2:7–8

There are six verbs in 2:7–8 (underlined below). These verbs can relate to each other in several ways. This is how they would appear in a literal translation of the Greek:

(a) He emptied himself,

(b) taking the form of a slave,

(c) being born in the likeness of men,

(d) being found in form as a man,

(e) he humbled himself,

(f) becoming obedient unto death.

(a) and (e) are the main verbs and the others depend on these two. The second meaning line in the Display arranges this passage in two sentences: A-B-C (2:7) and D-E-F (2:8), with the second sentence following chronologically after the first. First Christ humbled himself by becoming like a slave (that is, he became a man), and then he humbled himself further by dying.

Some translations have divided this into three sentences, A-B, C-D and E-F. Look at the Good News Translation for one example of this.

2:7a

emptied Himself: The Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek literally as emptied Himself. It means he humbled himself. Christ was still truly God in his character, attributes and nature. But he willingly gave up the power and privileges that were rightfully his and completely humbled himself in order to become human.

2:7b

taking the form of a servant: As Christ before his incarnation was truly God, now he became truly man as well. He took the form of a servant, that is, he became the same as a servant. This includes the implied meaning “he came to earth.” For example:

He ⌊came to earth and⌋ became the same as a servant/slave.

form: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as form is morphē, the same Greek word that Paul used in 2:6a when referring to Christ having the same nature as God. See the note there. When Jesus became a man, he submitted himself to other people and experienced pain, hunger and thirst. If in your translation you can use the same word to speak about Jesus being in the form of God and Jesus taking the form of a servant, you should do so. However, if it is not possible to use the same word, try to still keep the parallelism in some way.

servant: See note on “servants” in 1:1a. Look for the word or phrase in your language that implies the lowest social position or the position of a servant. Jesus, who had had all the rights and privileges of God himself, now voluntarily becomes someone with no rights at all.

2:7c

The Display shows how the clause in 2:7b relates to the previous clause in 2:7a. It shows how Jesus took the form of a slave.

being made: This means “becoming” or “being born.”

in human likeness: A literal translation is “in the likeness of human beings.” Some English versions translate as “man” the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as human. But the Greek word used here does not mean “male.” It refers to a human being of either sex.

Your translation should not imply that Christ was like humans but not really human. So you may need to translate the phrase “being made in human likeness” as, for example, “he became a human being.”

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