English · KJV

Philippians 2:5

“The Mind of Christ”Philippians 2:5–11

King James Version
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
G1063 Let G5426 this G5124 mind be G5426 in G1722 you G5213, which G3739 was also G2532 in G1722 Christ G5547 Jesus G2424:

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
Have this in your mind, which was also in Messiah Yeshua,

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
Let the same minde be in you that was euen in Christ Iesus,

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
For, let this mind be in you that is also in Christ Jesus,

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
10 Greek words
  1. τοῦτοtoutoThisG3778D-ASNDemonstrative pronoun Accusative Singular Neuter
  2. γὰρgarforG1063CONJConjunction
  3. φρονεῖτεphroneitedo be thinkingG5426V-PAM-2PVerb Present Active Imperative 2nd Plural
  4. ἐνeninG1722PREPPreposition
  5. ὑμῖνhuminyouG4771P-2DPPersonal pronoun Dative 2nd Plural
  6. ὃhowhichG3739R-NSNRelative pronoun Nominative Singular Neuter
  7. καὶkaialsoG2532CONJConjunction
  8. ἐνeninG1722PREPPreposition
  9. ΧριστῷChristōChristG5547N-DSM-TNoun Dative Singular Masculine Title
  10. ἸησοῦIēsouJesus [was]G2424N-DSM-PNoun Dative Singular Masculine Individual
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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In the KJVVerse 29,397 of 31,102 · 94.5%

Study this verse

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This verse

Paul calls believers to share the humble, selfless mind of Christ Jesus, the same way of thinking that the verses after it show in his life, his death and his exaltation.

“Let this mind be in you,”

A command. phronéō covers the whole bent of heart and will, and “in you” points inward and, in a church, to the life the believers share.

“which was also in Christ Jesus:”

Christ is the standard and the source of this mind. The verses that follow show it in action, from his glory to his cross.

Passage studyPhilippians 2:5–11

The Mind of Christ

5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Summary

Paul calls the believers at Philippi to share the mind of Christ Jesus, and then he shows them that mind in its fullest form. Christ was in the form of God and equal with God, yet he emptied himself, took the form of a servant and became a man. He humbled himself further still and obeyed the Father all the way to death on a cross. For this reason God has raised him to the highest place and given him the name above every name, so that every knee will bow at the name of Jesus, in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In seven verses we learn who Jesus is, how far he came down for us, how high God has lifted him, and what kind of mind he forms in his people.

The mind that was in Christ Jesus

Paul has just pleaded with the believers at Philippi to be “of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:1–4). He tells them, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Philippians 2:3), and “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:4). Then he points them to Jesus. The humility he asks of them is the mind of Christ himself, and the verses that follow show that mind from Christ’s glory with God, down through his death on the cross, and up to his exaltation.

The word translated “mind” is the verb phronéō. It speaks of a whole way of thinking: a person’s attitude, values, priorities and outlook, the settled direction of heart and will that shapes what he does. So the command reaches deep. Paul is asking for a change on the inside that will show in every action and every relationship in the church. He gives it as a command, “Let this mind be in you”, and he expects them to take it up and keep growing in it. Some translations read “have this mind among yourselves”, which suits a letter so concerned with a church living as one.

The preposition en, “in”, speaks of where something is found. The mind that was in Christ Jesus is to be found in his people too, and the word “also” (kai) ties the two together. What marked Jesus is what is to mark those who follow him, in their inner disposition as well as in their outward deeds.

Paul says elsewhere that “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). He calls believers to “be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2), and to put off the old man and “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24). This mind is also what keeps a church whole, as Paul urges the Ephesians to walk “with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3).

Why the Philippians needed this

Paul wrote this letter from prison, most likely in Rome, around A.D. 60–62. The church at Philippi was the first he had founded in Europe, and it loved him deeply and gave generously to his work. Philippi was a Roman colony, proud of its citizenship, and Roman life prized honour, status and personal achievement. Into that world Paul sets a Lord who gave up his rank and served, which ran against everything the city admired. The church had its strains as well. Later in the letter Paul pleads with two women, Euodia and Syntyche: “I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord” (Philippians 4:2). He also warns against false teachers: “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision” (Philippians 3:2). Rivalry inside and pressure from outside both called for the mind of Christ.

