Philippians 2:5-11 — Jesus' Exaltation to a Name Above All Names

Philippians 2:5-11 is often cited as proof that Jesus is God (the Supreme Being). In reality, there is nothing in these verses that presents Jesus as Jehovah, who is elsewhere presented as the God of Jesus. -- Micah 5:4; Ephesians 1:3.

Philippians 2:5
touto phroneite en humin ho kai en christw
THIS BE YOU MINDING IN YOU WHICH ALSO IN CHRIST
3778_2 5426 1722 4771_6 3739 2532 1722 5547
ieesou
JESUS,
2424
Philippians 2:6
hos en morphee theou huparchwn ouch harpagmon
WHO IN FORM OF GOD EXISTING NOT SNATCHING
3739 1722 3444 2316 5224 5225 3756 0725
heegeesato to einai isa thew
HE CONSIDERED THE TO BE EQUAL (THINGS) TO GOD,
2233 3588 1511 2470 2316
Philippians 2:7
alla heauton ekenwsen morpheen doulou labwn en
BUT HIMSELF HE EMPTIED FORM OF SLAVE HAVING TAKEN, IN
0235 1438 2758 3444 1401 2983 1722
homoiwmati anthrwpwn genomenos
LIKENESS OF MEN HAVING BECOME;
3667 0444 1096
Philippians 2:8
kai scheemati heuretheis hws anthrwpos etapeinwsen
AND TO FASHION HAVING BEEN FOUND AS MAN HE MADE LOWLY
2532 4976 2147 5613 0444 5013
heauton genomenos hupeekoos mechri thanatou
HIMSELF HAVING BECOME OBEDIENT UNTIL DEATH,
1438 1096 5255 3360 2288
thanatou de staurou
OF DEATH BUT OF STAKE;
2288 1161 4716
Philippians 2:9
dio kai ho theos auton huperupswsen kai
THROUGH WHICH ALSO THE GOD HIM PUT HIGH UP OVER, AND
1352 2532 3588 2316 0846_7 5251 2532
echarisato autw to onoma to huper pan onoma
HE GRACIOUSLY GAVE TO HIM THE NAME THE OVER EVERY NAME,
5483 0846_5 3588 3686 3588 5228 3956 3686
Philippians 2:10
hina en tw onomati ieesou pan gonu kampsee
IN ORDER THAT IN THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BEND
2443 1722 3588 3686 2424 3956 1119 2578
epouraniwn kai epigeiwn kai
OF THOSE IN HEAVEN AND OF THOSE ON EARTH AND
2032 2532 1919 2532
katachthoniwn
OF THOSE UNDERGROUND,
2709
Philippians 2:11
kai pasa glwssa exomologeeseetai hoti kurios
AND EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS OUT THAT LORD
2532 3956 1100 1843 3754 2962
ieesous christos eis doxan theou patros
JESUS CHRIST INTO GLORY OF GOD FATHER.
2424 5547 1519 1391 2316 3962
Westcott & Hort Interlinear, as obtained from the Bible Students Library DVD.

The straightforward and most simple reasoning from the above is that Jesus was in a form [external appearance] of God, but that he was not God.

In Philippians 2:6, we do read that Jesus was existing in the form (external appearance, external expression) of God (assuming that Paul actually meant the word transliterated as THEOS to mean “God”, Supreme Being, and not “a god” -- a mighty being, as the angels -- Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 2:7). Before he became flesh (John 1:14), Jesus had a celestial glory that was in the likeness of his God. — John 17:1,3,5; 1 Corinthians 15:40.

Unlike the one spoken of in Isaiah 14:14, however, Jesus did not seek to be equal to God; rather, he “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” — Philippians 2:6, New American Standard.

The word “God” — throughout Paul’s letter to the Philippians — refers to only one person, as can be seen from Philippians 2:9,11, and even in the latter part of Philippians 2:6.

However, some believe that in Philippians 2:6, the first instance of “God” may not actually refer to “God”, as in the sense of Mighty One who is the Supreme Being, but rather to mightiness in general, using the Hebraic meaning for the word for “God”. Thus, this would mean that Jesus was in a form of mightiness before he became flesh.

However, the use of the Greek word transliterated as morphe (meaning “external appearance”, or "external expression"), indicates that the first instance of “God” actually refers to the God and Father of Jesus.

