Philippians 2:5-7
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (NKJV)
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (NIV)
as i compared these two translations, i couldn't help but notice the significant difference in meaning of the underlined phrase.
the NKJV says Jesus did not think being equal to God was robbery, something acquired illegitimately. Jesus was legitimately equal to God.
the NIV says Jesus did not think being equal to God was something to be grasped - the meaning of this is not as clear. does it mean He did not think it was something to be reached out for? attained? or does it mean grasp in the sense of "held onto"?
i looked up the passage in greek at http://bible.crosswalk.com and found that the word being translated is harpagmos. its a noun that carries the idea of seizing, "a thing seized or to be seized", and comes from a root word which means "to seize". it's hard to translate because we don't really have a workable noun for that in english. the closest fit might be "seizure", but that word strongly implies heart failure =)
using a literal, minimalist translation, the phrase reads, "did not consider it seizure [harpagmos] to be equal with God".
hrm. still not much help.
so what do bible geeks do when cornered? they google. i found a LOT of commentary on this topic. most of it was by grammarheads who speak their own, incomprehensible language. but i did come across a reference to an article in the 1971 edition of Harvard Theological Review, Volume 64 which turned out to be very helpful. i dug through my collection of HTR back-issues, found the article, and scanned it to post here.
(important note: no i didnt! dont believe me when i say stuff like that. i only do it to mess with you.)
the article does a good job of demonstrating that the greek expression "to consider a thing harpagmos [something to seize upon]" was an idiomatic phrase that meant to take advantage of something.
we have a similar expression in english but we use a verb instead of a noun and only use it in reference to time or opportunity. we say, "seize the day" or "seize the moment", meaning to take advantage of the time. the greeks would have said "consider the day harpagmos [something to seize upon]".
i think this goes a long way in making sense of the verses in Philippians.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God something to take advantage of, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
there are advantages to being God. Jesus chose to forego them, suffering the weaknesses and pains of life in mortal flesh, and the torment of being hung to death on a cross with all our sins heaped upon Him.