Proverbs 18:12

18:12 Before destruction the heart ¹  of a person is proud,

but humility comes ²  before honor. ³ 

Proverbs 25:6-7

25:6 Do not honor yourself before the king,

and do not stand in the place of great men;

25:7 for it is better for him ⁴  to say to you, “Come up here,” ⁵ 

than to put you lower ⁶  before a prince,

whom your eyes have seen. ⁷ 

Proverbs 29:23

29:23 A person’s pride ⁸  will bring him low, ⁹ 

but one who has a lowly spirit ¹⁰  will gain honor.

Luke 14:11

14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but ¹¹  the one who humbles ¹²  himself will be exalted.”

Philippians 2:5-11

2:5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, ¹³ 

2:6 ¹⁴ who though he existed in the form of God ¹⁵ 

did not regard equality with God

as something to be grasped,

2:7 but emptied himself

by taking on the form of a slave, ¹⁶ 

by looking like other men, ¹⁷ 

and by sharing in human nature. ¹⁸ 

2:8 He humbled himself,

by becoming obedient to the point of death

– even death on a cross!

2:9 As a result God exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

2:10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow

– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –

2:11 and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.

James 4:10

4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

James 4:1

Passions and Pride

4:1 Where do the conflicts and where ¹⁹  do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, ²⁰  from your passions that battle inside you? ²¹ 

James 5:5

5:5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ²² 

[18:12]  ¹ sn The term “heart” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the seat of the spiritual and intellectual capacities – the mind, the will, the motivations and intentions. Proud ambitions and intentions will lead to a fall.

[18:12]  ² tn Heb “[is] before honor”; cf. CEV “humility leads to honor.”

[18:12]  ³ sn The way to honor is through humility (e.g., Prov 11:2; 15:33; 16:18). The humility and exaltation of Jesus provides the classic example (Phil 2:1-10).

[25:7]  ⁴ tn The phrase “for him” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[25:7]  ⁵ sn This proverb, covering the two verses, is teaching that it is wiser to be promoted than to risk demotion by self-promotion. The point is clear: Trying to promote oneself could bring on public humiliation; but it would be an honor to have everyone in court hear the promotion by the king.

[25:7]  ⁶ tn The two infinitives construct form the contrast in this “better” sayings; each serves as the subject of its respective clause.

[25:7]  ⁷ tc Most modern commentators either omit this last line or attach it to the next verse. But it is in the text of the MT as well as the LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and most modern English versions (although some of them do connect it to the following verse, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[29:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “pride of a man,” with “man” functioning as a possessive. There is no indication in the immediate context that this is restricted only to males.

[29:23]  ⁹ tn There is a wordplay here due to the repetition of the root שָׁפֵל (shafel). In the first line the verb תִּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ (tishpilennu) is the Hiphil imperfect of the root, rendered “will bring him low.” In the second line the word is used in the description of the “lowly of spirit,” שְׁפַל־רוּחַ (shÿfal-ruakh). The contrast works well: The proud will be brought “low,” but the one who is “lowly” will be honored. In this instance the wordplay can be preserved in the translation.

[29:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “low in spirit”; KJV “humble in spirit.” This refers to an attitude of humility.

[14:11]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context, which involves the reversal of expected roles.

[14:11]  ¹² sn The point of the statement the one who humbles himself will be exalted is humility and the reversal imagery used to underline it is common: Luke 1:52-53; 6:21; 10:15; 18:14.

[2:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which also [was] in Christ Jesus,” or “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which [you] also [have] in Christ Jesus.”

[2:6]  ¹⁴ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[2:6]  ¹⁵ sn The Greek term translated form indicates a correspondence with reality. Thus the meaning of this phrase is that Christ was truly God.

[2:7]  ¹⁶ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 1:1.

[2:7]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “by coming in the likeness of people.”

[2:7]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and by being found in form as a man.” The versification of vv. 7 and 8 (so also NRSV) is according to the versification in the NA²⁷ and UBS⁴ editions of the Greek text. Some translations, however, break the verses in front of this phrase (NKJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). The same material has been translated in each case; the only difference is the versification of that material.

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn The word “where” is repeated in Greek for emphasis.

[4:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “from here.”

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “in your members [i.e., parts of the body].”

[5:5]  ²² sn James’ point seems to be that instead of seeking deliverance from condemnation, they have defied God’s law (fattened your hearts) and made themselves more likely objects of his judgment (in a day of slaughter).