Philippians 2:7

A question arises as to punctuation. W.H. punctuate as in the text. Calvin, Weiffenb. and Haupt would place a comma after γενόμ. and a colon after ἄνθρωπος of Philippians 2:8. This would coordinate these three clauses and make a new sentence begin with ἐταπείνωσεν. The division does not seem natural or necessary. μ. δούλου λ. The clause defines ἐκένωσε. Christ's assumption of the “form” of a δοῦλος does not imply that the innermost basis of His personality, His “ego,” was changed, although, indeed, “there was more in this emptying of Himself than we can think or say” (Rainy, op. cit., p. 119). [1] δ. simply describes the humility to which He condescended. It is needless to ask whose δοῦλος He became. The question is not before the Apostle. ἐν ὁμοιώ. ἀνθ. γεν. γεν. as opposed to ὑπάρχων, “becoming” as opposed to “being by nature”. This clause, in turn, defines μ. δ. λ. “Being made in the likeness of men.” ὁμοι. expresses with great accuracy the Apostle's idea. Christ walked this earth in the real likeness of men. This was no mere phantom, no mere incomplete copy of humanity. And yet Paul feels that it did not express the whole of Christ's nature. It was not “an hereditary likeness of being” (Hltzm [2] See N.T. Th., ii., pp. 70 72). It was, in a sense, borrowed. ἀνθρ. Almost = “mankind,” “humanity”.

[1] Codex Sangallensis

[2]ltzm. Holtzmann.