Death on a cross in the Jesus hymn.

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Ben C. Smith
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Death on a cross in the Jesus hymn.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

The hymn in English translation:

Philippians 2.6-11: 6 Who, though existing in the form of God, did not regard it as plunder to be equal to God, 7 but rather emptied himself, having taken the form of a slave, in the likeness of humans having become, 8 and, having been found in shape as a human, he humbled himself, becoming obedient until death, and (it was) death on a cross, 9 and on this account God also exalted him highly and gifted him the name which is over every name, 10 so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of the celestial and of the terrestrial and of the subchthonic, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord unto the glory of God the Father.

The underlined clause is often argued to be a gloss or an addition to the original piece. Lohmeyer versifies the hymn as follows:

Lohmeyer

6 [ὃς] ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων
οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο
τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,

7 ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν,
μορφὴν δούλου λαβών,
ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος,

8 καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος
ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν
γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου [θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ].

9 διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν
καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ
τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα,

10 ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ
πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ
ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων

11 καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται
ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς
εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός.

Notice that our clause is in brackets. Jeremias tags more than that one clause as an extra:

Jeremias

6 ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων
οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,

7 ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν,
μορφὴν δούλου λαβών,

ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος,
8 καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος

ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν
γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου [θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ].

9 διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν
καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα,

10 ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ [ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων]
11 καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς [εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός].

But his schema seems needlessly complicated to me.

After working on the versification for quite some time, off and on over the past year or so, I found I like the traditional versification (literally: the verses as found in English Bibles) the best, since it marks off the clauses by main/finite verbs (one of which is a compound construction), which I have underlined below:

Traditional

6 [ὃς] ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,

7 ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν, μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος,

8 καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου [θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ].

9 διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα,

10 ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων

11 καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός.

Even in the traditional way of versifying the hymn, the line containing θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ winds up markedly longer than the rest, making me once again suspect, like so many who have analyzed the hymn, that the line is a gloss.

What if it is a gloss by Paul himself as he inserted the hymn into this epistle? The notion has occurred to me that, before Paul, perhaps Jesus' mode of death had something to do with a tree, but was not crucifixion per se. Perhaps the cause of death was more direct (like stabbing or stoning or some such), and his corpse was then displayed on a tree in a sort of fulfillment of Deuteronomy 21.23. Perhaps it was Paul himself, or someone close to him, who first spelled the death out as a crucifixion in the more familiar sense, probably at least partly because Jesus' designation as a slave or servant would have naturally called to mind the supplicium servile.

It also seems possible that Paul may have appreciated the benefits of updating a more mythological death to the most cruel, shameful mode of execution known at the time. The mythological death of a god(dess) or a hero, no matter how shameful it may be in a realistic sense, can lack impact (much as Jesus' own crucifixion no longer stands out as a supremely dishonorable eventuality to modern Christians, who proudly hang crosses in their homes and churches). Just as, for Goth teenagers, the shock value of dark and disturbing motifs is not a bug but a feature, so too for Paul the very disgrace of Roman crucifixion may have been not a negative but a positive, enabling him to pen passages such as these:

Galatians 5.11-12: 11 But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. 12 I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.

Galatians 6.12-15: 12 Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

1 Corinthians 1.22-24: 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Thus Paul gets to call soft or cowardly anyone who disagrees with him; after all, they do not serve the kind of Jesus who suffered the most shameful death imaginable.

What do you think? Is it possible that Paul is the one who turned some other kind of death into crucifixion?

Ben.
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Re: Death on a cross in the Jesus hymn.

Post by robert j »

Ben C. Smith wrote: Sat Dec 02, 2017 9:28 pm The notion has occurred to me that, before Paul, perhaps Jesus' mode of death had something to do with a tree, but was not crucifixion per se. Perhaps the cause of death was more direct (like stabbing or stoning or some such), and his corpse was then displayed on a tree in a sort of fulfillment of Deuteronomy 21.23. ...

Is it possible that Paul is the one who turned some other kind of death into crucifixion?
I think it was Paul himself who thought the mode of death had something to do with a stake or tree, but was not crucifixion per se.

