The important terms that now await our prayerful and wondering examination are the following :

`Being', huparchon. `Being in the form of God'.

`In the Form of God', en morphe Theou.

`Robbery', harpagmos.

`To be equal with God', to einai isa Theo.

`He made Himself of no reputation', heauton

ekenosen.

(f)  `And took upon Him the form of a servant',

morphen doulou labon.

(g) `Was made in the likeness of men', en homoiomati

anthropon genomenos.

(h) `Being found in fashion as a man', schemati

heuretheis hos anthropos.

Here, without contradiction is a list of words, whose doctrinal import is so great as well nigh to overwhelm the

student as he approaches the task of their analysis. Yet these mighty words were written with intention, they have a

definite meaning and they must have been within the comprehension of the Philippians, for otherwise the example

which they are designed to indicate would be valueless. They are therefore within the comprehension of the average

believer who is under the guidance of the Spirit.

We open our investigation with the word huparchon, translated `being', and ask the reader's patience while we

endeavour to place before him the import of this word. The margin of the Revised Version reads `being originally'.

The reader will perceive that `being' in the Authorized Version of Philippians 2:6 is not a translation of eimi `to be'.

It is a translation of huparcho. The justification for the Revised Version margin `being originally' is seen when we

learn that the word huparcho is made up of hupo `under', and archo `to begin' or `originate'. This word appears in

three verbal forms in the New Testament. Huparxis twice, huparchonta fourteen times, and huparcho forty-eight

times. Huparxis is translated in the Authorized Version `goods' or `substance'. Huparchonta `goods', `substance',

`that one hath', `the things which one possesseth'. Huparcho `be', `live', and idiomatically `after'.

It will be neither reasonable nor necessary to investigate the whole of these sixty-four occurrences, but we can

establish the meaning of the apostle by a few sample passages.

Huparxis occurs but twice and these occurrences we give. They `sold their possessions and goods' (Acts 2:45).

These `possessions and goods' Peter recognized were the personal and private property of the believer, saying

`whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?' (Acts 5:4).

`For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods (huparchonton)

knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance' (huparxin) (Heb. 10:34).

Huparchonta (The participle used as a substantive).

`Sell that thou hast' (Matt. 19:21); `ministered unto Him of their substance' (Luke 8:3); `the things which he

possesseth' (Luke 12:15) and so throughout the fourteen occurrences.

That huparcho means `pre-existence' the following will prove. `If thou, being a Jew' (Gal. 2:14). This is

emphatic, as Lightfoot says, `born and bred a Jew', and Howson, `the Greek means more than "being" and denotes

that he was a Jew by birth, a Jew to begin with'.

There is, however, a need when translating huparcho `being originally' to avoid the error into which not a few

great writers have fallen. For example, Bishop Lightfoot, whose examination of `form' or `fashion' we shall refer to

with profit presently, has put the matter like this :

`Does the expression en morphe theou huparchon refer to the pre-incarnate or the incarnate Christ?'