How this mind grows in us

Christ is both the pattern of this mind and the one who gives it. He calls us to learn of him, “for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29), and the Spirit of Christ who dwells in believers gives them life and makes them like him (Romans 8:9–11). The fruit of that Spirit is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23). So this mind grows as we study Christ’s life and words in the Gospels, ask God in prayer for grace to change us within, take up chances to put others’ interests before our own, even in small things, and bring our thoughts and motives before God, repenting of the pride we find there. It is the growth of a lifetime, and it rests on Christ’s finished work and his presence with us.

Why verses 6 to 11 are called the Christ Hymn

Verses 6 to 11 are often called the Christ Hymn, because they may be an early Christian hymn or creed that Paul brought into his letter. Their shape is clear. Christ goes down from equality with God (verse 6) to the form of a servant and the likeness of men (verse 7), and on to death on a cross (verse 8). Then God lifts him up (verse 9), until all creation bows (verse 10) and confesses him Lord (verse 11). The cross stands at the lowest point, and from there everything turns. Paul places this great teaching about who Christ is in the middle of practical counsel about living together, because for him the way we treat one another flows straight from who Jesus is and what he did.

Christ was in the form of God

The descent starts in heaven. “Being” translates hypárchōn, a word for a state that already exists and continues, something that belonged to him all along. In that state Christ was “in the form of God”. The word for form, morphḗ, means the essential nature of a thing, what it truly is, as opposed to a passing appearance. A human being has all that makes a person human, and in the same way the Son, from eternity, had all that makes God God: his nature, his attributes, his very being. He was truly God.

“Equal” is ísos, the same in amount and kind, matching in nature, rank and standing. Together with “the form of God”, it affirms that the Son is fully and by nature equal with the Father, far beyond a resemblance or a delegated authority.

Scripture says the same in many places. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1), and all things were made by him (John 1:1–3). Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), by whom all things were created and in whom all things consist (Colossians 1:15–17). He is “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3), and “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

So the one who later “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) is God himself, far above any prophet, exalted man or created being. This is why his humility astonishes us. The lower he goes in the verses that follow, the more we see of his love, because he came down from the highest height there is. Our salvation rests on this, for it comes wholly from the willing self-giving of the divine Son.

What does “thought it not robbery” mean?

The verb “thought” is hēgéomai, a word that first meant to lead and came to mean to count or regard. It describes a considered judgment, and here it is the Son’s own deliberate view of his equality with God.

“Robbery” is harpagmós, from harpazō, to seize or snatch. It means something taken by force, or a prize to be grasped and clung to. The KJV wording says that the Son counted his equality with God as rightly his. It belonged to his nature, so it was his already, and he had nothing to seize. The same word also carries the thought of something held on to tightly for one’s own advantage, and the verse that follows shows what the Son did with his rights. Though they were truly his, he chose to humble himself for our salvation, letting go of the glory and privileges of his deity while remaining God.

How Christ emptied himself

Verse 7 opens with “But”, allá, a strong word of contrast. Over against all that the Son was by right, he made an active and willing choice to go down.

“Made himself of no reputation” translates ekenōsen, from kenóō, “to make empty” or “to abase”. Literally, he emptied himself, and from this word comes the name the church gives to his self-emptying, the kenosis. He emptied himself of the outward display of his divine glory and of his rights and privileges as God, and he accepted the limits and weakness of human life. Paul says the same thing in other words: “though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Did Christ stop being God when he emptied himself?

He remained fully God throughout his earthly life, and what he emptied himself of was the outward display of his glory and the independent use of his divine rights. He submitted himself to the Father’s will, relied on the Holy Spirit, and chose to humble himself completely for the sake of our redemption. In this self-emptying God’s power is shown in its deepest form, in humble self-giving love, and we see that God comes close to us in our suffering and in our redemption.

