# Philippians 2:6: Did Jesus Refuse Equality With God? > The New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) adds “trying” at Philippians 2:6. The King James says equality with God was not robbery. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/philippians-2-6-equality-with-god - Religions: Jehovah's Witnesses - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: jehovahs-witnesses, scripture, christology - Updated: 2026-10-17 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) Jehovah’s Witnesses read [Philippians 2:6](/bible/philippians/2/6) as Jesus refusing to grasp at equality with God because he never had it. Their New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) adds the idea of trying. The King James says that, being in the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Jesus is God. ## Key Points - The [New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) of Philippians 2:6](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/philippians/2/#v50002006) [(1)](#ref-1) says he “did not even consider the idea of trying to be equal to God.” - [Philippians 2:6](/bible/philippians/2/6) [(3)](#ref-3) in the King James says, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” - The Greek noun is [ἁρπαγμός](/bible/greek/harpagmos-g725), a seizure. The study note’s alternate line is “did not regard equality with God as something to be seized.” The word the 2013 text adds is “trying.” - [μορφή](/bible/greek/morphe-g3444) is the form he was already in. The study note glosses it as nature, appearance, shape, or likeness, and says Jesus was a spirit person because “God is a Spirit.” - The study note on harpagmos argues that the word never means holding on to something already possessed, and it draws its conclusion from the 2013 wording. - [Philippians 2:10–11](/bible/philippians/2/10) [(3)](#ref-3) says every knee bows at the name of Jesus and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. [Isaiah 45:23](/bible/isaiah/45/23) [(4)](#ref-4) is the LORD saying every knee shall bow to him. - The [New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) of Philippians 2:9](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/philippians/2/#v50002009) [(2)](#ref-2) says the name is above “every other name.” The Greek of that line has no word for other. ## What the Two English Lines Say [Philippians 2:6](/bible/philippians/2/6) [(3)](#ref-3) opens a paragraph about the mind of Christ. The King James says he was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God. The next verse says he made himself of no reputation, took the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. Verse 8 says he humbled himself to death, even the death of the cross. The [New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) of Philippians 2:6](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/philippians/2/#v50002006) [(1)](#ref-1) reads: > who, although he was existing in God’s form, did not even consider the idea of trying to be equal to God. “Although” and “trying” are the words that turn a status he has into a status he declines to chase. The study note explains the verse as a lesson in humility. It ties it to Philippians 2:3, “With humility consider others superior to you,” and to verse 5, and it says Jesus, who considered God to be superior, never grasped for equality with God. It sets him against the Devil, who urged Eve to make herself like God, citing Genesis 3:5. Other changed verses are compared in [How the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) Changes John 1:1 and Other Verses About Jesus](/jehovahs-witnesses/how-the-new-world-translation-changes-verses-about-jesus). ## What Harpagmos Means The noun in the clause is [ἁρπαγμός](/bible/greek/harpagmos-g725). The study note gives its literal sense as “a thing to be seized” and derives it from the verb ἁρπάζω, “to seize; to snatch.” Readers have long taken that seizure in two ways. One way treats equality as a prize not yet held, something he did not snatch. The other treats equality as something he already had, and did not clutch as a prize to be exploited. The note takes the first side. It says some have suggested the term refers to retaining something already possessed, but that “the Scriptures never use the Greek term to mean the holding on to something already in one’s possession,” and it lists verses where the verb means seize or snatch, among them Matthew 11:12 and John 10:28–29. Its alternate rendering is “did not regard equality with God as something to be seized (grasped).” The 2013 sentence goes further than that alternate. It inserts “trying to be,” and the note then draws its conclusion: > If Jesus “did not even consider the idea of trying to be equal to God,” it must be that he was never equal to God. The “must” is the note’s inference from its own English. The Greek clause is about how he regarded τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ, the being equal with God. [John 5:18](/bible/john/5/18) [(5)](#ref-5) says his hearers already understood that calling God his Father was making himself equal with God. Philippians 2:6 is Paul saying he was in God’s form and did not treat that equality as plunder. [Biblical Unitarians](/biblical-unitarianism) read the line the way the study note’s conclusion reads it: a creature who never was equal with God. The paragraph they share with Jehovah’s Witnesses continues. Verse 7 says what he took is the form of a servant. The form of God is where the sentence starts. ## What Morphe Means [μορφή](/bible/greek/morphe-g3444) is the word twice in the paragraph: the form of God, and the form of a servant. The study note on “although he was existing in God’s form” glosses [μορφή](/bible/greek/morphe-g3444) as nature, appearance, shape, or likeness. It says Jesus was a spirit person, and it quotes “God is a Spirit” from [John 4:24](/bible/john/4/24). The note is right that the word is the same word in both lines. It is the same μορφή he has and the μορφή he takes. A spirit creature who never shared God’s being does not stand in God’s form and then take a servant’s form. He would be changing costumes. Paul says he was in the form of God, and he took the form of a servant. [What Is the Incarnation?](/christianity/what-is-the-incarnation) is that taking. [Colossians 2:9](/bible/colossians/2/9) [(6)](#ref-6) says in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. ## What Philippians 2:9–11 Does With Isaiah 45 [Philippians 2:9–11](/bible/philippians/2) [(3)](#ref-3) says God highly exalted him and gave him a name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [Isaiah 45:23](/bible/isaiah/45/23) [(4)](#ref-4) is the LORD swearing by himself that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear. Paul puts that oath at the name of Jesus. The confession is to the Father’s glory. It is not a confession that the name is a rank below the only one who may be bowed to. The [New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) of Philippians 2:9](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/philippians/2/#v50002009) [(2)](#ref-2) says God “kindly gave him the name that is above every other name.” The study note grants that the literal Greek, as the Kingdom Interlinear gives it, is “every name,” and that many translations use it. It says that rendering could give the impression that Jesus’ name is above God’s own name, which would not fit the context, since God is the one who gave the name. It adds a word study: the Greek for “every (all)” can mean “every other” in some contexts, and it points to Luke 13:2, Luke 21:29, and Philippians 2:21. Many translations, the King James among them, print “a name which is above every name” at [Philippians 2:9](/bible/philippians/2/9). Christians reply that the name above every name is the LORD’s, because verses 10 and 11 apply Isaiah 45:23 to Jesus. [Is Jesus God?](/christianity/is-jesus-god) and [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) hold this paragraph with [John 1:1](/bible/john/1/1). The Son who is in the form of God takes the form of a servant. He does not try, and fail, to become God. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Where Else Does the Bible Use the Verb Behind Harpagmos? The study note lists the verb’s uses, including [Acts 8:39](/bible/acts/8/39), where the Spirit of the Lord “caught away Philip,” and [1 Thessalonians 4:17](/bible/1-thessalonians/4/17), where believers are “caught up.” The noun ἁρπαγμός itself occurs only here in the New Testament, which is why its sense is debated. ### What Does “Emptied Himself” Mean in the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible)? The [study note](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/philippians/2/#v50002006) [(1)](#ref-1) on verse 7 says the word literally means to remove the content of something, and that Jesus gave up his spirit nature to live and suffer as a human. The King James renders the clause “made himself of no reputation.” Christians read it as the Son taking a servant’s form without ceasing to be God. ## Keep Reading - [How the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) Changes John 1:1 and Other Verses About Jesus](/jehovahs-witnesses/how-the-new-world-translation-changes-verses-about-jesus) - [Is Jesus God?](/christianity/is-jesus-god) - [What Is the Incarnation?](/christianity/what-is-the-incarnation) - [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) - [ἁρπαγμός](/bible/greek/harpagmos-g725) - [μορφή](/bible/greek/morphe-g3444) - [What Is Biblical Unitarianism?](/biblical-unitarianism/what-is-biblical-unitarianism) ## Passages Quoted on This Page ### Philippians 2:6 King James Version. > Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: ### Philippians 2:10 King James Version. > That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; ### Isaiah 45:23 King James Version. > I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. ### Philippians 2:9 New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible). [Open on jw.org](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/philippians/2/#v50002009) > For this very reason, God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name ### John 5:18 King James Version. > Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. ### John 4:24 King James Version. > God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. ### Colossians 2:9 King James Version. > For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. ### Philippians 2:9–11 King James Version. > [2:9] Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: [2:10] That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; [2:11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ### Philippians 2:9 King James Version. > Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: ### John 1:1 King James Version. > In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ### Acts 8:39 King James Version. > And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. ### 1 Thessalonians 4:17 King James Version. > Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. ### Philippians 2:9-11 New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible). [Open on jw.org](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/philippians/2/#v50002009) > For this very reason, God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend—of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground—and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. ### Philippians 2:6–11 King James Version. > [2:6] Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: [2:7] But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: [2:8] And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. [2:9] Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: [2:10] That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; [2:11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible), Philippians 2:6](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/philippians/2/#v50002006) (2013 Study Edition. The verse and the notes on “trying to be,” “God’s form,” and the alternate “something to be seized.”) 2. [New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible), Philippians 2:9–11](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/philippians/2/#v50002009) (2013 Study Edition. “The name that is above every other name,” and the note on the added “other.”) 3. [Letter to the Philippians, 2:6–11](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/philippians/2). King James Version 4. [Book of Isaiah, 45:23](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/isaiah/45/23). King James Version 5. [Gospel of John, 5:18](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/5/18). King James Version 6. [Letter to the Colossians, 2:9](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/colossians/2/9). King James Version ## See Also - [Does “Jehovah” Belong in the New Testament?](https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/does-jehovah-belong-in-the-new-testament) — The New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) uses the name Jehovah 237 times in the New Testament. The Study Edition’s note on Acts 7:60 says the Greek manuscripts read “Lord.” - [How the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) Changes John 1:1 and Other Verses About Jesus](https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/how-the-new-world-translation-changes-verses-about-jesus) — How the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) renders John 1:1 as “a god” and other verses about Jesus, beside the King James and the Greek. - [Is Jesus “Our Great God and Savior” in Titus 2:13?](https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/titus-2-13-our-great-god-and-savior) — Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1 use one Greek article for God and Savior. The New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) reads them as two persons. - [Is Jesus Michael the Archangel?](https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/is-jesus-michael-the-archangel) — Insight on the Scriptures identifies Michael with Jesus by a chain of inferences. Hebrews 1 sets the Son over every angel. - [Is Jesus the Creator or a Creature?](https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/is-jesus-the-creator-or-a-creature) — Jehovah’s Witnesses say a literal reading of Colossians 1:16 would make Jesus the Creator, so the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) adds “other.” John 1:3 and Hebrews 1:10–12 do not leave him outside creation as a creature.