Philippians 2


Philippians 2 is the second chapter of the Epistle to the Philippians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle about mid-50s to early 60s AD and addressed to the Christians in Philippi. Jesuit theologian Robert Murray notes that a narrative in verses 5-11 about Christ, "who humbled himself, by becoming obedient to death" is central to this chapter. German protestant theologian Ernst Lohmeyer argued in 1928 that verses 6-11 were an existing hymn about Christ which Paul quotes in his letter, a theory which "has come to dominate both exegesis of Philippians and study of early Christology and credal formulas".

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 30 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
This section centers on Paul's appeal for unity of minds and hearts among the people, which can be expressed by four phrases: two using the keyword phronein, then agape and sumpsuchoi. Maintaining his reference to the joy which Paul already feels in respect to the Philippians, he speaks of this joy being "made full, like a measure".

Christ as the Focus and Model for Discipleship (2:5–11)

Following the exhortation in the earlier section, Christ is pointed as the model for discipleship, with a poetic narrative "beyond Paul's usual vocabulary", but not necessarily beyond his capacity.

Verse 5

This verse uses the same word phronein which Paul used at the start of this chapter.

Verse 6

Verse 7

The Desired Response (2:12–18)

Based on Christ's example, Paul exhorts the people to "work out your own salvation... for it is God who is at work".

Timothy and Epaphroditus, Paul's Go-Betweens (2:19–30)

Two of Paul's helpers, Timothy and Epaphroditus, are introduced and the reasons for their journey are explained in this part, mainly to show Paul's affection to the people of Philippi.