Philippians 2:7

Textus Receptus:
αλλ εαυτον εκενωσεν μορφην δουλου λαβων εν ομοιωματι ανθρωπων γενομενος

King James:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Comments:
made himself of no reputation: The Greek word for this phrase is "ekenosen," with the same root as the first half of the word for "vainglory" in verse 3. There is dispute about how to translate it here. Some say it means that He emptied Himself. The King James translates it to communicate the idea that He gave up the glory of His position. Paul's point seems obvious. In verse 3, he warns the Philippians not to make their "vanity" or "nothingness" something to be "gloried." In direct contrast, he says they should be like Jesus who made His glory into "vanity" or nothing.

took upon him: This phrase represents a participle in Greek, explaining how Jesus made Himself of no reputation. How can God make Himself less? He does not give up any attributes. Instead, He takes on Himself the humiliating nature of man. But it is not just any nature of man He takes on. It is the perfect nature of man. It was a humiliating and demeaning experience for Christ to add to Himself the perfect nature of man. Similarly, God humbles Himself when He simply looks at the things men esteem glorious. Psalm 113:4-6.

Expanded Paraphrase:
In contrast to those who would make themselves something when they are really nothing, Jesus made Himself nothing when He was everything. How? He who by definition is already complete and perfect added to himself servanthood, humbling Himself to become similar to every other man.