Phil 2:5-11
I have taken the American Standard Version above and laid it out under a Propositional Analysis approach below. I have chosen the text of the ASV translation because it matches the original Greek the best and is divided, like the Greek, into two sentences, split after the repetition for emphasis of the kind of death Jesus was to die. i.e. yea, the death of the cross.
The lines are indented so that each element of the statement is aligned with its antecedent, the word, phrase, clause or connection which went before it. Don’t let the grammatical terms put you off. That just simply means I have taken the building blocks of Paul’s statement or thoughts and laid them out for you in a way which shows you clearly how the pieces fit together like a jigsaw. This helps us to see where and how the portion we are reading connects to what went before it or came after it. I have gone a step further by highlighting and embolding the links in different colours as they fall out in layers. The colours show you which words belong together or are grouped. To help you further you will notice Jesus, God the Father, Name, LORD are all coloured purple. Notice all the verbs related to Jesus are red. The lines of text are all aligned under one another to show you the links or connections between each thought expressed in a new line. In its purest sense that is how propositional analysis works. We want to lay out the propositions in a complicated passage of writing or string of thoughts in such a way as to make it easier for us to see how each idea (proposition) fits together.
My first suggestion is that you look at the layout below and make an attempt to understand how the pieces of what Paul wrote fit together. Take time to spot how the pieces are arranged. For example take time to look at the dark blue and light blue words. Knee and tongue are coloured dark blue. The light blue words are beings in heaven, beings on earth and beings under the earth. So we have knees and tongues aligned because they are in parallel and then we have
of beings in heaven
beings on earth
beings under the earth
aligned as well.
This gives you a very good idea of how the Greek text is arranged. When you know that, you understand more accurately how Paul’s sentences are put together.
Philippians 2:5-11 Laid Out in Related Propositions
Have this mind in you
which was also in Christ Jesus
who existing in the form of God
counted not the being on an equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being made in the likeness of men;
and being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient even unto death,
yea, the death of the cross.
Wherefore also God highly exalted him,
and gave unto him the name
which is above every name;
that in the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
of beings in heaven and
beings on earth and
beings under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is LORD,
to the glory of God
the Father.
Take your time to understand how this works by studying the layout. I won’t add much more to this Gem in order to give you the time to take it all in. In the next Gem I will begin to work my way through the text piece by piece. It is still not too late to send me your questions or comments on the things you have seen or which puzzle you. [It seems that the new addition of the Comments feature at the end of each Gem hasn’t worked for some of you. It worked for me but that maybe a result of the fact that I am the Author and so it automatically links what I write to my name. It should do the same for you but it hasn’t worked for some of you. My webmaster is working on that feature. In the meantime just send a note to [email protected] or [email protected] or click the FB or Twitter links. I have every confidence that the web guys will sort out the glitches relatively quickly.]
I will step back from the detail of the text at this point to give you a clue to the bigger picture of the flow of the text.
Notice that the refrain of “being of one mind” is repeated in:
one in spirit, united in spirit (Phil 1:27)
one mind, one purpose (Phil 2:2)
To which Paul then adds “have the same mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5)
These elements are clearly linked given the potential partisanship we found evidence for when analysing Chapter 1. This unity of spirit and mind and purpose is all linked. We will address the matter again after we have finished our work on this complex passage and then attempt to pull it all together.
Not only are we dealing with a Majestic Passage but we are also dealing with a complicated series of Paul’s thoughts in the midst of some complicated Greek word constructions. So we need to be sharp and ready to get a little grammar grime on ourselves.