You asked

what was the cultural expectation for someone with 'equality with god' in that era?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Philippians 2:6

“who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,”

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Christian community in Philippi, a Roman colony in ancient Macedonia, probably around 60-62 CE while he was imprisoned. In this section, he is encouraging them toward humility and unity by pointing to Jesus as the ultimate example.

What does it mean for us today to not grasp for status or privilege we might feel entitled to?

Keep thinking

Behind the texthow did ancient greco-roman societies typically understand the relationship between gods and mortals?
Across the Biblewhere else in the bible does it speak about human striving for god-like status or knowledge?
For todayhow do modern power dynamics encourage or discourage a grasping for status, even unconsciously?

Read alongside it

Genesis 3:5
This verse describes the temptation to be 'like God,' knowing good and evil.
Isaiah 14:12-15
This passage portrays a king's ambition to ascend to heaven and make himself like the Most High.
John 5:18
Here, Jesus's claims lead people to accuse him of 'making himself equal with God.'

Ask your own follow-up