κενόω

Summary

κενόω (kenoō) is the Greek verb meaning "to empty, to make empty." Its aorist form ἐκένωσεν (ekenōsen, "he emptied") appears in Philippians 2:7, where Paul says the Son "emptied himself (ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν) by taking the form of a slave." The noun κένωσις ("kenosis") — from which the entire doctrine of kenotic Christology takes its name — derives from this verb. The Philippians 2 use is the sole Christological occurrence; the verb's meaning and mechanics are central to the EFS debate.

Morphology

• Lemma: κενόω — "to empty, to make void"
• Aorist active indicative (Phil 2:7): ἐκένωσεν — "he emptied"
• Reflexive construction: ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν — "he emptied himself"
• Related noun: κένωσις ("kenosis") — the theological term
• Related adjective: κενός ("empty, vain, useless")

Semantic Range

In non-theological usage the verb denotes literal emptying — emptying a container, making void, rendering ineffective. In Paul's other uses (Rom 4:14; 1 Cor 1:17; 9:15; 2 Cor 9:3), the verb typically has the sense "to render void, to nullify the effect of." The unique reflexive Christological use in Phil 2:7 — "he emptied himself" — is the most theologically loaded occurrence.

Philippians 2:7 — How the Emptying Happened

The key grammatical observation: the hymn specifies how the emptying took place. The reflexive phrase "he emptied himself" is immediately followed by two aorist participles that describe the manner of the emptying:

• μορφὴν δούλου λαβών — "by taking the form of a slave"
• ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος — "by becoming in the likeness of humans"

The participles are constructions of means or manner — they describe how the Son emptied himself. He did not empty himself of divine nature; he emptied himself by taking on servant form and human likeness. The "emptying" is the voluntary humiliation of assuming human nature in the incarnation, not a subtraction of divine nature.

Theological Debate: What Did the Son "Empty Himself Of"?

Two main positions:

Kenotic Christology (19th-20th century movement)

Some 19th-century theologians (Gess, Thomasius) argued that the Son literally emptied himself of certain divine attributes (omniscience, omnipresence) during the incarnation. Modern orthodox theology has generally rejected this as incompatible with the Son's full divinity during the incarnation and with the Chalcedonian definition.

Orthodox / Relational Kenosis

The Son did not empty himself of any divine attribute; rather, he emptied himself by taking on humanity. The "emptying" is descriptive of the voluntary self-humbling that the incarnation involved — assuming the constraints, vulnerabilities, and conditions of human existence. This is the Patristic and orthodox reading.

On either reading, the kenosis is bounded by the incarnation. It is not an eternal property of the Son's being.

EFS Relevance

1. The kenosis is temporal. ἐκένωσεν is an aorist indicative — a specific past act at a specific moment (the incarnation). This rules out any reading of the Son's self-emptying as an eternal property.

2. The kenosis is reflexive. The Son emptied himself. He is the agent of his own humbling. This is not a structural relational subordination imposed on him; it is a free act of love.

3. The kenosis is the source of the Son's Gospel-era subordination. The Gospel depictions of the Son's submission to the Father (John 4:34; 5:19; 6:38; 17:4) arise from the kenosis. They describe the incarnate Son's role within the economy of redemption. They do not describe the eternal Son's eternal state.

4. Therefore EFS is grammatically undermined. If the Son's Gospel-era subordination is rooted in the kenosis, and the kenosis is the voluntary incarnational self-emptying bounded by Phil 2:7's aorist verb, then the Gospel subordination is not evidence of eternal functional subordination. It is evidence of the incarnation.

The Gender Analogy Fails

Grudem's analogy — "women submit to men as the Son submits to the Father, being equal in essence" — requires the Son's submission to be eternal and structural. Phil 2:7's ἐκένωσεν makes the submission temporal and kenotic:

• Women are not incarnate for men. The kenotic self-emptying of the Son is the theological content of the incarnation, not a template for gender hierarchy.
• The Son's submission arises from his voluntary self-emptying, not from his eternal being. Women's permanent submission to men cannot be parallel to a voluntary incarnational act.
• If anything, Paul turns the logic around in Phil 2:3-4: believers (male and female alike) are called to imitate the Son's self-emptying in mutual humility and concern for one another.

References

• Philippians 2:7 — The sole Christological use
• Philippians 2:3-4 — The moral application: mutual humility following Christ's example
• Ephesians 5:21 — Mutual submission (the relational context for the household code)
• John 1:14 — The Word became flesh (the incarnation in Johannine terms)
• Romans 15:3 — "Christ did not please himself" — a parallel theological pattern
• 2 Corinthians 8:9 — "He became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" — parallel kenotic logic

Other Pauline Uses of κενόω (non-Christological)

• Romans 4:14 — "Faith is made void (κεκένωται)"
• 1 Corinthians 1:17 — lest the cross of Christ be "emptied" of its power
• 1 Corinthians 9:15 — "that I might be emptied" (Paul refusing to be deprived of his boast)
• 2 Corinthians 9:3 — "lest our boasting… be in vain (κενωθῇ)"

These other uses confirm that the verb's primary lexical sense is "to render void / empty of effect." The Philippians 2:7 reflexive Christological use is distinctive precisely because it specifies how the emptying occurs — by the Son's taking on servant form.

Conclusion

ἐκένωσεν in Phil 2:7 is the grammatical engine of kenotic Christology. It locates the Son's subordinate role in the voluntary, reflexive, temporally bounded act of self-emptying at the incarnation. It makes EFS — which posits an eternal relational subordination — grammatically difficult to sustain.