The form of a servant

Then he “took upon him the form of a servant”. To take, lambánō, is to take hold of something or receive it, and it speaks again of a deliberate choice. The word for form is morphḗ once more, the same word as “the form of God” in verse 6. As truly as he was in the form of God, Christ truly became a servant, in his very being and in all he did. The word for servant, doûlos, means a slave or bondservant, the lowest place in that society, a person without rights or reputation.

In the Greek and Roman world the gods were pictured as powerful and distant, and people served them. A god who served others would have shocked the people of Philippi, and that is exactly the Lord Paul sets before them. Jesus said of himself that “the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45). His whole earthly ministry was service, and his servant’s form led on to the cross.

Was Christ’s humanity real?

He “was made in the likeness of men”. “Was made” is gínomai, “to become” or “to come into being”, a real change. The Son truly became a man. “In”, en, places him within the sphere of human life and nature, and “men” is ánthrōpos, mankind as a whole, so he joined himself to the whole human race. “Likeness”, homoíōma, means resemblance. He shared our nature in body, mind and feeling, and knew hunger, thirst, weariness, sorrow and temptation. The word “likeness” also quietly marks him out from sinful humanity, for he “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Hebrews explains why this mattered: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same”, so that he might be “a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:14–17). Jesus is truly God and truly man, two natures perfectly united in one person. He had to be truly human to stand for us, to fulfil the righteous demands of the law, and to offer himself as the perfect, sinless sacrifice, the Lamb of God “which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

Obedient unto death, even the death of the cross

“Fashion” is schēma, the outward figure or manner of a thing. “Being found in fashion as a man” means that all who met Jesus found a man, living a human life under human conditions in every outward way, while he remained God. Paul uses morphḗ for what Christ is and schēma for how he appeared and lived among us, and both are true of him.

Then he went lower still. “He humbled himself” is etapeinōsen heauton. The verb tapeinóō means to bring low, to humble in condition or in heart, and the pronoun heautoû, “himself”, shows that he did it to himself. Taking human nature was already a great humbling, and Christ went further, freely choosing the lowest place.

He “became obedient”, genomenos hypēkoos. The adjective hypḗkoos describes someone who listens closely and so submits, and joined to gínomai it shows Christ actively taking up his Father’s plan. His obedience reached all the way “unto death”, the most costly thing that could be asked. Hebrews says, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:8–9).

His obedience undoes the first man’s disobedience: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). Adam’s sin brought sin and death into the world, and Christ’s obedience to the end brings righteousness and life to all who believe (Romans 5:18–19).

Was Christ’s obedience his own free choice?

It was. “He humbled himself”, with its reflexive pronoun, tells us that Christ began and carried out this humbling himself. God’s plan of salvation was fixed from eternity, and the Son entered it willingly, in loving submission to the Father. Jesus said of his life, “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:18). His obedience was both purposed by God and freely chosen, because the Son is perfectly one with the Father’s will to save.

Why does Paul add “even the death of the cross”?

Because the cross was the lowest death of all. In the Roman world crucifixion was a public spectacle meant to cause as much pain, shame and terror as possible. It was kept for the lowest criminals, for slaves and for rebellious non-citizens, as a brutal warning against defying Rome. Victims often suffered for days, exposed to the weather and to public mockery.

For Jews it carried a curse as well, for the law says “he that is hanged is accursed of God” (Deuteronomy 21:23). Paul shows what that curse meant for us: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). The sinless Son took the death that was shameful to Rome and cursed under the law, and so bore the penalty of our sin in our place.

There is love in this. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus “endured the cross, despising the shame”, for the joy that was set before him (Hebrews 12:2). Peter writes that he “his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree”, and that he left us “an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Peter 2:21–24). At the cross God’s justice and his love meet. There Christ blotted out the handwriting that was against us, and “having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:14–15). What looked like defeat was the means of his triumph.

Why God highly exalted Jesus

“Wherefore”, dió, ties God’s act directly to what came before. Because Christ humbled himself and obeyed to the death, God exalted him. “Highly exalted” is hyperypsóō, a compound of hyper, “above” or “beyond”, and the verb “to lift up”. It means to exalt above all, to the highest place there is.

