The Berean Expositor
Volume 44 - Page 210 of 247
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Philippians 2: 6 - 11  and  3: 4 - 19.
Examples of Christ and Paul.
A | 2: 6. EQUALITY WITH GOD. Originally (huparchon).
B | 7, 8. The Humiliation (seven-fold).
a | He emptied Himself.
b | A bond-servant.
c | Likeness of men.
d | Fashioned as a man.
a | He humbled Himself.
b | Obedient unto death.
c | The death of the cross.
A | 9-. EXALTATION. THE NAME (inherited, see Heb. 1: 4).
B | -9-11. The Exaltation (seven-fold).
a | The name above every name.
b | Every knee to bow.
c1 | Things in heaven.
c2 | Things in earth.
c3 | Things under the earth.
b | Every tongue confess.
a | Jesus Christ is Lord.
Here it will be observed "things in heaven, and things in earth" occurs as in Col. 1: 16.
"He made Himself of no reputation." The A.V. has used the word "reputation" twice
in Philippians, the second occurrence being at 2: 29, "hold such in reputation". The
R.V. has wisely omitted the word "reputation" in both passages, reading in 2: 7 "but
emptied Himself", and in 2: 29 "hold such in honour", for two different Greek words are
used.
The change, however, while it makes some aspects of the truth clearer, introduces
other problems for, to a modern mind, there is something strange about the idea of
anyone "emptying himself". In modern usage, empty places foremost in the mind the
idea of a "jug without water", "a room without furniture" & "empty vessels" (II Ki. 4: 3).
These come naturally to mind. In order to avoid too crude an application of the figure of
"emptying a vessel" when speaking of the Saviour's humiliation, most of us slip into
paraphrase and say "He divested Himself" of His dignity and insignia of Deity, but this is
confessedly an attempt to avoid a problem. The verb keno is cognate with kenos "vain"
and means "empty". That the word has a wider application than that of emptying a
vessel, such expressions as "seven empty ears" (Gen. 41: 27), "the sword of Saul returned
not empty" (II Sam. 1: 22) will show.
Where kenos is translated "empty" in the A.V. of the N.T. it refers in the parable to
the treatment of the servant by the wicked husbandmen, who sent him "empty away"
(Mark 12: 3; Luke 20: 10, 11), and to "the rich" who were "sent empty away"
(Luke 1: 53);  in most cases, however, kenos is translated "vain", as for example, in