Paul associated the death of Jesus with a stake (σταυρός). And Paul implied in Galatians 3:13 that Jesus was hung on a piece of wood, timber, stake, or tree (ξύλου) in order to redeemed believers from the curse of the Law, using Deuteronomy 21.23 as his proof-text.

I think Paul was using the terms with a common connotation of his time (prior to the writings in the NT Gospel stories) ---

LSJ --- σταυρός ---
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... stauro%2Fs

A. upright pale or stake, of piles driven in to serve as a foundation,
II. [NT] cross, as the instrument of crucifixion,
b. pale for impaling a corpse


LSJ --- ξύλου ---
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... Dcu%2Flon1

A. wood cut and ready for use, firewood, timber, etc, ship-timber, logs cut square,
2. in pl., also, the wood-market,
II. in sg., piece of wood, log, beam, post, spoon made of fig wood, peg or lever, perch, of the Trojan horse, hence anything made of wood, as,
2. cudgel, club, of the club of Heracles,
3. an instrument of punishment,
a. wooden collar, put on the neck of the prisoner or,
b. stocks, in which the feet were confined, a combination of both, with holes for the neck, arms, and legs,
d. gallows, in NT, of the cross,
e. stake on which criminals were impaled,
4. bench, table, esp. money-changer's table,
5. front bench in the Athenian theatre,
6. the Hippocratic bench,
III. of live wood, tree,
IV. of persons, blockhead, of a stubborn person,
V. a measure of length,
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Re: Death on a cross in the Jesus hymn.

Post by Kunigunde Kreuzerin »

Ben C. Smith wrote: Sat Dec 02, 2017 9:28 pmLohmeyer versifies the hymn as follows:
Lohmeyer
6 [ὃς] ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων
οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο
τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,

7 ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν,
μορφὴν δούλου λαβών,
ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος,

Jeremias tags more than that one clause as an extra:
Jeremias
6 ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων
οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,

7 ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν,
μορφὴν δούλου λαβών,

ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος,
8 καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος

But his schema seems needlessly complicated to me.
In either way there seems to be a strong trust in an orderly schema.

It could be that Jeremias saw a chiastic structure in Philippians 2.6-7a and I tend to agree.
Jeremias
ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων
..... οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,
..... ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν,
μορφὴν δούλου λαβών,

On the other hand, I would agree with Lohmeyer that "ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος," is not a separated clause. At first glance, I would put Philippians 2.6-7 in this schema.
ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων
..... οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο .................... τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,
..... ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν,
μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ........................ ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος,

Therefore, I'm not sure there is the expected orderly schema.
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Was Paul the First to Assert that Jesus was Crucified?

Post by JoeWallack »

Ben C. Smith wrote: Sat Dec 02, 2017 9:28 pm What do you think? Is it possible that Paul is the one who turned some other kind of death into crucifixion?
Ben.
JW:
Been there. Done that:

Was Paul the First to Assert that Jesus was Crucified?

What's not appreciated even by Skeptics is not only is Paul the first extant to assert that Jesus was crucified but Paul never claims that any first hand witness says Jesus was crucified. Thus we have no first or second hand witness that Jesus was crucified. On the other side (so to speak) we have pseudo-fed Hisstryists like McWrath and Hurltado who say that Jesus crucified is a bedrock (so to speak) historical fact.


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Re: Death on a cross in the Jesus hymn.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

robert j wrote: Sat Dec 02, 2017 11:26 pm
Ben C. Smith wrote: Sat Dec 02, 2017 9:28 pm The notion has occurred to me that, before Paul, perhaps Jesus' mode of death had something to do with a tree, but was not crucifixion per se. Perhaps the cause of death was more direct (like stabbing or stoning or some such), and his corpse was then displayed on a tree in a sort of fulfillment of Deuteronomy 21.23. ...

Is it possible that Paul is the one who turned some other kind of death into crucifixion?
I think it was Paul himself who thought the mode of death had something to do with a stake or tree, but was not crucifixion per se.
I think it is pretty clear that Paul thought of crucifixion as the mode of death for Jesus:

2 Corinthians 13.4: 4 For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we shall live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

Romans 14.9: 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

And that is what the phrase θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ would entail, too, would it not? And that is the difference I am seeing. It really does not matter whether the cross was envisioned absolutely as a Roman cross (though, once the mode of death has been specified as a cross, why not?); my point is that the original connection of the curse with a tree is not death by crucifixion:

Deuteronomy 21.22-23: 22 If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.

