Pauline Hermeneutics: Isaiah in Philippians 2:1-11 (original) (raw)

"The Philippians 'Christ Hymn': Trends in Critical Research," Currents in Biblical Research 13 (2015): 191-206

The so-called 'Christ hymn' of Phil. 2.5-11 has maintained great scholarly interest for over a century, with monographs and articles continuing to appear that seek to address important critical issues. Questions including the pre-existence of Christ and 'kenotic theology' have digressed and been revived with the invocation of numerous methodologies and the influence of major philosophical trends external to New Testament studies proper. This article tracks the major trends in research of Phil. 2.5-11, with a view to three central topics of interest: the authorship and origin of the passage, its plausible hymnic structure and form, and its function and theology within the letter itself, including its ancient audience.

An Exposition of Philippians 2:5-11

This paper deals with exegetical issues concerning the well-known kenosis passage in Philippians. It covers textual variants and other textual issues, includes exegetical commentary, as well as a basic homiletical outline built in to the paper. It is by no means exhaustive, but should give the reader a good survey of the exegetical matters in this passage.

Isaac D. Blois and Gregory E. Lamb, eds., Current Trends in Pauline Research: Philippians (Basel: MDPI, 2024)

Religions, 2024

The scope and purpose of this edited anthology is to highlight the current trends and methods for interpreting Paul’s letter to the Philippian Christ followers, understanding the letter’s aim(s), methods, recipients, and theological impact. Paul is an adept epistle writer, with his corpus reflecting rhetorical sophistication, pastoral sensitivity, missional zeal, and theological power, all of which are on display in his short letter to the Philippian saints. As a shorter Pauline epistle—often assumed to be merely a “warm, friendly, joy-filled letter” in the commentary tradition—Philippians has historically been underappreciated and misunderstood in biblical studies. However, recent scholarship has corrected some of this neglect and misunderstanding, and this Special Issue seeks to present the latest insights emerging therefrom. Philippians, far from being a minor member of the Corpus Paulinum, serves as a powerful monument to Paul’s overall and mature theological, Christological, and pastoral vision.

A New Translation of Philippians 2:5 and Its Significance for Paul’s Theology and Spirituality

In this essay I make an extended case for an interpretation of 2:5 that I have previously presented briefly in various places: "Cultivate this mindset—this way of thinking, acting, and feeling—in your community, which is in fact a community in the Messiah Jesus . . . ." The key element of my proposal is not the language of cultivation or the three-part definition of “mindset” (taken from S. Fowl). Rather, it is the last half of the verse, “which is in fact . . . .” This relative clause is the link between the imperatival clause φρονεῖτε ἐν ὑμῖν and the following poem, and it is what has most thoroughly beguiled translators. I submit that this translation best captures the point Paul is making in Philippians and also has highly significant implications for understanding Paul’s theology and spirituality as a whole. I argue, that is, for a participatory understanding of the verse over against the two main options, imitative and locative.

Exegetical study of Philippians 2:5-8

Philippians 2:5-8 has been so closely connected with certain theological problems of Christology and yet this passage is full of meaning concerning the humility of Jesus Christ, which the apostle Paul is calling on Christian to posses. This paper discusses the verbs and nouns in this passage to determine the true meaning of the passage.

The Text-Critical Significance of Isaiah in Romans: A Study of Selected Passages

N-A), alongside with an attempted translation into English. 4 Second, the Old Testament authorial context of the quoted verse(s) will be provided. Third, the MT textual apparatus for the verse(s) will be explained. Fourth, a comparison between the MT and the LXX verse(s) will be made. Any possible variants will be examined for the most likely original reading. Fifth, a comparison will be made between Paul's rendition of the verse(s) and the MT/LXX reading. Finally, Paul's theological context will also be taken into account in order to see how he uses Isaiah and Psalms in order to make his theological point before his audience. 5