What Does Philippians 2:7 Mean in the King James?
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
“Made himself of no reputation” is the hidden act of emptying, and its visible form is service.
THE MEANING
The verse places before the reader a life that empties itself, takes a servant’s form, and enters the human likeness we share. Here, self-giving takes visible form in service.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that dignity rests on status: the verse presents the servant’s form as the chosen shape of self-giving.
THE ROOT
ἐκένωσεν
ekenōsen
GROWS FROM
κεν-
ken-
empty, void; to make empty
“made himself of no reputation” in this verse is ekenōsen. The verb means literally “he emptied himself”; the sentence then names the form that emptying takes: a servant’s. The same root appears in “vainglory” at Philippians 2:3, where it names empty acclaim.
ALSO GROWS
kenos: Empty, void; also vain or futile.
κενός
This related word makes clear that the root holds both literal emptiness and the idea of something hollow.
kenodoxia: Empty glory; vainglory.
κενοδοξία
This compound shares the empty root and connects self-emptying with the contrast of empty acclaim in Philippians 2:3.
μορφὴν
morphēn
GROWS FROM
μορφ-
morph-
form, shape, or expressed form
The same Greek noun is used in Philippians 2:6 for “the form of God” and here for “the form of a servant.” That repeated word lets the verse hold both expressions together: servant-form is the shape his self-emptying takes.
ALSO GROWS
metamorphoō: To transform or change form.
μεταμορφόω
This related verb shows the root describing a change in expressed form.
morphōsis: Form or expression.
μόρφωσις
This noun keeps the root’s sense of a form made visible.
δούλου
doulou
GROWS FROM
δουλ-
doul-
servant; one in another’s service
This is a concrete servant word with the relational force of belonging to another’s service; its word family names both serving and servitude. The verse makes the self-emptying visible through a relation of service.
ALSO GROWS
douleuō: To serve; to be in service.
δουλεύω
The verb shows the active service carried by the noun in this verse.
douleia: Servitude or bondage.
δουλεία
This branch preserves the weight of the servant’s relation and status.
THE PATTERN
Self-giving takes the form of downward movement into service.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.THE THREAD
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.The Greek word behind “vainglory,” κενοδοξία (kenodoxia, empty glory), contains the same κεν- (ken-, empty) root as the verb translated “made himself of no reputation” here. The passage sets empty acclaim beside an emptying that takes a servant’s form.
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