That is another mode of death (like stoning), followed by the hanging of the corpse on a tree or gibbet for the sake of onlookers. But I think Paul has specified that the death itself was on a cross or stake or what have you (θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ). The way Galatians 3.13 cites Deuteronomy 21.23 may offer a clue:

Deuteronomy (LXX): ...κεκατηραμένος ὑπὸ θεοῦ πᾶς κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου....
Galatians: ...ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου....

Paul has changed the perfect participle κεκατηραμένος to the simple adjective ἐπικατάρατος. Seth Ehorn comments on this change:

Seth Ehorn, The Citation of Psalm 68[67].19 in Ephesians 4.8 Within the Context of Early Christian Uses of the Psalms, page 89: The reason is that the perfect participle κεκατηραμένος would imply that a victim was cursed prior to being hung (cf. Deut 21.22–23). This clearly contradicts Paul’s purpose in Gal 3.13, where he claims that Christ ‘became for us a curse [γενόμενος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα]’. The modification to the adjective ἐπικατάρατος is borrowed from Deut 27.26, which Paul recently cited in Gal 3.10.60.

Paul places everything on the cross, I think: the curse, the death, the shame, whereas perhaps earlier tradents did not.

Such is the option I am exploring, at any rate.
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Re: Was Paul the First to Assert that Jesus was Crucified?

Post by Ben C. Smith »

JoeWallack wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2017 6:34 am
Ben C. Smith wrote: Sat Dec 02, 2017 9:28 pm What do you think? Is it possible that Paul is the one who turned some other kind of death into crucifixion?
Ben.
JW:
Been there. Done that....
Yes, indeed, Joe. To be frank, the wording of Galatians 6.12 has always tended to dissuade me from that conclusion, since it seems to imply a consciousness of "the cross of Christ" on the part of Paul's opponents. But now I am reevaluating.
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Re: Death on a cross in the Jesus hymn.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2017 3:28 amTherefore, I'm not sure there is the expected orderly schema.
Maybe not, but I am curious now as to how you would mark out the rest of the passage.
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Re: Death on a cross in the Jesus hymn.

Post by Kunigunde Kreuzerin »

Ben C. Smith wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2017 7:51 am
Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2017 3:28 amTherefore, I'm not sure there is the expected orderly schema.
Maybe not, but I am curious now as to how you would mark out the rest of the passage.
That's the problem. Overall, it's clear that there are two parts (1. what Jesus is and did, 2. what God did and to what purpose).
6 Who, though existing in the form of God, did not regard it as plunder to be equal to God, 7 but rather emptied himself, having taken the form of a slave, in the likeness of humans having become, 8 and, having been found in shape as a human, he humbled himself, becoming obedient until death, and (it was) death on a cross,

9 and on this account God also exalted him highly and gifted him the name which is over every name, 10 so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of the celestial and of the terrestrial and of the subchthonic, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord unto the glory of God the Father.

But I can't see a clear structure in detail, and therefore I am not able to give a schema.

I think that Lohmeyer's weakest point is Philippians 2:9. There is absolutely no reason to separate „gifted him“ from „the name which is over every name“.

Lohmeyer
9 διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν
καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ
τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα,


Jeremias
9 διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν
καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα,

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Re: Death on a cross in the Jesus hymn.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:24 am
Ben C. Smith wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2017 7:51 am
Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2017 3:28 amTherefore, I'm not sure there is the expected orderly schema.
Maybe not, but I am curious now as to how you would mark out the rest of the passage.
That's the problem. Overall, it's clear that there are two parts (1. what Jesus is and did, 2. what God did and to what purpose).
6 Who, though existing in the form of God, did not regard it as plunder to be equal to God, 7 but rather emptied himself, having taken the form of a slave, in the likeness of humans having become, 8 and, having been found in shape as a human, he humbled himself, becoming obedient until death, and (it was) death on a cross,

9 and on this account God also exalted him highly and gifted him the name which is over every name, 10 so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of the celestial and of the terrestrial and of the subchthonic, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord unto the glory of God the Father.

