---
title: Philippians 2:10
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/philippians-2-10/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/philippians-2-10.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Philippians 2:10
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Philippians 2:10

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

## JW Usage

Jehovah's Witnesses read this verse as evidence that Jesus was exalted by Jehovah to a high position — proof that he is subordinate to the one who granted him that authority. They emphasise that every knee bows "in the name of Jesus" as honouring a delegated representative, not as rendering the worship due to Jehovah himself. The Watchtower presents the exaltation of verses 9-10 as a reward for obedience, not a restoration of inherent divine status.

## Protestant Usage

Philippians 2:10 applies to Jesus the language of Isaiah 45:23, where YHWH declares "to me every knee will bow." The exaltation in verse 9 reverses the voluntary self-emptying of the Incarnation, restoring what Jesus had before — as he himself said in John 17:5, "glorify me alongside yourself with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was." The universal knee-bowing is not a creature receiving delegated honour; it is YHWH's own worship language transferred to Christ. The NWT's selective handling of this Isaiah 45:23 quotation reveals the theological pressure: by the Watchtower's own stated rule, where the NT quotes an OT YHWH passage, kyrios should become "Jehovah." But doing so here would read "at the name of Jesus every knee should bend… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Jehovah." So the NWT retains "Lord" — breaking its own insertion rule precisely where following it would identify Jesus as YHWH.

## NWT Issue

The NWT's stated rule is to insert "Jehovah" wherever the NT quotes an OT passage containing YHWH. Philippians 2:10-11 quotes Isaiah 45:23, where YHWH says "to me every knee will bow." By that rule, kyrios here should become "Jehovah" — but the NWT retains "Lord" because inserting "Jehovah" would produce "Jesus Christ is Jehovah." Compare Romans 14:11, which quotes the same Isaiah 45:23 passage: there the NWT does insert "Jehovah" because the context is less clearly christological. Same OT source, different treatment — the selective pattern reveals theological motivation, not textual restoration.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Incarnation Framework](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/philippians2.md) — Philippians 2:5–8 [Deity of Christ]
- [The 237 Additions — Zero Manuscript Evidence](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/tetragrammaton-insertion.md) — Not one Greek NT manuscript contains Jehovah's name — so why does the NWT insert it 237 times? [NWT Translation]
- [Irenaeus Believed Jesus Is God](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/early-church-fathers-irenaeus.md) — Against Heresies — In Context [Deity of Christ]
- [Proskuneo — Same Word, Different Translation](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/proskuneo-worship-obeisance.md) — Hebrews 1:6, Matthew 14:33, Revelation 5:14 [NWT Translation]
- [No New Testament Command to Use 'Jehovah'](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jehovah-name-no-NT-mandate.md) — The NT's only command about the saving name redirects it to Jesus [Deity of Christ]
- [Every Title For Yahweh Is Given To Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/yahweh-titles-applied-to-jesus.md) — Isaiah 44:6 / Acts 4:12 / Romans 10:9 / Hosea 13:4 / Revelation 22:13 [Deity of Christ]
- [Sharing a Role Is Not Sharing Who God Is](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/god-alone-shared-or-identity.md) — Isaiah 44:24 / 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 / Job 38:7 — when 'God alone' texts allow others in, and when they don't [Deity of Christ]