Jesus existed in the external appearance, in the likeness of his God, but he was not his God, nor did he seek to be equal to his God.

Instead of seeking to be equal to his God, he became in the likeness of men of sinful flesh, externally appearing as a bondservant of corruption, although he was not really such. -- Romans 8:3,20-22.

The word “morphe” is being used in Philippians 2:7 in parallel with two other words, all of which carry similar meanings.

There is nothing in Philippians 2:5-11 that means Jesus was God Most High, any more than it means that Jesus was actually a bond-servant of sin in the likeness of men. —  Genesis 14:22; Psalm 7:17; 83:18; 92:1; Luke 1:32; John 13:16; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Matthew 23:39; Mark 11:9,10; Luke 13:35; John 3:2,17,32-35; 4:34; 5:19,30,36,43; 6:57; 7:16,28; 8:26,28,38; 10:25; 12:49,50; 14:10; 15:15; 17:8,26; 20:17; Acts 2:22,34-36; Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 8:6; 11:31; Colossians 1:3,15; 2:9-12; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:1.

Philippians 2:6-11 discusses how Jesus left the form (Morphe — external appearance) of God, that is, the glory he had with his God and Father (Ephesians 1:3) before coming into the world (John 17:5), and took on the form (Morphe — external appearance) of a bondservant. — Philippians 2:7.

Jesus was already a servant of God before coming to the earth, so Philippians 2:7 cannot be referring to his becoming a servant of God, as some have claimed. — John 3:16,17; 5:30,36; 6:38,44; 8:29,38,42; 10:36; 17:3; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 10:5; 1 John 4:9,10.

Thus, this relates to the purpose for which Jesus came to earth, that is, to give his human soul, his human body, his human blood, his human flesh, once for all time as a ransom for many, for all. — Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; Luke 22:19; John 6:51; 1 Corinthians 11:27; 1 Timothy 1:15; 2:5,6; Hebrews 2:9; 10:10; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 4:9,10,14.

The human race came to be in bondage to corruption, sin, and death due to Adam’s sin. — Genesis 3:17-19; Ecclesiastes 1:2,13-18; 7:13; Romans 5:15-19; 8:15,20-22; Galatians 4:3; Corinthians 15:21,22.

Was Jesus in bondage to sin and corruption as the rest of the human race? Obviously not. Jesus had no sin, but he did come in the likeness — the appearance — of sinful flesh to be sin on our behalf. — John 8:46; 1 Peter 2:2; Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15.

Although he was born of a woman, he was begotten as a human by means of God’s Holy Spirit. — Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:35; Galatians 4:4.

It was God, by means of his Holy Spirit, who prepared the body of Jesus; thus, he was born sinless, without any bondage of corruption as is common to mankind under condemnation in Adam. — Romans 5:12-19; 8:21; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; Hebrews 10:5.

Nevertheless, Jesus, as a human, did have a “form” of that bondage, the external appearance, so to speak, of that bondage, since he suffered and paid the price for sin. — 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 10:10; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 4:1.

God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to condemn sin in the flesh. — Romans 8:3.

Jesus suffered the consequences of sin to pay the price of sin — death — for the human race, although he himself was not sinful.

Therefore, just as Jesus had the external appearance of being a sinner, so likewise, Jesus in his prehuman existence, had the external appearance of God, being even then the image of his God.

Regardless, there is nothing in these verses that says anything about Jesus’ being a “person of God”. The idea has to be added to and read into what Paul said.

Nor is there anything that says that Jesus has two “natures” at once, that of being the Most High and also that of being a human, a little lower than the angels.

On the other hand, Paul shows that Jesus did not consider equality with God to be something for him to grasp, and Jesus is exalted by the unipersonal God. — Philippians 2:9.

But doesn't Paul say that Jesus has the name that is above all names? Doesn't this mean that Jesus is Jehovah, the Most High? No. The expression in Philippians 2:9 actually states: “Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name.” God gave this “name” to Jesus? If this “name” was given to Jesus after his God exalted him, would not this mean that Jesus did not have this name before his God exalted him?