But I can't see a clear structure in detail, and therefore I am not able to give a schema.

I think that Lohmeyer's weakest point is Philippians 2:9. There is absolutely no reason to separate „gifted him“ from „the name which is over every name“.
I agree. And Jeremias' schema has weaknesses, as well, which is why I went for line rhythm and balance, as the traditional versification suggests, rather than for more complicated literary structuring. When we divide the passage up into clauses by marking the finite verbs, the line balance in Philippians 2.6-11 is pretty remarkable by contrast with the immediate context:

Philippians 2.1-18:

1 Εἴ τις οὖν παράκλησις ἐν Χριστῷ, εἴ τι παραμύθιον ἀγάπης, εἴ τις κοινωνία πνεύματος, εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί, 2 πληρώσατέ μου τὴν χαρὰν

ἵνα τὸ αὐτὸ φρονῆτε, τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες, σύμψυχοι, τὸ ἓν φρονοῦντες, 3 μηδὲν κατ᾽ ἐριθείαν μηδὲ κατὰ κενοδοξίαν ἀλλὰ τῇ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ ἀλλήλους ἡγούμενοι ὑπερέχοντας ἑαυτῶν, 4 μὴ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἕκαστος σκοποῦντες ἀλλὰ [καὶ] τὰ ἑτέρων ἕκαστοι.

5 Τοῦτο φρονεῖτε ἐν ὑμῖν ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ,

6 [ὃς] ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,

7 ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν, μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος,

8 καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου
[θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ].

9 διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα,

10 ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων

11 καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός.


12 Ὥστε, ἀγαπητοί μου, καθὼς πάντοτε ὑπηκούσατε, μὴ ὡς ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ μου μόνον ἀλλὰ νῦν πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐν τῇ ἀπουσίᾳ μου,

μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν κατεργάζεσθε·

13 θεὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἐνεργῶν ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ τὸ θέλειν καὶ τὸ ἐνεργεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐδοκίας.

14 Πάντα ποιεῖτε χωρὶς γογγυσμῶν καὶ διαλογισμῶν,

15 ἵνα γένησθε ἄμεμπτοι καὶ ἀκέραιοι, τέκνα θεοῦ ἄμωμα μέσον γενεᾶς σκολιᾶς καὶ διεστραμμένης,

ἐν οἷς φαίνεσθε ὡς φωστῆρες ἐν κόσμῳ, 16 λόγον ζωῆς ἐπέχοντες, εἰς καύχημα ἐμοὶ εἰς ἡμέραν Χριστοῦ,

ὅτι οὐκ εἰς κενὸν ἔδραμον οὐδὲ εἰς κενὸν ἐκοπίασα.

17 Ἀλλὰ εἰ καὶ σπένδομαι ἐπὶ τῇ θυσίᾳ καὶ λειτουργίᾳ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν,

χαίρω καὶ συγχαίρω πᾶσιν ὑμῖν·

18 τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ ὑμεῖς χαίρετε καὶ συγχαίρετέ μοι.

Now, verse 1 should probably be broken down into clauses based on the fact that there is an understood verb of being in each protasis (one per εἴ). If we do that, though, then θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ is also its own clause, exactly as the δέ would dictate. Therefore we get this:

Philippians 2.1-18:

1 Εἴ τις οὖν παράκλησις ἐν Χριστῷ,

εἴ τι παραμύθιον ἀγάπης,

εἴ τις κοινωνία πνεύματος,

εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί,

2 πληρώσατέ μου τὴν χαρὰν

ἵνα τὸ αὐτὸ φρονῆτε, τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες, σύμψυχοι, τὸ ἓν φρονοῦντες, 3 μηδὲν κατ᾽ ἐριθείαν μηδὲ κατὰ κενοδοξίαν ἀλλὰ τῇ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ ἀλλήλους ἡγούμενοι ὑπερέχοντας ἑαυτῶν, 4 μὴ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἕκαστος σκοποῦντες ἀλλὰ [καὶ] τὰ ἑτέρων ἕκαστοι.

5 Τοῦτο φρονεῖτε ἐν ὑμῖν ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ,

6 [ὃς] ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,

7 ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν, μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος,

8 καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου


[θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ].

