God & Savior

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
Philippians 2:3
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Study notes

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility value others above yourselves.

Explanation

Paul calls the Philippians to unity (2:1-2). Rivalry and conceit destroy unity, but humility builds it. Verses 5-11 then present Christ's own humility as the example.

Original language
  • μηδὲν (mēden): nothing
    Greek · Adjective, accusative, singular, neuter · Strong's G3367 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Nothing.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Philippians 2:3, word 1

  • ἐριθείαν (eritheian): rivalry
    Greek · Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · Strong's G2052 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Selfish ambition, rivalry.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Philippians 2:3, word 3

  • κενοδοξίαν (kenodoxian): empty conceit
    Greek · Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · Strong's G2754 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Empty conceit, vainglory.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Philippians 2:3, word 6

  • ταπεινοφροσύνῃ (tapeinophrosunē): humility
    Greek · Noun, dative, singular, feminine · Strong's G5012 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    In humility.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Philippians 2:3, word 9

  • ἡγούμενοι (hēgoumenoi): to govern
    Greek · Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), participle, nominative, plural, masculine · Strong's G2233 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Considering, regarding.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Philippians 2:3, word 11

  • ὑπερέχοντας (huperechontas): be higher
    Greek · Verb, present, active, participle, accusative, plural, masculine · Strong's G5242 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    As better, above.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Philippians 2:3, word 12

Cross-references
Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

μηδὲν κατ᾽ ἐριθείαν μηδὲ κατὰ κενοδοξίαν ἀλλὰ τῇ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ ἀλλήλους ἡγούμενοι ὑπερέχοντας ἑαυτῶν·

  1. μηδὲνmēden“nothing”
    Adjective, accusative, singular, neuter · from μηδείς · “nothing” · Strong's G3367
  2. κατ᾽kat᾽“according to”
    Preposition · from κατά · “according to” · Strong's G2596
  3. ἐριθείανeritheian“self-interest”
    Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · from ἐριθεία · “rivalry” · Strong's G2052
  4. μηδὲmēde“nor”
    Conjunction, nominative · from μηδέ · “nor” · Strong's G3366
  5. κατὰkata“according to”
    Preposition · from κατά · “according to” · Strong's G2596
  6. κενοδοξίανkenodoxian“vain conceit”
    Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · from κενοδοξία · “empty conceit” · Strong's G2754
  7. ἀλλὰalla“but”
    Conjunction · from ἀλλά · “but” · Strong's G0235
  8. τῇtēa“<the>”
    Article, dative, singular, feminine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  9. ταπεινοφροσύνῃtapeinophrosunē“in humility”
    Noun, dative, singular, feminine · from ταπεινοφροσύνη · “humility” · Strong's G5012
  10. ἀλλήλουςallēlous“one another”
    Reciprocal pronoun, accusative, plural, masculine · from ἀλλήλων · “one another” · Strong's G0240
  11. ἡγούμενοιhēgoumenoi“be esteeming”
    Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), participle, nominative, plural, masculine · from ἡγέομαι · “to govern” · Strong's G2233
  12. ὑπερέχονταςhuperechontas“surpassing”
    Verb, present, active, participle, accusative, plural, masculine · from ὑπερέχω · “be higher” · Strong's G5242
  13. ἑαυτῶν·he'autōn“themselves;”
    Reflexive pronoun, 2nd person, genitive, plural, masculine · from ἑαυτοῦ · “my/your/him-self” · Strong's G1438
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)