Philippians 2:9 should be understood within its own context as well as the rest of the Bible, especially Ephesians 1:3,17-23:

Ephesians 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: 

Ephesians 1:17 - that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; 

Ephesians 1:18 - having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 

Ephesians 1:19 - and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might 

Ephesians 1:20 - which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, 

Ephesians 1:21 - far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 

Ephesians 1:22—and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, 

Ephesians 1:23—which is his body, the fulness [full amount] of him that filleth all in all. 

Obviously, the word “name” in Ephesians 1:21 and Philippians 2:9 is being used, not in the sense of an appellation, but rather in the sense of authority, rank. If the word “name” refers to “Jehovah” as Ellicott and many others claim, that would mean that Jesus was not “Jehovah” until after his God, Jehovah (Micah 5:4) exalted Jesus to Jehovah's right hand (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; 16:19; Luke 22:69; Acts 2:32-35; 5:31; Romans 8:34; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 1 Peter 3:21) and gave him the name “Jehovah”, which would be contrary to what man's “trinity” dogma claims.

In Ephesians 1:22, rather than being presented as being God Almighty, God is presented as being only one person. God is the one person who puts all in subjection under the feet of Jesus (Psalm 110:1), and it is the one person who is the God and Father of Jesus (Ephesians 1:3,17) who gives to Jesus the headship over the church. 

Ephesians 1:23

heetis estin to swma autou to pleerwma tou ta

WHICH IS THE BODY OF HIM, THE FULLNESS OF THE (ONE) THE

3748 1510_2 3588 4983 0846_3 3588 4138 3588 3588

panta en pasin pleeroumenou

ALL (THINGS) IN ALL (THINGS) OF (ONE) FILLING.

3956 1722 3956 4137

(Westcott & Hort Transliterated Greek-English Interlinear)

Without the added words, the literal rendering of the above would be: “which is the body of him, the fullness of the the all in all of filling.”

Many quote Ephesians 1:23 as an alleged proof that Jesus is omnipresent, that is, that Jesus is present everywhere all the time. We doubt, however, that this is what Paul meant by his words. We will say that God has obviously given Jesus in his spiritual body the bodily power to be whatever is needed to complete the work God has given him to do. He would certainly need the ability to be present in many places at the same time, and we have no quarrel with such a conclusion. God has exalted Jesus to the highest position of glory in the entire universe, excluding being the Most High Himself. Thus, there would be nothing in such an ability that God has given to Jesus that would mean that we would need to assume that Jesus is God Almighty. Jesus' God has never given to his Son the power to be the “one\ God” from whom are all. -- 1 Corinthians 8:6.

In Ephesians 1:23, Paul styles the Church “the full development of him who filleth all in all.” What does the Apostle mean? While we cannot be totally certain, we do believe that there is a reasonable explanation. Jesus himself gives us an illustration: “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 12:24) The “much fruit” owes all its prospects to that one grain of wheat. One may consider the Possibility of bread as being signified by the one grain of wheat. Nevertheless, one grain of wheat is not of itself a harvest. The “much fruit” is the full development of that grain of wheat, along with many other grains of wheat. So also with Christ. Our all is in him, as he declared, “Without me (or severed from me) you can do nothing.” (John 15:15) The hand is of no use severed from the body; it will simply corrupt. Jesus illustrated this well in his picture of the vine: “Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered.” (John 15:4-12) The life is in the vine, and only in the vital union with the vine can the branch bear fruit. It is the branches that bear the fruit. True, the fruit is not their own, but the fruit of the vine, for the life in the branches is the life of the vine. Yet, in order that the vine may express its life fully in fruit bearing, the branches have their part to play. Now, there is no room to glory in this thought: The branch is only a channel for the expression of the one life, not a life of its own, but the life of the vine. And every individual member of the Body of Christ is only a channel for the expressing of the one life, not a life of his own that he is living in the power of the spirit “I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20) -- and so of the Christ, it is not because of any inherent value in any member. It is simply the extended operation of the Christ life that makes the Church, which is his Body, “the full development of him that filleth all in all.” -- Ephesians 1:23.

What does the Apostle mean: “Him that filleth all in all”? Who is this “all in all” that Christ fills? Oh, how wonderfully the Apostle's thought widens out here! As the planets all revolve around the sun, and the sun in its turn, with its train of planets, revolves round a still greater center, so also in the administration of the mystery. As the Church, those “stars in glory” find in Christ the Son of righteousness, their center of attraction, so Christ and his heavenly train with one accord acknowledge the superior attraction of Most High of the universe --  JEHOVAH himself; for as the Head of the Church is Christ, so the Head of the Christ is God. -- 1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:23,24.

