And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross.
Parallel Translations
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And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross.
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and was founde in his aparell as a man. He humbled him silfe and became obediet vnto the deeth even the deeth of the crosse.
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He humbled himselfe, and became obedient vnto the death, euen the death of the Crosse.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Philippians 2:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 10:18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
- Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Romans 5:19 For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
- 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.
- 1 Peter 3:18 Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit,
- 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.
- Matthew 26:39 He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.”
- Acts 8:33 In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth.”
- Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”
- Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.
- Isaiah 50:5-6 The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear. I was not rebellious. I have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.
- Hebrews 5:5-9 So also Christ didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father.” As he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,
- John 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let’s go from here.
- Psalms 40:6-8 Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire. You have opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and sin offering. Then I said, “Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll. I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart.”
- Proverbs 15:33 The fear of Yahweh teaches wisdom. Before honor is humility.
- John 12:28-32 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came out of the sky, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Therefore the multitude who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice hasn’t come for my sake, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
- John 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.
- Matthew 26:42 Again, a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup can’t pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done.”
- Psalms 22:16 For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
- Hebrews 10:7-9 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.’ ” Previously saying, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you didn’t desire, neither had pleasure in them” (those which are offered according to the law), then he has said, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first, that he may establish the second,
- Deuteronomy 21:23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Don’t defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.
- Matthew 17:2 He was changed before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light.
- Mark 9:2-3 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them. His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.
- John 4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
- Luke 9:29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 8 He became obedient. Even this was great humility…
8 He became obedient. Even this was great humility — that from being Lord he became a servant; but he says that he went farther than this, because, while he was not only immortal, but the Lord of life and death, he nevertheless became obedient to his Father, even so far as to endure death. This was extreme abasement, especially when we take into view the kind of death, which he immediately adds, with the view of enhancing it. For by dying in this manner he was not only covered with ignominy in the sight of God, but was also accursed in the sight of God. It is assuredly such a pattern of humility as ought to absorb the attention of all mankind; so far is it from being possible to unfold it in words in a manner suitable to its dignity.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 8 And being found in fashion as a man,…
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Ver. 8. He humbled himself] The Sun of righteousness went 10 degrees back in the dial of his Father, that he might come to us with health in his wings, that is, in his beams.
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Became obedient unto death] That is, to his dying day, saith Beza. He went through many a little death all his life long, and at length underwent that cursed and painful death of the cross, his soul also being heavy to the death, Mat 26:38, he suffered the insufferable wrath of God for a season. Ne perderet obedientiam, perdidit vitam, he lost his life lest he lose his submission to authority, saith Bernard.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain To be found is a mere Hebraism, not unusual…
To be found is a mere Hebraism, not unusual in the New Testament, not importing auy question of the thing, but only the thing certainly happening beyond expectation. It notes here, not his being apprehended of the soldiers when betrayed by Judas, being before his humble obedience, but his being, and really appearing to be, (as the Greek word is elsewhere used, Phi 3:9; Gen 5:24; 2Co 5:3; Gal 2:17; Heb 11:5, with 1Pe 1:7), as a man, simply considered, among men, which was before his being scourged, &c. consequent upon his apprehension. Now being made man, not reserved for a time, like the angels, for heaven itself and the view of angels; neither, from the privilege of the first man, (which Adam could not keep), did he reserve himself for the inhabiting of Paradise only: but, after the manner of men, he stayed in this earth amongst and conversed with them, and therefore is said to be in the fashion of men, or as a man; whereby his habit and deportment is more especially expressed, as his essence in the foregoing phrase.
Man, here, is considered according to what is proper unto human nature, not having the article prefixed, as if it connoted the first man, Adam, only man as man; the particle as, here, not intimating only likeness, without reality of nature, (as the Marcionites conceited), but as a confirming and assuring particle, noting certainty, Joh 1:14. Some indeed take fashion more strictly, as noting only the external figure of Christ’s body; others, more largely and commodiously, for the whole outward species of human nature: whence the truth of the human nature shined out, not only in the figure and matter of the body, with true flesh and bones, the habit of his members, mouth, eyes, &c., that he might be seen and touched, 1Jo 1:1, as he himself allegeth, Luk 24:39; Joh 20:20,27, growing in wisdom and stature, Luk 2:52; but his labouring with hunger, thirst, and weariness, eating, drinking, sleeping, watching, speaking, gestures, being moved with pity, sorrow, joy, weeping, in all which his human nature was evidenced of God, and easily found of men who conversed with him, Joh 4:29; 9:11; 18:22. What the Socinians urge, that this gainsays his being incarnate, from Samson’s saying, I shall be weak, and be as another man, Jdg 16:7,11; there is no strength in the allegation, that Samson, of Dan’s tribe, Jdg 13:2, should be compared with Christ coming from heaven, (as they themselves do not deny), found in fashion as a man: because Samson, being stronger than a hundred men, if he were dealt so and so withal would become as other men, (for that is the import of the words), no stronger than any other man, Jdg 16:17; whereas here, it is not said as one, any, or every, but simply as a man: and from those in power dying as other men, Psa 82:7. When they scoffingly ask: Doth it evidence these to be incarnate? It is answered: Though he who was strong as many became weak as any one man; they who live in power die in weakness, as other men do, and are not said to be incarnate: yet he who, being equal with God, took on him the form of a servant, and was in this world a very man, may very well be said to be incarnate, 1Ti 3:16.