This exaltation came through the resurrection and ascension. Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4), and Peter preached him “by the right hand of God exalted” (Acts 2:33). God set him at his own right hand, “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named” (Ephesians 1:20–21). The Son has returned to the glory he had before, and he now reigns as the risen and glorified God-man, in the place of highest authority and honour, where he intercedes for his people.

God “gave” him the name, and the verb charízomai means to give freely, as a favour or a kindness. The Father gives the name out of his own goodness, in answer to the Son’s obedience, and Christ receives it as a gift. Jesus taught the same pattern: “he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11, Luke 18:14). In Christ himself it reaches its highest fulfilment.

Which name is the name above every name?

In Scripture a name, ónoma, carries a person’s character, authority, reputation and very self. A name above every name means the highest authority and standing there can be, over every power and title, human or angelic, in heaven or on earth.

Believers differ on which name Paul means. Some take it to be the name “Jesus” itself, since verse 10 speaks of bowing “at the name of Jesus”. Most take it to be the title “Lord”, Kyrios, which verse 11 goes on to confess. The early church read the Old Testament in Greek, in the Septuagint, which used Kyrios for the divine name Yᵉhôvâh, the name the KJV prints as “the LORD”. On this reading the Father gives Jesus the very name of God, and so affirms his full deity and his rule over all. Hebrews says that he “hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name” than the angels (Hebrews 1:4), and when he comes again the name written on him is “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16).

Every knee shall bow at the name of Jesus

Verse 10 begins with “That”, hína, “in order that”, and gives God’s purpose in exalting his Son. Bowing “at the name of Jesus” is bowing to Jesus himself, to his person, his authority and all that his name stands for, because God has given that name its supreme place.

The knee, góny, is the joint that bends in homage, and to bow, kámptō, is to bend. To bend the knee was the common sign of honour and submission before kings, emperors and gods, and “every knee” takes in every creature.

Paul names three realms. “Things in heaven” are the beings of heaven, the angels and the heavenly host. “Things in earth” are all mankind and every earthly power. “Things under the earth”, katachthónios, are those below, the dead and the departed spirits, and the demonic powers as well. Together they cover the whole of creation, so the authority of Jesus reaches every being in every place. John saw this in a vision: “every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (Revelation 5:13).

The words come from Isaiah, where the LORD says, “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear” (Isaiah 45:23). Paul quotes the same promise in Romans: “As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:11). Here he gives to Jesus the homage the LORD claims for himself, and so he declares that Jesus is God, equal with the Father. To Jewish and Roman hearers alike this was an astonishing claim.

The reign of Jesus is a present truth as well as a future one. He now upholds “all things by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3), and God has “put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church” (Ephesians 1:20–23). “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25), and he will come again in glory, as John saw him riding out of heaven, called Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11–16).

Does every knee bowing mean that everyone will be saved?

Every knee will bow, in one of two ways. Those who trust in Christ bow willingly and with joy. Those who have rejected him will bow as well, compelled to acknowledge the authority they refused. The bowing shows that his rule is beyond dispute, and salvation belongs to those who believe in him. Paul quotes Isaiah’s words in Romans as he speaks of all of us standing before the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:11), and John saw the dead judged before the great white throne, where “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11–15).

Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

Verse 11 adds the voice to the bended knee. The tongue, glōssa, is the organ of speech, and so it stands for language and speaking. “Every tongue” takes in all peoples and every language, every rational being whatever its origin or former allegiance.

To confess is exomologéō, built from ek, “out”, and homologéō, “to say the same thing” or “to agree”. It means to acknowledge fully and to declare openly and publicly, and the prefix strengthens it. This confession is spoken aloud, before all.

Its content is “Jesus Christ is Lord”. “Jesus Christ” names the man Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Messiah, the Christ. “Lord” is kýrios. As an ordinary title it meant master, or sir, one supreme in authority. In the Septuagint it was the word used for Yᵉhôvâh. To confess Jesus as Kyrios is to confess him as the LORD of the Old Testament, one with the Father in nature and sovereign over all creation. Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).

