King James Version

Philippians 2:6

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Study

Greek

Tap a word to see its meaning.

ὃςhosWhoὅςrelative pronoun, nominative, singular, masculine — “Who”, the subject formG3739who, which, what, that.This verse uses “who”.Whoἐνeninἐνpreposition — “in”G1722in, on, among.inμορφῇmorphēformμορφήnoun, dative, singular, feminine — “form”, the to- or for-formG3444form, shape, outward appearance.This verse uses “form”.the formθεοῦtheouof Godθεός (theos)noun, genitive, singular, masculine — “of God”, the of-formG2316(a) God, (b) a god, generally.This verse uses “God”.of Godὑπάρχωνhuparchōnto beὑπάρχω (huparchō)verb, present active participle, nominative, singular, masculine — “to be”, an ongoing or repeated actionG5225I begin, am, exist, am in possession.οὐχouchnotοὐ (ou)adverb — “not”G3756no, not.notἁρπαγμὸνharpagmonrobberyἁρπαγμός (harpagmos)noun, accusative, singular, masculine — “robbery”, the object formG725spoil, an object of eager desire, a prize.robberyἡγήσατοhēgēsatoto governἡγέομαι (hēgeomai)verb, aorist middle indicative, 3rd person singular — “to govern”, a single actionG2233(a) I lead, (b) I think, am of opinion, suppose, consider.τὸtotheὁ (ho)article, accusative, singular, neuter — “the”, the object formG3588the, the definite article.εἶναιeinaito existεἰμί (eimí)verb, present active infinitive — “to exist”, an ongoing or repeated actionG1510I am, exist.Strong’s files this form under G1511 (εἶναι, exist).to beἴσαisaequalἴσος (isos)adjective, accusative, plural, neuter — “equal”, the object formG2470equal, equivalent, identical.This verse uses “equal”.equalθεῷtheōwith Godθεός (theos)noun, dative, singular, masculine — “with God”, the to- or for-formG2316(a) God, (b) a god, generally.This verse uses “God”.with God

Literal (Young’s Literal Translation)

who, being in the form of God, thought [it] not robbery to be equal to God,

Translation Note

The clause is ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ. ὑπάρχων is a participle, “existing.” ἁρπαγμός is a noun, accusative, singular, masculine. Dodson glosses it “spoil, an object of eager desire, a prize.” ἡγήσατο is “he considered.”

The King James Version reads “thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” The New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) adds “the idea of trying to,” which is not a separate Greek word in the clause. The lexical range of ἁρπαγμός is a thing seized or prized, not a verb meaning “try.”

King James Version. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible), this verse. “who, although he was existing in God’s form, did not even consider the idea of trying to be equal to God.” Watchtower Online Library

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Young’s Literal Translation

who, being in the form of God, thought [it] not robbery to be equal to God,

World English Bible

who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Darby Translation

who, subsisting in the form of God, did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God;

Douay-Rheims

Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

American Standard Version (1901)

Young’s Literal Translation

World English Bible

Darby Translation

Douay-Rheims

See Also

Analytics Cookies