Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Philippians 2:1-11, The form of a slave, a cross, and every knee
Paul urges humility and concern for others, then sets out Christ, who did not exploit his equality with God but took the form of a slave and died on a cross, and whom God exalted so that every knee will bow.
Philippians 2:1-11, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul asks the church to be united and humble, putting others' interests ahead of their own. He holds up Christ as the pattern: though he shared God's status, he did not use it for his own gain but gave it up, took the place of a slave and went all the way to death on a cross. So God raised him above all, and one day every being everywhere will bow and confess Jesus as Lord, to the Father's glory.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/honor-and-shame\/","n":"Honor before a crowd","s":"Public standing was the currency of the ancient Mediterranean. People competed for honor and dreaded being shamed in front of others.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/slavery\/","n":"Slavery and slave managers","s":"Slaves were everywhere in the Roman world, from field hands to stewards who ran whole estates and handled their master's money. A master away and slaves left in charge was a familiar story.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/crucifixion\/","n":"Crucifixion","s":"Rome's public, shaming death for rebels, after flogging, with the charge posted for passers-by to read.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/powers-over-the-nations\/","n":"Rulers and powers over the nations","s":"Many Jews believed each nation had a spiritual ruler set over it, often hostile to God's people. Paul's rulers, authorities, powers and thrones belong to that picture.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/imperial-cult\/","n":"Caesar worshiped as savior and lord","s":"Augustus and the emperors after him were hailed as savior, lord and son of a god, and in the eastern provinces they were worshiped. The titles the Gospels give Jesus were already being used for Caesar.","r":""}
Moral writers proved points with examples: here Jesus, then Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus (Keener and his notes). Whether 2:6-11 is an earlier hymn Paul quotes is debated. Keener and his notes report the majority view that he does; Carson, Moo and Morris weigh the rare words and rhythm on both sides and judge "we should probably see it as coming from Paul", which the ESV Study Bible thinks just as likely; Wright leaves it open. Taking a slave's form ran against everything expected of persons of status (the cultural backgrounds notes; Wright and Bird). Wright sets the poem against Alexander, who suggested his own divinity, and Augustus, whom grateful subjects came to treat as divine, and against Adam's grasping. Isaiah 45:23, where every knee bows to Israel's God, is applied to Jesus (Keener and his notes). Who bows under the earth is read differently: the shadowy dead of Greek myth (Keener and his notes); the dead, saved and lost (the CSB Study Bible); or every spirit power, astral, earthly and underworld, which "will be forced to recognize Christ's sovereign lordship" (Arnold). On harpagmos, Wright and Bird and the ESV and CSB Study Bibles favor not exploiting what he already had.
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, introduction to Philippians 2:1-11, and on Philippians 2:1-4, 2:5-6, 2:8 and 2:10-11
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Philippians 2:1-30, 2:7 and 2:10
- ESV Study Bible, study notes on Philippians 2:5-11 and 2:6
- CSB Study Bible, notes on Philippians 2:6 and 2:9-11
- N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, The New Testament in Its World, ch. 19, Philippians, box Emails from the edge, and Philippians and the Big Picture
- N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters, comment on Philippians 2:5-11
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 12, Philippians, Author, and Philippians in Recent Study, The Hymn in Phil. 2:6-11
- Clinton E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness, ch. 12, Christ's Final Subjection of the Powers