In Paul’s day this confession was costly. Roman emperors were called “Lord” and demanded worship and loyalty as divine figures, and “Caesar is Lord” was a standard pledge of that loyalty. To say “Jesus Christ is Lord” set Christ above Caesar, and it often led to persecution. For Jews who held fast to the one God, it was a claim many stumbled over.

For believers this confession is made now, gladly and in faith: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). What every tongue will one day say, God’s people say already.

Why is it “to the glory of God the Father”?

The hymn ends with the Father. The exaltation of the Son and the confession of every tongue bring praise and honour to God the Father. The Father planned salvation, sent the Son, and receives glory for the Son’s obedience, sacrifice and reign. Father and Son are perfectly one in purpose, so the honour given to the Son is honour given to the Father, as Jesus said: “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). The Son’s glory shows and magnifies the Father’s majesty.

Having this mind among us

Paul wrote all this to help a church live together, and it does the same for us. When the strife and vainglory of verse 3 rise up in a family, a church or a workplace, the answer is a person, Jesus, who held the highest rights there are and used them for others. We can loosen our grip on status, recognition and getting our own way, take the lower place, and look to the things of others, because he did all this first and did it for us. In God’s eyes greatness is found in going down to serve.

Christ’s self-emptying belongs to him alone, since he alone was in the form of God, and still the mind behind it can be ours, by his Spirit. That mind shows itself in ordinary choices: seeking to be reconciled with someone in place of winning the argument, finding joy in giving, and caring for the good of the whole church.

The exaltation of Christ is also our hope. The one who humbled himself to save us now reigns and intercedes for us, with all authority over sin, death and every power set against him. His exaltation is the pledge of our own resurrection, and in his time God will honour those who follow Christ’s way of humility. Our present obedience and service count, because they belong to God’s plan for all creation.

And the confession that every tongue will make one day is one you can make now, willingly and with joy. Each time you bow your knee to Jesus in prayer, or say with your mouth that he is Lord, you join ahead of time in the praise of all creation, to the glory of God the Father.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Philippians 2:1–11. He set out his notes in a three-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 11 verses
Passage under commentPhilippians 2:1–11
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details

The apostle proceeds in this chapter where he left off in the last, with further exhortations to Christian duties. He presses them largely to like-mindedness and lowly-mindedness, in conformity to the example of the Lord Jesus, the great pattern of humility and love. Here we may observe,

I.The great gospel precept passed upon us; that is, to love one another.

This is the law of Christ's kingdom, the lesson of his school, the livery of his family. This he represents (Philippians 2:2) by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. We are of a like mind when we have the same love. Christians should be one in affection, whether they can be one in apprehension or no. This is always in their power, and always their duty, and is the likeliest way to bring them nearer in judgment. Having the same love. Observe, The same love that we are required to express to others, others are bound to express to us. Christian love ought to be mutual love. Love, and you shall be loved. Being of one accord, and of one mind; not crossing and thwarting, or driving on separate interests, but unanimously agreeing in the great things of God and keeping the unity of the Spirit in other differences. Here observe,