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He humbled himself; he doth not say he was humbled or depressed by the just judgment of God, but of himself, voluntarily, on his own accord, without any constraint. He did really submit himself to the will of his Father, unto whom he was a servant, both in regard of the Divine nature, which he veiled, and also the human in his whole life, Luk 1:48, both outwardly and inwardly, Phi 2:5, in thoughts and affections, as well as actions and passions: wholly yielding his own will and appetite to God, by a patient subjection to affliction, not in showing humility only, but really undergoing it. For we find this low degree of his humiliation opposed to his superexaltation, in the following verse, and agreeing with what Isaiah prophesied of him, Isa 53:7, expounded by Philip, Act 8:32.
And became obedient unto death; without the copulative in the Greek, and expressing the manner of his humiliation, being of his own free will, and not by any force; made obedient, i.e. to God, (Not my will, but thine be done), to others, parents and magistrates, for God, according to the prescript of his law and will, in his life-time
unto death, and in death; unto being taken here, not exclusively, but inclusively, for the further amplification of the obedience, Mat 26:42; Joh 4:34; 8:29,46; Heb 10:9. Had he staid in his life for degrees of obedience, his condescension had been admirable, but that he should submit to a penal and painful death, (taking in his burial, and abiding in a separate state till the third day), this is stupendous: aggravated by the shame of dying on the cross, willingly and meekly yielding himself, though a Son, to that ignominious, cursed death, Deu 21:23; Act 5:30; Gal 3:10,13; Heb 12:2; far more reproachful than beheading, hanging, or burning; out of unspeakable love, to bring us nigh unto God, Rom 5:19; Col 2:14; 1Pe 2:24; 3:18. Upon these considerations, how should Christians in mutual love condescend to each other!
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And being found in fashion as a man,.... Not…
And being found in fashion as a man,.... Not that he had only the show and appearance of a man, but he was really a man; for "as" here, denotes not merely the likeness of a thing, but the thing itself, as in Mat 14:5, here, answers to the Hebrew f2, which is sometimes by the Jews (k) said to be , and signifies likeness, and sometimes , and designs truth and reality; which is the sense in which the particle is to be taken here: though he was seen and looked upon as a mere man, and therefore charged with blasphemy when he asserted himself to be the Son of God, he was more than a man; and yet found and known by men in common to be no more than a man, than just such a man as other men are; and so far is true, that his scheme, his habit, his fashion, his form, were like that of other men; though he was not begotten as man, but conceived in an extraordinary manner by the power of the Holy Ghost, yet he lay nine months in his mother's womb, as the human foetus ordinarily does; he was born as children are, was wrapped in swaddling bands when born, as an infant is; grew in stature by degrees, as men do; the shape and size of his body were like other men's, and he was subject to the same infirmities, as hunger, thirst, weariness, pain, grief, sorrow, and death itself, as follows:
he humbled himself: by becoming man, and by various outward actions in his life; as subjection to his parents, working at the trade of a carpenter, conversing with the meanest of men, washing his disciples' feet, &c. and the whole of his deportment both to God and man, his compliance with his Father's will, though disagreeable to flesh and blood, his behaviour towards his enemies, and his forbearance of his disciples, showed him to be of a meek and humble spirit; he humbled himself both to God and man:
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and became obedient unto death, or "until death"; for he was obedient from the cradle to the cross, to God, to men, to his earthly parents, and to magistrates; he was obedient to the ceremonial law, to circumcision, the passover, &c. to the moral law, to all the precepts of it, which he punctually fulfilled; and to the penalty of it, death, which he voluntarily and cheerfully bore, in the room and stead of his people:
even the death of the cross; which was both painful and shameful; it was an accursed one, and showed that he bore the curse of the law, and was made a curse for us: this was a punishment usually inflicted on servants, and is called a servile punishment (l); and such was the form which he took, when he was found in fashion as a man: this is now the great instance of humility the apostle gives, as a pattern of it to the saints, and it is a matchless and unparalleled one,
(k) Vid. Kimchi in Josh. iii. 4. (l) Lipsins de Cruce, l. 1. c. 12.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And being found in fashion as a man -…
And being found in fashion as a man - A common man, without any peculiar excellence or comeliness. He humbled himself - To a still greater depth. Becoming obedient - To God, though equal with him. Even unto death - The greatest instance both of humiliation and obedience. Yea, the death of the cross - Inflicted on few but servants or slaves.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. And being found in fashion as a…
Verse 8. And being found in fashion as a man] Και σχηματι εὑρεθεις ὡς ανθρωπος. This clause should be joined to the preceding, and thus translated: Being made in the likeness of man, and was found in fashion as a man.
He humbled himself] Laid himself as low as possible:
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1. In emptying himself-laying aside the effulgence of his glory.
2. In being incarnate-taking upon him the human form.
3. In becoming a servant-assuming the lowest innocent character, that of being the servant of all.
4. In condescending to die, to which he was not naturally liable, as having never sinned, and therefore had a right in his human nature to immortality, without passing under the empire of death.
5. In condescending, not only to death, but to the lowest and most ignominious kind of death, the death of the cross; the punishment of the meanest of slaves and worst of felons.
What must sin have been in the sight of God, when it required such abasement in Jesus Christ to make an atonement for it, and undo its influence and malignity!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Php 2:8. And being found in fashion as a…
Php 2:8. And being found in fashion as a man — A common man, without any peculiar excellence or comeliness. The word σχημα, rendered fashion, includes all the particulars of a person’s outward appearance; such as his figure, air, looks, clothing, and gait. The word is also applied to things inanimate, as, (1Co 7:31,) the fashion of this world passeth away. He humbled himself — To a still greater depth: for his condescension to the rank of low life among sinful mortals, wonderful as it was, did not content him; but he became obedient — To his Father; even unto death — The greatest instance both of humiliation and obedience: and to no common form of dissolution, but to the ignominious, as well as painful death of the cross, inflicted on few but slaves, or the vilest malefactors. “The reasoning in this passage is beautiful. The Son of God did not proudly continue in his high station, but descended from it for a while, and placed himself in the lowest condition among men, serving every one with the humility and assiduity of a servant, or bondman, as δουλος signifies. Then, in obedience to his Father, (Joh 6:38,) he finished his services by suffering the painful and ignominious death of the cross as a malefactor, for the salvation of the world. Having this great example of humility and benevolence set before them by their Master, his disciples, who are above their brethren in station, should not on every occasion behave as their superiors; but, laying aside their dignity, they should cheerfully perform in person to their inferiors those offices of kindness and humanity which their distress requires; especially when the assistance wanted by their inferiors is of such an urgent nature that it admits of no delay.” — Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And being found - That is, being such, or…
And being found - That is, being such, or existing as a man, he humbled himself.
In fashion as a man - The word rendered “fashion” - σχῆμα schēma - means figure, mien, deportment. Here it is the same as state, or condition. The sense is, that when he was reduced to this condition he humbled himself, and obeyed even unto death. He took upon himself all the attributes of a man. He assumed all the innocent infirmities of our nature. He appeared as other people do, was subjected to the necessity of food and clothing, like others, and was made liable to suffering, as other men are. It was still he who had been in the “form of God” who thus appeared; and, though his divine glory had been for a time laid aside, yet it was not extinguished or lost. It is important to remember, in all our meditations on the Saviour, that it was the same Being who had been invested with so much glory in heaven, that appeared on earth in the form of a man.
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He humbled himself - Even then, when he appeared as a man. He had not only laid aside the symbols of his glory Phi 2:7, and become a man; but when he was a man, he humbled himself. Humiliation was a constant characteristic of him as a man. He did not aspire to high honors; he did not affect pomp and parade; he did not demand the service of a train of menials; but he condescended to the lowest conditions of life; Luk 22:27. The words here are very carefully chosen. In the former case Phi 2:7, when he became a man, he “emptied himself,” or laid aside the symbols of his glory; now, when a man, he humbled himself. That is, though he was God appearing in the form of man - a divine person on earth - yet he did not assume and assert the dignity and prerogatives appropriate to a divine being, but put himself in a condition of obedience. For such a being to obey law, implied voluntary humiliation; and the greatness of his humiliation was shown by his becoming entirely obedient, even until he died on the cross.
And became obedient - He subjected himself to the law of God, and wholly obeyed it; Heb 10:7, Heb 10:9. It was a characteristic of the Redeemer that he yielded perfect obedience to the will of God. Should it be said that, if he was God himself, he must have been himself the lawgiver, we may reply that this rendered his obedience all the more wonderful and all the more meritorious. If a monarch should for an important purpose place himself in a position to obey his own laws, nothing could show in a more striking manner their importance in his view. The highest honor that has been shown to the Law of God on earth was, that it was perfectly observed by him who made the Law - the great Mediator.
Unto death - He obeyed even when obedience terminated in death. The point of this expression is this: One may readily and cheerfully obey another where there is no particular peril. But the case is different where obedience is attended with danger. The child shows a spirit of true obedience when he yields to the commands of a father, though it should expose him to hazard; the servant who obeys his master, when obedience is attended with risk of life; the soldier, when he is morally certain that to obey will be followed by death. Thus, many a company or platoon has been ordered into the “deadly breach,” or directed to storm a redoubt, or to scale a wall, or to face a cannon, when it was morally certain that death would be the consequence. No profounder spirit of obedience can be evinced than this. It should be said, however, that the obedience of the soldier is in many cases scarcely voluntary, since, if he did not obey, death would be the penalty. But, in the case of the Redeemer, it was wholly voluntary. He placed himself in the condition of a servant to do the will of God, and then never shrank from what that condition involved.
Even the death of the cross - It was not such a death as a servant might incur by crossing a stream, or by failing among robbers, or by being worn out by toil; it was not such as the soldier meets when he is suddenly cut down, covered with glory as he falls; it was the long lingering, painful, humiliating death of the cross. Many a one might be willing to obey if the death that was suffered was regarded as glorious; but when it is ignominious, and of the most degrading character, and the most torturing that human ingenuity can invent, then the whole character of the obedience is changed. Yet this was the obedience the Lord Jesus evinced; and it was in this way that his remarkable readiness to suffer was shown.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain being found in fashion as a man--being already, by…
being found in fashion as a man--being already, by His "emptying Himself," in the form of a servant, or likeness of man (Rom 8:3), "He humbled Himself (still further by) becoming obedient even unto death (not as English Version, 'He humbled Himself and became,'&c.; the Greek has no 'and,' and has the participle, not the verb), and that the death of the cross." "Fashion" expresses that He had the outward guise, speech, and look. In Phi 2:7, in the Greek, the emphasis is on Himself (which stands before the Greek verb), "He emptied Himself," His divine self, viewed in respect to what He had heretofore been; in Phi 2:8 the emphasis is on "humbled" (which stands before the Greek "Himself"); He not only "emptied Himself" of His previous "form of God," but submitted to positive HUMILIATION. He "became obedient," namely, to God, as His "servant" (Rom 5:19; Heb 5:8). Therefore "God" is said to "exalt" Him (Phi 2:9), even as it was God to whom He became voluntarily "obedient." "Even unto death" expresses the climax of His obedience (Joh 10:18).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. found] as one who presented Himself for inspection…
8. found] as one who presented Himself for inspection and test. See Appendix F.
fashion] See third note on Php_2:6 above. The Greek word schêma denotes appearance with or without underlying reality. It does not negative such reality any more than it asserts it; it emphasizes appearance. In the context, we have the reality of the Lord’s Manhood abundantly given; and in this word accordingly we read, as in the word “likeness” just above, an emphatic statement that (a) He was Man in guise, not in disguise; presenting Himself to all the conditions of concrete life as Man with man; and that (b) all the while the schêma had more beneath it than its own corresponding reality: it was the veil of Deity.
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as a man] Better, perhaps, as man, though R.V. retains “as a man.” As the Second Man, our Lord is rather Man, the Man of men, than a Man, one among men.—Yet the assertion here is rather as to what He was pleased to be in relation to those who “found” Him, came into contact with Him, in His earthly walk; and to such He certainly was “a man.” And so, with wonderful condescension, He speaks of Himself as “a man that hath told you the truth” (Joh_8:40).
he humbled himself] in “the acts of condescension and humiliation in that human nature which He emptied Himself to assume” (Ellicott). More particularly the reference is to the specially submissive, bearing, life, under the afflictive will of His Father, which He undertook to lead for our sakes; see the next words. The Greek verb is in the aorist, and sums up the holy course of submission either into one idea, or into one initial crisis of will.
and became] Lit. and better, becoming; an aorist participle coincident in reference with the previous aorist verb.
