What Does Philippians 2:9 Mean?
Therefore God also lifted him high, and favored him with a name above every name.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:THE KEY
God raises Jesus into the highest place and gives him a name that reveals the nature and authority standing above every rival.
THE MEANING
God raises Jesus to the highest place and grants him the name that stands above every other name. In Scripture, a name carries the nature and authority of the one named, so this gift reveals who Jesus is and the reach of his rule. Every competing title or power is measured beneath him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The claim that Jesus is only one authority among equals cannot stand beside this verse: his name is above every name.
THE ROOT
ὄνομα
onoma
GROWS FROM
ὀνομ-
onom-
Name or designation; by extension, the standing and character disclosed through the one named.
Here, the name is more than a label: it carries the nature and authority of Jesus. God gives him the name above every name, revealing who he is and placing every other claim beneath him.
ALSO GROWS
onomazō: To name or designate
ὀνομάζω
Naming makes an identity known; here, the name discloses Jesus’ standing.
onomastos: Named, notable, renowned
ὀνομαστός
This branch connects a name with the recognition or standing attached to the one who bears it.
ἐχαρίσατο
echarisato
GROWS FROM
χαρίζομαι (charizomai), from χάρις (charis)
To grant as a favor; to bestow freely.
“favored him with” in this verse is echarisato. The name is bestowed by God as favor. Its authority is conferred, not seized or self-created.
ALSO GROWS
charis: Favor
χάρις
The name is given through an act of favor.
charisma: A gift granted through favor
χάρισμα
This related word makes clear that what is granted can be understood as a gift.
ὑπερύψωσεν
hyperypsōsen
GROWS FROM
ὑψόω (hypsoō), with ὑπερ- (hyper-)
To raise high or exalt; the prefix adds the sense of above or beyond.
“lifted him high” in this verse is hyperypsōsen. The verb makes God the one doing the raising, and its intensified form echoes the name placed above every name. The exaltation and the name work together: God raises Jesus and makes his supremacy known.
ALSO GROWS
hypsistos: Highest
ὕψιστος
This related form expresses the height of the position to which Jesus is raised.
hypsēlos: High, elevated
ὑψηλός
This branch shares the language of elevation that shapes the verse’s claim.
THE PATTERN
Exaltation is conferred by God, while self-exaltation cannot command it.
For God is the judge. This one he brings low, and this one he lifts.For everyone who lifts himself will be brought low; and the one who lowers himself will be lifted up.Be made low before the face of the LORD, and he will lift you up.THE THREAD
And whatever you do, in word or in work, do all in the nature of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.The same Greek word, ὄνομα (onoma, “name”), appears in both verses. Philippians gives the name its supreme standing; Colossians shows that name as the nature under which words and actions take shape.
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