What Does It Mean to Be Equal to God in Philippians 2:6?

Judaism doesn't engage Philippians 2:6 as scripture, but the underlying question—can anything or anyone be equal to God?—is answered with an unambiguous no throughout the Hebrew Bible. The Psalms ask rhetorically, "who in the skies can equal GOD?" Psalms 89:7, and Isaiah presses the point twice in a single chapter: "To whom, then, can you liken God, with what form can you make comparison?" Isaiah 40:18 and again, "To whom, then, can you liken Me, to whom can I be compared?—says the Holy One." Isaiah 40:25

These passages form the backbone of Jewish monotheism. Rabbinic tradition, codified in Maimonides' Thirteen Principles (12th century), insists on God's absolute incomparability—ein sof, without limit or likeness. The very idea of a human figure claiming or possessing equality with God would, in Jewish theology, constitute the gravest form of blasphemy. So while Judaism doesn't read Philippians, it provides the scriptural soil from which the question grows—and answers it firmly.

This is the heart of the question. Philippians 2:6 reads: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Philippians 2:6 The Greek phrase harpagmon (translated "robbery" in the KJV) is notoriously difficult. Two major interpretive camps have existed since at least the patristic era.

The "grasping" reading—favored by scholars like N. T. Wright in his 1986 essay in the Journal of Theological Studies—argues that Christ, though genuinely equal with God, did not treat that equality as something to be exploited or clutched. He voluntarily emptied himself (kenosis) and took on human form. On this reading, the verse is an affirmation of Christ's full divinity: he was equal with God, and precisely because of that, his humility is all the more stunning.

The "robbery" reading—older and reflected in the KJV—suggests Christ didn't consider it an act of theft or presumption to claim equality with God, implying the equality was genuinely his to claim. Either way, mainstream Trinitarian Christianity, from the Council of Nicaea (325 CE) onward, reads this verse as one of the clearest New Testament statements of Christ's pre-existent divine nature.

It's worth noting that 2 Thessalonians 2:4 describes the "man of sin" who exalts himself above God and sits in God's temple claiming to be God 2 Thessalonians 2:4—a stark contrast to Christ in Philippians 2, who descends rather than seizes. The contrast is theologically deliberate for many commentators.

Islam doesn't treat Philippians as scripture, but the Qur'an directly addresses the theme of equality with God—and it does so in a context of condemnation. In Surah 26:98, the misguided are described as having said, "When we made you equal with the Lord of the Worlds." Quran 26:98 This is presented as a grievous error, the very definition of shirk (associating partners with God).

For Islam, the notion that any being—including Jesus (Isa)—could be genuinely equal with Allah is categorically rejected. The Qur'an affirms Jesus as a prophet and the Messiah, but firmly denies his divinity (Surah 5:72–75). Islamic theology holds that God is al-Ahad, the Absolutely One, with no equal, partner, or comparable. So while Islam would not engage Philippians 2:6 exegetically, it would read any claim of equality with God as precisely the kind of theological error the Qur'an warns against.

Not applicable. Concerns a New Testament verse specific to Christian scripture; no direct counterpart in Jewish practice or exegesis is required for this question.

Philippians 2:6 states that Christ, “being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,” presenting Him as truly possessing what belongs to God rather than illicitly grasping it Philippians 2:6. Interpreters contrast this rightful equality with warnings against self-deifying arrogance, as when the “man of lawlessness” exalts himself “so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God,” which Christian readers treat as a counterfeit to Christ’s legitimate divine status 2 Thessalonians 2:4Philippians 2:6. Many also read this in continuity with biblical insistence that no created being can be compared to God—“To whom, then, can you liken God?”—so Christ’s equality is not a rival deity but identification with the one incomparable God Isaiah 40:18Isaiah 40:25. This coherence is reinforced by praise traditions that ask, “For who in the skies can equal GOD?” underscoring that equality with God is not a status creatures may claim Psalms 89:7.

Not applicable. The question targets a New Testament Christological phrase; Islamic scripture addresses different claims and contexts, so there’s no direct counterpart required here.