1.The pathetic pressing of the duty. He is very importunate with them, knowing what an evidence it is of our sincerity, and what a means of the preservation and edification of the body of Christ. The inducements to brotherly love are these: - (1.) "If there is any consolation in Christ. Have you experienced consolation in Christ? Evidence that experience by loving one another." The sweetness we have found in the doctrine of Christ should sweeten our spirits. Do we expect consolation in Christ? If we would not be disappointed, we must love one another. If we have not consolation in Christ, where else can we expect it? Those who have an interest in Christ have consolation in him, strong and everlasting consolation (Hebrews 6:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:16), and therefore ought to love one another. (2.) "Comfort of love. If there is any comfort in Christian love, in God's love to you, in your love to God, or in your brethren's love to us, in consideration of all this, be you like-minded. If you have ever found that comfort, if you would find it, if you indeed believe that the grace of love is a comfortable grace, abound in it." (3.) "Fellowship of the Spirit. If there is such a thing as communion with God and Christ by the Spirit, such a thing as the communion of saints, by virtue of their being animated and actuated by one and the same Spirit, be you like-minded; for Christian love and like-mindedness will preserve to us our communion with God and with one another." (4.) "Any bowels and mercies, in God and Christ, towards you. If you expect the benefit of God's compassions to yourselves, be you compassionate one to another. If there is such a thing as mercy to be found among the followers of Christ, if all who are sanctified have a disposition to holy pity, make it appear this way." How cogent are these arguments! One would think them enough to tame the most fierce, and mollify the hardest, heart. (5.) Another argument he insinuates is the comfort it would be to him: Fulfil you my joy. It is the joy of ministers to see people like-minded and living in love. He had been instrumental in bringing them to the grace of Christ and the love of God. "Now," says he, "if you have found any benefit by your participation of the gospel of Christ, if you have any comfort in it, or advantage by it, fulfil the joy of your poor minister, who preached the gospel to you."

2.He proposes some means to promote it.

(1.)Do nothing through strife and vain glory, Philippians 2:3. There is no greater enemy to Christian love than pride and passion. If we do things in contradiction to our brethren, this is doing them through strife; if we do them through ostentation of ourselves, this is doing them through vain-glory: both are destructive of Christian love and kindle unchristian heats. Christ came to slay all enmities; therefore let there not be among Christians a spirit of opposition. Christ came to humble us, and therefore let there not be among us a spirit of pride.

(2.)We must esteem others in lowliness of mind better than ourselves, be severe upon our own faults and charitable in our judgments of others, be quick in observing our own defects and infirmities, but ready to overlook and make favourable allowances for the defects of others. We must esteem the good which is in others above that which is in ourselves; for we best know our own unworthiness and imperfections.

(3.)We must interest ourselves in the concerns of others, not in a way of curiosity and censoriousness, or as busy-bodies in other men's matters, but in Christian love and sympathy: Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others, Philippians 2:4. A selfish spirit is destructive of Christian love. We must be concerned not only for our own credit, and ease, and safety, but for those of others also; and rejoice in the prosperity of others as truly as in our own. We must love our neighbour as ourselves, and make his case our own.

II.Here is a gospel pattern proposed to our imitation, and that is the example of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Philippians 2:5. Observe, Christians must be of Christ's mind. We must bear a resemblance to his life, if we would have the benefit of his death. If we have not the Spirit of Christ, we are none of his, Romans 8:9. Now what was the mind of Christ? He was eminently humble, and this is what we are peculiarly to learn of him. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, Matthew 11:29. If we were lowly-minded, we should be like-minded; and, if we were like Christ, we should be lowly-minded. We must walk in the same spirit and in the same steps with the Lord Jesus, who humbled himself to sufferings and death for us; not only to satisfy God's justice, and pay the price of our redemption, but to set us an example, and that we might follow his steps. Now here we have the two natures and the two states of our Lord Jesus. It is observable that the apostle, having occasion to mention the Lord Jesus, and the mind which was in him, takes the hint to enlarge upon his person, and to give a particular description of him. It is a pleasing subject, and a gospel minister needs not think himself out of the way when he is upon it; any fit occasion should be readily taken.

1.Here are the two natures of Christ: his divine nature and his human nature.

(1.)Here is his divine nature: Who being in the form of God (Philippians 2:6), partaking of the divine nature, as the eternal and only begotten Son of God. This agrees with John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God: it is of the same import with being the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), and the brightness of his glory, and express image of his person, Hebrews 1:3. He thought it no robbery to be equal with God; did not think himself guilty of any invasion of what did not belong to him, or assuming another's right. He said, I and my Father are one, John 10:30. It is the highest degree of robbery for any mere man or mere creature to pretend to be equal with God, or profess himself one with the Father. This is for a man to rob God, not in tithes and offerings, but of the rights of his Godhead, Malachi 3:8. Some understand being in the form of God - en morphē Theou huparchōn, of his appearance in a divine majestic glory to the patriarchs, and the Jews, under the Old Testament, which was often called the glory, and the Shechinah. The word is used in such a sense by the Septuagint and in the New Testament. He appeared to the two disciples, en hetera morphē - In another form, Mark 16:12. Metemorphōthē - he was transfigured before them, Matthew 17:2. And he thought it no robbery to be equal with God; he did not greedily catch at, nor covet and affect to appear in that glory; he laid aside the majesty of his former appearance while he was here on earth, which is supposed to be the sense of the peculiar expression, ouk harpagmon hēgēsato. Vid. Bishop Bull's Def. cap. 2 sect. 4 et alibi, and Whitby in loc.

(2.)His human nature: He was made in the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man. He was really and truly man, took part of our flesh and blood, appeared in the nature and habit of man. And he voluntarily assumed human nature; it was his own act, and by his own consent. We cannot say that our participation of the human nature is so. Herein he emptied himself, divested himself of the honours and glories of the upper world, and of his former appearance, to clothe himself with the rags of human nature. He was in all things like to us, Hebrews 2:17.

2.Here are his two estates, of humiliation and exaltation.

(1.)His estate of humiliation. He not only took upon him the likeness and fashion of a man, but the form of a servant, that is, a man of mean estate. He was not only God's servant whom he had chosen, but he came to minister to men, and was among them as one who serveth in a mean and servile state. One would think that the Lord Jesus, if he would be a man, should have been a prince, and appeared in splendour. But quite the contrary: He took upon him the form of a servant. He was brought up meanly, probably working with his supposed father at his trade. His whole life was a life of humiliation, meanness, poverty, and disgrace; he had nowhere to lay his head, lived upon alms, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, did not appear with external pomp, or any marks of distinction from other men. This was the humiliation of his life. But the lowest step of his humiliation was his dying the death of the cross. He became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. He not only suffered, but was actually and voluntarily obedient; he obeyed the law which he brought himself under as Mediator, and by which he was obliged to die. I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again: this commandment have I received of my Father, John 10:18. And he was made under the law, Galatians 4:4. There is an emphasis laid upon the manner of his dying, which had in it all the circumstances possible which are humbling: Even the death of the cross, a cursed, painful, and shameful death, - a death accursed by the law (Cursed is he that hangeth on a tree) - full of pain, the body nailed through the nervous parts (the hands and feet) and hanging with all its weight upon the cross, - and the death of a malefactor and a slave, not of a free-man, - exposed as a public spectacle. Such was the condescension of the blessed Jesus.

(2.)His exaltation: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him. His exaltation was the reward of his humiliation. Because he humbled himself, God exalted him; and he highly exalted him, huperupsōse, raised him to an exceeding height. He exalted his whole person, the human nature as well as the divine; for he is spoken of as being in the form of God as well as in the fashion of man. As it respects the divine nature, it could only be the recognizing of his rights, or the display and appearance of the glory he had with the Father before the world was (John 17:5), not any new acquisition of glory; and so the Father himself is said to be exalted. But the proper exaltation was of his human nature, which alone seems to be capable of it, though in conjunction with the divine. His exaltation here is made to consist in honour and power. In honour; so he had a name above every name, a title of dignity above all the creatures, men and angels. And in power: Every knee must bow to him. The whole creation must be in subjection to him: things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, the inhabitants of heaven and earth, the living and the dead. At the name of Jesus; not at the sound of the word, but the authority of Jesus; all should pay a solemn homage. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord - every nation and language should publicly own the universal empire of the exalted Redeemer, and that all power in heaven and earth is given to him, Matthew 28:18. Observe the vast extent of the kingdom of Christ; it reaches to heaven and earth, and to all the creatures in each, to angels as well as men, and to the dead as well as the living. - To the glory of God the Father. Observe, It is to the glory of God the Father to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; for it is his will that all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father, John 5:23. Whatever respect is paid to Christ redounds to the honour of the Father. He who receiveth me receiveth him who sent me, Matthew 10:40.

