The Greek harpagmos means the act of seizing as plunder, a prize snatched, something held tightly, or something to be exploited for personal gain. Its precise meaning in Philippians 2:6 is one of the most debated in NT scholarship: did Christ regard equality with God as something 'to be grasped' (that He didn't yet have), or as something 'to be exploited' (that He did have)?
Philippians 2:6-11 — the Carmen Christi (Christ-hymn) — is the supreme christological passage of the NT, and harpagmos is its hinge. The majority scholarly view (BDAG) reads: Christ, being in the very nature God, did not regard His divine equality as something to be exploited (harpagmon hēgēsato) — He did not grasp at status or advantage, but instead emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, and humbled Himself to the cross. This is the ultimate inversion of the Adamic pattern: Adam grasped at equality with God (Genesis 3:5) and fell; Christ, who truly was equal to God, refused to exploit it and descended to serve. The humiliation leads to the exaltation: 'Therefore God exalted him to the highest place' (Philippians 2:9).