This verse concludes the first stanza of the hymn. It reaches the climax in Christ’s supreme humility and obedience. It is this act of humility which is urged on the Philippian Christians (vv. 3-5).

Note the word order in Greek: in 2.7 we have “but himself he emptied,” with the emphasis on the person; whereas here we have “he humbled himself,” with the emphasis on the act. Note also that the Greek verb is in the aorist tense, describing an act, not a disposition. To reflect this emphasis, he was humble is best taken in the sense of “he abased himself” or “he humiliated himself” (Knox “he lowered his own dignity”). To indicate the role of Jesus in “humbling himself,” one may say in some languages “he caused himself to be humble,” “he himself lowered his own status,” or “he caused himself to become low.” (For the meaning of “humility,” see the discussion under Pp. 2.3.)

Walked the path of obedience all the way to death translates a participial phrase which means literally “becoming obedient to the extent of death.” The action of the aorist participle “becoming” is simultaneous or contemporaneous with the main verb “he humbled,” and it is also explanatory. Christ humbled himself “by becoming” obedient even to the extent of death; in other words, “obedient to death” defines the measure of Christ’s humbling himself (cf. also John 10.17; Heb 5.8; 12.2). The obedience is rendered to God, as implied in verse 9. A contrast with Adam appears to be in the author’s mind (Rom 5.12-21). The act of self-humbling and obedience sums up the whole course of Christ’s life on earth. Good News Translation attempts to make this fact explicit by rendering walked the path of obedience all the way to death. Christ humbled himself by living a life of complete obedience which culminated in death (cf. Phillips). Paul hastens to add that Christ’s death was not a normal death, but the cruel, torturous, shameful death on the cross. It was an accursed death, the death of a common criminal (Gal 3.13).

Two principal problems are involved in the expression walked the path of obedience all the way to death. In the first place, many languages do not permit the metaphorical use of such an expression as walked the path. In the second place, some languages require an indication of the person to whom another is obedient. It may be more satisfactory to render walked the path simply as “becoming,” although one can also say “in what he did he became obedient.” When it is necessary to indicate the person to whom Christ was obedient, that person must, of course, be God. Therefore one may say “he was obedient to God even to the point of dying,” or “… giving his life.”

The final phrase in verse 8, his death on the cross, may be introduced as an explanation of precisely what kind of dying was meant, for example, “He was obedient to God even to the point of dying, that is to say, dying on a cross” or “… that is to say, being crucified.”

Quoted with permission from Luo, I-Jin. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .