Feng Xiang (annotation): Although he is in the image of God (Philippians 2:6-11)

Original link: http://www.ideobook.com/3198/being-form-god/

The Philippians, belonging to Paul’s “Tablet in Prison”, are in “strife” for being “in chains” for the preaching of the Gospel, Phil 1:7, 13, 30. However, this poem is generally considered to be not his original, but a reference to the carols of worship by predecessors or people of the time. The reasons are: the poems are self-contained, like independent works; several key terms and concepts are not found in Paul’s epistles confirmed by scholars: it seems that before Jesus was born, he already had the “image”, morphe of God; and “equal to God” ”, isa theo, is actually a qualification that can (and therefore cannot be) “plundered,” harpagmos. In contrast, “exiting the void”, kenosis, is also a very unique way of saying that the Son is suspended from the divine personality, enters the womb of a woman, and becomes a child. In addition, upon careful reading, the ideological content of this hymn of Christ does not quite match the context. From the last chapter of the first chapter onwards, Paul talks about the “fellowship of the spirit”, koinonia pneumatos, emphasizing that fellowship members should follow Jesus as an example, love each other, respect each other, be of one mind, not seek personal gain to harm others, and do not let “servants of Jesus” ” i.e. the disappointment of the apostles who led the congregation, 2:1-5, 16. However, for these “in Christ” “encouragement” and “love consolation”, the small poem did not say a word. On the contrary, what the psalmist is concerned with is not connected with it, and cannot be used as a model for the ethics of fellowship, but can only be seen as a play on poetry (Ellman a, p. 254ff.): ”, was “exalted” by God and given the name “beyond all names” when he suffered on the cross, and enjoyed the praise of thousands of tongues in the three worlds. In terms of writing, this hymn has a smooth rhythm and a lofty intention, with the charm of a Hebrew prophet. The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) makes a pause after Section 8, and is divided into two sections, each section has three sections, and each section has three lines, which is also a method, which can highlight the symmetry of its structure. The upper one writes that Jesus came into the world to die, “died on the cross,” and the lower one praises Christ’s ascension and resurrection, “Glory to God and the Father.” The translation is divided into three parts, each of which is six lines, and the key words such as “image”, “appearance”, “suffering death” and “name”, the rhyme of the translation and the symmetrical sentence structure are staggered, and the tension of another level is pondered. 6 Although he was in the image of God, he did not hold on to being equal to God as a robbed qualification; 7 On the contrary, he took the image of a slave and created himself in the image of all men. Although he looked like an ordinary person8, he was most humble and obedient and even died on the cross; 9 Therefore God exalted him and gave him a name that surpasses every name: 10 To make heaven, earth and Hades All the people in the three worlds heard the name of Jesus and bowed their knees, and all 11 tongues agreed that Jesus Christ was Lord and glorified to God and the Father. Note 2:6 The image of God: Contrasted with another image of the patriarch Adam, “Pride and Fall,” Gen. 3:7, n. 12 (“The Garden of Eden”). Equivalent to God: Refers to eternal life, which Adam lost by eating the forbidden fruit, Genesis 3:22. Since the Son of Man is the way of “truth and life,” being equal to the Father is what the title should mean. So the naysayers also say that he not only called God Father, but “was almost equal to God,” John 5:18. Qualifications taken away, harpagmos, plunder, interpreted as divinity, glory, or eternal life. Indefinite solution. 2:7 emptied himself: heauton ekenosen, gave up his might, came into the world as the Son of man, “forsaken the rich into the poor” and suffered, made atonement for all, note on 2 Corinthians 8:9. Slave image: said to act as a faithful servant of God, willing to sacrifice, Isaiah 52:13 below; “in the likeness of the flesh that took sin, as an offering for sin, by which he condemned sin”, Romans 8:3. 2:8 Humility and obedience/even death: Jesus was crucified not to do “his own will” but to obey God’s will and fulfill his appointed mission, John 4:34, 5:30. 2:9 Lifted high: metaphor of resurrection and ascension to heaven, returning to the side of “the sender”. Ten thousand: including sentient beings and angels/minor gods, Ephesians 1:21, Hebrews 1:4. 2:10 Knees: Worship. Christ/Anointed One with Anointed/God. From this (and similar compliments) sprang up the later doctrines and creeds of the mystical identity, homoousios, of the Father and the Son. 2:11 Tongue/Affirmation: Oath in the Holy Name, Confession of the Lord, Isaiah 45:23. Gradually, the name of Jesus has also become the basis for believers to swear, although the Son of Man has long warned: do not take any oath. “Yes” is “yes”, “no” is “no”; superfluous words are of great evil, Matthew 5:34, 37. Jesus Christ in the Lord/Glory, eis doxan, God the Father, read also as the popular book: The Lord Jesus Christ in the Glory of God and the Father. This article is collected in Feng Xiang’s “Sacred Poems”, with a bibliography.

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