obedient] to the Father’s will that He should suffer. The utterance of Gethsemane was but the amazing summary and crown of His whole sacred course as the Man of Sorrows. His “Passion,” standing in some vital respects quite alone in His work, was in other respects only the apex of His “Patience.”
unto death] R.V. rightly supplies even before these words. “Unto” means (by the Greek) “to the length of.” He did not “obey” but “abolish” death (2Ti_1:10); He obeyed His Father, “even to the extent of” dying, as the sinner’s Sacrifice, at the demand of the holy Law, and “by the determinate foreknowledge” (Act_2:23) of the Lawgiver.
of the cross] “Far be the very name of a cross not only from the bodies of Roman citizens, but from their imagination, eyes, and ears” (Cicero, pro Rabirio, c. 5. Cp. Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. xx.). Every thought of pain and shame was in the word, and was realized in the terrific thing. Combining, as we should do in the case of our Redeemer’s Crucifixion, the significance to the Jew of any death by suspension, with the significance to the Roman of execution on the cross, we must think of this supreme “obedience” as expressing the holy Sufferer’s submission both to “become a curse for us” (Gal_3:13, with Deu_21:23) as before God the Lawgiver, and meanwhile to be “despised and rejected of men” (Isa_53:3) in the most extreme degree.
On the history of thought and usage in connexion with the Cross, and Crucifixion, see Zöckler’s Cross of Christ.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) And being found . . .—This should be,…
(8) And being found . . .—This should be, And after having been found (or, recognised) in fashion as a man, He [then] humbled Himself, having become obedient even to death. “After having been found,” &c., clearly refers to the manifestation of Himself to the world in all the weakness of humanity: the “outward fashion” was all that men could see; and in it they found “no form or comeliness,” or “beauty, that they should desire Him” (Isa_53:2-3). From this St. Paul proceeds to the last act of His self-humiliation in death: “He became obedient,” that is, to God’s will, “even up to death.” His death is not here regarded as an atonement, for in that light it could be no pattern to us; but as the completion of the obedience of His life. (See Rom_5:19.) Of that life as a whole He said, “I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (Joh_6:38); and the doing that will (see Heb_10:9-10) ended in “the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” In this light His death is the perfection of the suffering which, in consequence of the power of sin in the world, must be faced in doing the will of God (see 2Ti_3:12); in this light we can follow it, and even “fill up what is lacking of the sufferings of Christ” (Col_1:24).
Even the death of the cross.—Properly, and that too, the death of the cross; emphasising its peculiar shame and humiliation as an “accursed” death. (See Gal_3:13.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And being found in fashion as a man. He…
And being found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself in the Incarnation; but this was not all. The apostle has hitherto spoken of our Lord"s Godhead which he had from the beginning, and of his assumption of our human nature. He now speaks of him as he appeared in the sight of men. The aorist participle, "being found (eureYeiv)," refers to the time of his earthly life when he appeared as a man among men. Fashion (schma), as opposed to form ( morfh), implies the outward and transitory. In outward appearance he was as a man; he was more, for he was God. He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death; translate, as R.V, obedient. The participle implies that the supreme act of self-humiliation consisted in the Lord"s voluntary submission to death. the obedience of his perfect life extended even unto death. "He taketh away literally, "beareth," airei the sin of the world;" "The wages of sin is death;" therefore he suffered death for the sin which, himself sinless, he vouchsafed to bear. Here we may remark in passing that this connection of death with sin must have made death all the more awful to our sinless Lord. Even the death of the cross. No ordinary death, but of all forms of death the most torturing, the most full of shame a death reserved by the Romans for slaves, a death accursed in the eyes of the Jews. (Deu_21:23)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 8. He humbled himself. Note the infinite condescension: (1)…
8. He humbled himself. Note the infinite condescension: (1) The form of God and sharing the divine glory. (2) He divests himself of this. (3) Nor does he then take the divine form, or even the form of an angel, but of lowly, sinful man. (4) But this is not all. He not only takes the form of man, but the mortality of the flesh, and dies. (5) Nay, more; he dies the most shameful and painful of all deaths, even the death of the cross.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:8 in obedience to God: It was God’s will…
2:8 in obedience to God: It was God’s will that Jesus die for the sins of humanity (see Isa 53:7; Matt 26:39; John 3:16; 10:17-18; Rom 5:8, 19; 8:3; Heb 5:8; 1 Jn 4:9-10, 14). • a criminal’s death on a cross: In the Roman Empire, crucifixion was a cruel and humiliating punishment for criminals.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.