Paragraph 2:9–11

After Christ had obediently humbled himself, God exalted Christ and gave him the highest possible honor and authority. By using this example, Paul implied that God would also honor those of his people who obediently humbled themselves.

2:9a

Therefore: In 2:6–8 Christ humbled himself. In 2:9–11 God exalted him. So the main connection between 2:6–8 and 2:9–11 is that 2:9–11 is the result of 2:6–8: Christ obediently humbled himself, and as a result God exalted him.

However, a literal translation of the Greek here is “therefore also.” This is an unusual combination of Greek words that shows that there is also a contrast between 2:6–8 and 2:9–11. This contrast is highly dramatic. Look for a way to make this contrast exciting in your language.

God exalted Him to the highest place: God gave Jesus the highest honor he could give anyone. He gave him the position of the greatest possible honor and authority.

The speakers of some languages have incorrectly imagined that God put Jesus’ dead body in an important position. If the readers of your translation might think this, you will need to make explicit the information that God first caused Jesus to live again. See the Display on 2:9b.

Look for an expression in your language that indicates the greatest possible honor. Other translation ideas are:

God gave him greatness beyond measure.
-or-
God made him very, very great.

In some languages it is necessary to show who or what Jesus is greater than. (2:9b and 2:10 indicate this.) For example:

God made him greater than everything and everyone.

2:9b

and gave Him the name above all names: God gave Jesus the name that has greater honor and authority than all other names. God gave him a title or rank that is greater than that of anyone or anything else. He made him to be Lord of all.

name: This may refer to a specific name or to the reputation or rank that God gave Jesus. But even if name refers to a specific or literal name, the idea of rank or position is also included. See Romans 1:5; 1 Timothy 6:1 and Hebrews 1:4 for other examples of the word name. The position God gave to Jesus was one of lordship, authority, power and dignity.

In some languages a person’s name is not associated with his position or authority. If this is so in your language, you will need to make this clear in another way. See the second Meaning Line in the Display on 2:9b for another suggestion.

General Comment on 2:9

There are two ways to understand how the two clauses in 2:9 (“God exalted Him…and gave Him the name”) relate to each other:

(1) God exalted Jesus to the highest place, that is, he gave him the name that is above every name (see SSA). This also has good support in the commentaries. One way to translate this would be:

God exalted him by giving him the greatest name. (God’s Word)

(2) God exalted Jesus to the highest place, and he also gave him the name that is above every name. “Exalting” and “giving a name” are thus two separate things God did for Jesus. This is not stated explicitly in most translations but is the natural reading. (Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004) and Contemporary English Version)

It is likely that the two actions in 2:9 are two ways of speaking about the same thing. So interpretation (1) is preferred here.

© 2002 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.