Historical interpretation

Historical reception

4 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

4 quotes · AD 311–407
Ante-NicenePost-Nicene
300400

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 311Methodius of OlympusAnte-NiceneSourceMethodius Fragments
For martyrdom is so admirable and desirable, that the Lord, the Son of God Himself, honouring it, testified, "He thought it not robbery to be equal with God"
d. AD 370Gaius Marius VictorinusPost-NiceneSourceEPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.6-8
Above he has given two injunctions, first that they should delight in humility, then that they should think not only of their own affairs but of those of others. Then he says, “Have this mind among yourselves that was in Christ Jesus.” Which of these two then do we take to have been manifested in Christ Jesus? One or the other or both? For the first, his humility, is manifest, since Christ humbled himself and assumed the character of a slave. But the second injunction could be here as well, since he bore this for others and thought of others rather than of himself.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on Philippians 7
They say that the words, "He counted it not a prize," are of wrongfully seizing. We have proved, that this is altogether vapid and impertinent, for no man would exhort another to humility on such grounds, nor in this sort does he praise God, or even man. What is it then, beloved? Give heed to what I now say. Since many men think, that, when they are lowly, they are deprived of their proper right, and debased, Paul, to take away this fear, and to show that we must not be affected thus, says that God, the only begotten, who was in the form of God, who was no whit inferior to the Father, who was equal to Him, "counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God."

Now learn what this meaneth. Whatsoever a man robs, and takes contrary to his right, he dares not lay aside, from fear lest it perish, and fall from his possession, but he keeps hold of it continually. He who possesses some dignity which is natural to him, fears not to descend from that dignity, being assured that nothing of this sort will happen to him. As for example, Absalom usurped the government, and dared not afterwards to lay it aside. We will go to another example, but if example cannot present the whole matter to you, take it not amiss, for this is the nature of examples, they leave the greater part for the imagination to reason out. A man rebels against his sovereign, and usurps the kingdom: he dares not lay aside and hide the matter, for if he once hide it, straightway it is gone. Let us also take another example; if a man takes anything violently, he keeps firm hold of it continually, for if he lay it down, he straightway loses it. And generally speaking, they who have aught by rapine are afraid to lay it by, or hide it, or not to keep constantly in that state which they have assumed. Not so they, who have possessions not procured by rapine, as Man, who possesses the dignity of being a reasonable being. But here examples fail me, for there is no natural preeminence amongst us, for no good thing is naturally our own; but they are inherent in the nature of God. What does one say then? That the Son of God feared not to descend from His right, for He thought not Deity a prize seized. He was not afraid that any would strip Him of that nature or that right, Wherefore He laid it aside, being confident that He should take it up again. He hid it, knowing that He was not made inferior by so doing. For this cause, Paul says not, "He seized not," but, "He counted it not a prize"; He possessed not that estate by seizure, but it was natural, not conferred, it was enduring and safe. Wherefore he refused not to take the form of an inferior. The tyrant fears to lay aside the purple robe in war, while the king does it with much safety. Why so? because he holds his power not as a matter of seizure. He did not refuse to lay it aside, as one who had usurped it, but since He had it as His own by nature, since it could never be parted from Him, He hid it.

This equality with God He had not by seizure, but as his own by nature.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on Philippians 6
Our Lord Jesus Christ, when exhorting His disciples to great actions, places before them Himself, and the Father, and the Prophets, as examples; as when He says, "For thus they did unto the Prophets which were before you"; and again, "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you"; and, "Learn of Me, for I am meek"; and again, "Be ye merciful, as your Father which is in heaven is merciful." This too the blessed Paul did; in exhorting them to humility, he brought forward Christ. And he does so not here only, but also when he discourses of love towards the poor, he speaks in this wise. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor." Nothing rouses a great and philosophic soul to the performance of good works, so much as learning that in this it is likened to God. What encouragement is equal to this? None. This Paul well knowing, when he would exhort them to humility, first beseeches and supplicates them, then to awe them he says, "That ye stand fast in one Spirit"; he says also, that it "is for them an evident token of perdition, but of your salvation." And last of all he says this, "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking upon Him the form of a servant."
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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