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Paul encouraged the Philippians to act as believers should, to agree with each other and to be courageous when they spoke to other people about Christ. Since they lived among many people who were opposed to the gospel, they should expect to defend their faith. They should also expect to suffer because they trusted in Christ.
Believers should think as Jesus did when he gave up his special place with God and humbled himself by becoming a man and dying on the cross.
Paul here turned the attention of his readers to Jesus Christ. Jesus was and is the supreme example of being humble and considering the needs of others more than his own.
And being found in appearance as a man,
And when he had appeared in human form,
And after he had become a man,
Some possible translations for the clause in 2:8a are:
After he became a human being…
While he was a human being…
While he lived here on the earth as a man….
Some versions place this phrase (2:8a) at the end of 2:7. However, it is recommended that you place it at the beginning of 2:8 as the BSB has done. 2:8 then begins by repeating the same idea in different words with which 2:7 ended:
7b…being made in human likeness.
8a…being found in appearance as a man….
And being found in appearance as a man: This does not mean that Christ was found by someone. It means that people could see that he looked like a man.
appearance: The Greek word that the BSB translates as appearance refers to the outward or external shape of something. But Christ did not just look like a man, he really was a man.
He humbled Himself
he made himself humble
he accepted an even lower place
He humbled Himself: In the context of 2:7–8 this means that Christ gave up even more of his own rights and advantages. He took the next step of humbling himself. He had lived as a human, and now he also died as a human.
and became obedient to death—
and, in obedience to God, he was willing to die,
and obeyed God not only to the extent that he allowed people to kill him,
became obedient to death: This does not mean that Jesus obeyed death. It means that he obeyed God completely, even though this led to his death. There are several ways you could translate this. For example:
He did what God wanted to the extent that he was willing to die.
He obeyed God even though it resulted in people killing him.
death: In many languages translators must render this as a verb. For example: “he died” or “people killed him.”
even death on a cross.
even to die on a cross just like those who are very evil.
and not just kill him but even to kill him like a criminal by nailing him on a cross.
even death on a cross: Dying on a cross was the most shaming and painful kind of punishment the Romans gave. It was the kind of punishment they used only for dangerous criminals and slaves. So the phrase even death on a cross shows how far Jesus was willing to humble himself.
Possible translations are:
even dying in a disgraceful way on a cross
dying like a criminal on a cross
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν, γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου
˱he˲_humbled (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου θανάτου δέ σταυροῦ)
The phrase having become clarifies or introduces the way that Jesus humbled himself. Choose the most natural form in your language to express this meaning. Alternate translation: [Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of dying] or [Jesus humbled himself this way, by obeying to the point of death] or [Jesus humbled himself, specifically, by obeying God to the point of death]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rpronouns
ἑαυτὸν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου θανάτου δέ σταυροῦ)
The reflexive pronoun himself, which refers to Jesus, is used here to emphasize Jesus’ action of humbling himself. Consider the best way in your language to express the emphatic element of this pronoun.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ
˓having˒_become obedient unto death ˓the˒_death (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου θανάτου δέ σταυροῦ)
If it would be clearer in your language, you could express the idea behind the two occurrences in this verse of the abstract noun death with a verb such as “dying”. Alternate translation: [having become obedient to the point of dying, even dying on a cross]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου
˓having˒_become obedient unto death
The phrase to the point of is an English idiom that translates a single Greek preposition. This preposition emphasizes the intensity of Jesus’ obedience to the Father by showing that death that follows as the extreme result of that obedience. Alternate translation: [remaining obedient even though it resulted in him dying]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / reduplication
θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ
death (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου θανάτου δέ σταυροῦ)
The phrase even death on a cross emphasizes that dying on a cross was a very humiliating way to die. By using the word even and repeating the word death, Paul is emphasizing the great extent of Jesus’ humility and obedience. Think about the best way in your language to show the emphasis provided by the phrase even death on a cross. Alternate translation: [even so far as dying on a cross] or [even to the extent of dying on a cross]
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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