As with Christ in relation to his body members, in him all the fullness dwells because he is our life and we are nothing of ourselves; so with God in his relation to the Christ as a whole. Jesus confessed: “Of mine own self I can do nothing.” “The words I speak unto you I speak not of myself but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 5:19,30) It is the Great Jehovah who is dwelling in his Messiah (John 14:10); and yet, according to the administering of the Mystery, God chooses the medium of the Christ for the full revelation of his glorious divine life. The full and varied expression of his divine life and character is manifest as never before in the Christ, his divine family. And yet, that divine life is, not of the Christ but of God, and that divine likeness is not the work of the Christ, but of that God that “dwells in the Christ” -- “We are his workmanship,” (Ephesians 2:10) -- and because that one spirit uniting all the members of Christ is the Holy Spirit of the Father -- “God is all in all.” After all, it is not even the vine to which ultimately redounds the glory of the fruit, but the husbandman. “Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit.” As the Apostle declares: “Unto him be glory in the Church by Jesus Christ, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” -- Ephesians 3:22. -- The three paragraphs preceding are based on material written by an unknown author, as presented in Herald of Christ's Kingdom, April 1950.

Regardless, Paul shows that Jesus is not God who exalted him, and that Jesus' exaltation results in “the glory of God, the Father” (Philippians 2:11), the God and Father of Jesus, the only true God. — Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Matthew 4:4 (Deuteronomy 8:3; Luke 4:4); Matthew 4:7 (Deuteronomy 6:16); Matthew 4:10 (Exodus 20:3-5; 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:13,14; 10:20; Luke 4:8); Matthew 22:29-40; Matthew 26:42; Matthew 27:46; Mark 10:6 (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:7,20-23); Mark 14:36; 15:34; Luke 22:42; John 4:3; 5:30; 6:38; 17:1,3; 20:17; Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 11:31; Ephesians 1:3,17; Hebrews 1:9; 10:7; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 2:7; 3:2,12.

Of course, what we do not find in Philippians 2:5-11 is any idea that presents the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as being more than one person. We find nothing here that presents any concept that God is three persons, or that Jesus is a person of Jehovah, etc. One does have to create a lot of assumptions and then read those assumptions into what is stated in order to “see” a triune God in the words Paul wrote. On the other hand, the words make perfect sense without adding trinitarian assumptions to what Paul wrote.

See also:

Links of Studies Related to Philippians 2:5

ADDENDUM:

Regarding the “name” in Philippians 2:9, it has been stated that “for a Pharisaic Jew there was only one name that could possibly be described in that way, and it was the name of God.” One comments: “That Philippians passage was a typical way an ANE Jew would say, 'Jesus is Yahweh'. They just didn’t talk like we do.”

The unipersonal “God” of Philippians 2:9 did not give to God the name of God to be above every name that God has given. Such would actually mean that God would have exalted God from being a little lower than the angels to being a higher than the angels. (Hebrews 1:4; 2:9; 1 Peter 3:22) It would further mean that God did not have this name until God exalted God.

Nor did Jehovah give to Jehovah the designation word name of Jehovah to be above every name that Jehovah has given; such an idea would mean that Jehovah exalted Jehovah from being lower than the angels to a position greater than the angels, and that Jehovah did not have the name Jehovah until Jehovah exalted Jehovah. — Philippians 2:9; Hebrews 1:4; 2:9; 1 Peter 3:22.

Nor did Jesus receive either the appellation “Jesus” or “Jehovah”/“Yahweh” at the time when the unipersonal “God” exalted Jesus. The Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32,35) already had the appellation “Jesus” before he was exalted. (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31) Jesus is nowhere spoken of receiving the designation “Jehovah” as being his name.

It should be apparent that when the Most High — the unipersonal “God” — exalted His Son (Luke 1:32,35; Philippians 2:9; Ephesians 1:3,17-23), that the unipersonal “God” gave to Jesus the name (office, position of glory) that is above every name, with the evident exception of that of being Jehovah, the only the Most High. — 1 Corinthians 15:27.