God, he did not use equality with God as a thing to seize for himself, but emptied himself, taking a servant's form, being born in human likeness, and becoming obedient to death on a cross. God then highly exalted him and gave him the name above every name, so that every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The hymn holds Jesus' distinction from the Father even as it names his true deity and true humanity. The church is called to that self-giving way. It does not require victims to remain in preventable harm, and it does not collapse Father and Son into one person.
How this should shape us
Choose the next costly good for someone else's life the way Christ chose the cross. If a leader uses this hymn to keep you in danger, refuse that reading and get to safety.
Teach it back
Explain Philippians 2:5–11 in your own words. State its main movement, why it appears here, and one boundary on application.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
How should harpagmos in v. 6 be understood?
Why it fits: Older readings understand equality with God as not something Christ needed to rob or grasp.
Difficulty: The wording and contrast do not focus on Christ trying to acquire equality.
Why it fits: Christ already exists in God's form; the contrast is using status for advantage versus taking servant form.
Difficulty: The noun is rare, so nuance should not be claimed with artificial precision.
Best judgment: The non-exploitation reading most likely fits Christ's existing divine status and the contrast with taking servant form. Because the noun is rare, the exact nuance remains disputed; the passage's central movement from self-giving humility to God-given exaltation does not depend on pretending the lexical question is certain.
How certain? probableDid Paul quote a preexisting hymn?
Why it fits: The elevated, balanced movement and possible poetic features may reflect earlier worship material.
Difficulty: The text never identifies a source, meter, or quotation boundary.
Why it fits: Vocabulary and argument are integrated tightly into Paul's appeal.
Difficulty: Integration does not exclude adaptation of shared tradition.
Best judgment: A traditional source is plausible but unprovable. Interpretation should rest on the canonical paragraph's present wording and function, not on a reconstructed hymn.
How certain? plausibleResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: The KJV wording and immediate English context for Philippians 2:5–11.
eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Philippians 2; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the library policy.
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording and punctuation used as the base text for this passage.
Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Phil.txt, Philippians 2, verses within Philippians 2:5–11.
Supports: Material English translation choices, syntax notes, and textual variants identified for this passage.
NET Bible, Philippians 2, translator and textual notes attached to the verses in Philippians 2:5–11.
Supports: Passage structure, historical setting, Greek analysis, and interpretive alternatives tested against the primary text.
Paul A. Holloway, Philippians: A Commentary (Hermeneia), pp. 114–129.
Supports: A cross-check of the Greek forms and reasonable lexical range for words surfaced to readers.
STEP Bible Data repository, Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (TAGNT) and Greek lexical records, Philippians 2, verses within Philippians 2:5–11.
Supports: The particular Roman-colony, economic, travel, or gift setting named in the reader explanation; the cited subsection varies with the claim.
Laura Salah Nasrallah, Archaeology and the Letters of Paul, Chapter 4, 'Roman Philippi,' pp. 113–121.
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: The KJV wording and immediate English context for Philippians 2:5–11.
Exact location: eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Philippians 2; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the library policy.
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording and punctuation used as the base text for this passage.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Phil.txt, Philippians 2, verses within Philippians 2:5–11.
Open the Philippians Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Philippians with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Material English translation choices, syntax notes, and textual variants identified for this passage.
Exact location: NET Bible, Philippians 2, translator and textual notes attached to the verses in Philippians 2:5–11.
Open NET Philippians 2 ↗A major interpretive source
Philippians: A Commentary
Paul A. Holloway
Fortress Press, Hermeneia, 2017
Supports: Passage structure, historical setting, Greek analysis, and interpretive alternatives tested against the primary text.
Exact location: Paul A. Holloway, Philippians: A Commentary (Hermeneia), pp. 114–129.
Open the book record ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: A cross-check of the Greek forms and reasonable lexical range for words surfaced to readers.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data repository, Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (TAGNT) and Greek lexical records, Philippians 2, verses within Philippians 2:5–11.
Open source ↗Historical and archaeological evidence
Archaeology and the Letters of Paul
Laura Salah Nasrallah
Oxford University Press, 2019
Supports: The particular Roman-colony, economic, travel, or gift setting named in the reader explanation; the cited subsection varies with the claim.
Exact location: Laura Salah Nasrallah, Archaeology and the Letters of Paul, Chapter 4, 'Roman Philippi,' pp. 113–121.
Open source ↗