9 διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα,

10 ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων

11 καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός.


12 Ὥστε, ἀγαπητοί μου, καθὼς πάντοτε ὑπηκούσατε, μὴ ὡς ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ μου μόνον ἀλλὰ νῦν πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐν τῇ ἀπουσίᾳ μου,

μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν κατεργάζεσθε·

13 θεὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἐνεργῶν ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ τὸ θέλειν καὶ τὸ ἐνεργεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐδοκίας.

14 Πάντα ποιεῖτε χωρὶς γογγυσμῶν καὶ διαλογισμῶν,

15 ἵνα γένησθε ἄμεμπτοι καὶ ἀκέραιοι, τέκνα θεοῦ ἄμωμα μέσον γενεᾶς σκολιᾶς καὶ διεστραμμένης,

ἐν οἷς φαίνεσθε ὡς φωστῆρες ἐν κόσμῳ, 16 λόγον ζωῆς ἐπέχοντες, εἰς καύχημα ἐμοὶ εἰς ἡμέραν Χριστοῦ,

ὅτι οὐκ εἰς κενὸν ἔδραμον

οὐδὲ εἰς κενὸν ἐκοπίασα.

17 Ἀλλὰ εἰ καὶ σπένδομαι ἐπὶ τῇ θυσίᾳ καὶ λειτουργίᾳ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν,

χαίρω καὶ συγχαίρω πᾶσιν ὑμῖν·

18 τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ ὑμεῖς χαίρετε καὶ συγχαίρετέ μοι.

Verse 1 is a little pocket of clauses of equally distributed rhythm; Paul has little pockets like that elsewhere, as well. Sometimes these little pockets are suggested as hymns (as is Philippians 2.6-11), but I am not sure I would press the case that far (though it is certainly possible, and I use the term "hymn" because the passage has been called that so often). The main point for me is that such passages show a deliberate spacing and rhythm, lofty and proud in their own way. Here is a rather famous example from pseudo-Paul:

1 Timothy 3.16:

16 καὶ ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστὶν τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον·

[ὃς] ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί,

ἐδικαιώθη ἐν πνεύματι,

ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις,

ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν,

ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ,

ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ.

One would probably notice if I were to slip an extra clause into those tightly written lines. And I think the same can be said of Philippians 2. Verse 1 is already tiny, though, and probably just a rhetorical flourish on Paul's part. Verses 6-11 are more extensive and balanced across longer, more sweeping phrases; that little δέ clause really tends to stick out, I think. It does one of two things: either (A) it takes the longest line of the stanza (by a little bit) and makes it even longer or (B) it is its own clause unto itself, marked off with a δέ as so many Greek clauses are, but far too brief to fit in with the rest of the clauses.

What comes before and after the Jesus hymn is a random assortment of rhythms and line lengths; but the hymn itself is laid out pretty evenly, to my eye and ear. None of this is hard proof, of course, of anything. It is just a suggestion on my part.
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Secret Alias
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Re: Death on a cross in the Jesus hymn.

Post by Secret Alias »

The passage in question echoes Odes of Solomon 41 (or vice versa) with no mention of death on a cross there:

ODE 41.

1 All the Lord's children will praise Him, and will collect the truth of His faith.
2 And His children shall be known to Him. Therefore we will sing in His love:
3 We live in the Lord by His grace: and life we receive in His Messiah:
4 For a great day has shined upon us: and marvellous is He who has given us of His glory.
5 Let us, therefore, all of us unite together in the name of the Lord, and let us honour Him in His goodness,
6 And let our faces shine in His light: and let our hearts meditate in His love by night and by day.
7 Let us exult with the joy of the Lord.
8 All those will be astonished that see me. For from another race am I:
9 For the Father of truth remembered me: He who possessed me from the beginning:
10 For His bounty begat me, and the thought of His heart:
11 And His Word is with us in all our way;
12 The Saviour who makes alive and does not reject our souls-;
13 The man who was humbled, and exalted by His own righteousness,
14 The Son of the Most High appeared in the perfection of His Father;
15 And light dawned from the Word that was beforetime in Him;
16 The Messiah is truly one; and He was known before the foundation of the world,
17 That He might save souls for ever by the truth of His name: a new song arises from those who love Him. Hallelujah.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
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