Do Not Be Unequally Yoked: A Call to Holiness
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1
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2Cor.6.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Μη: PART
- γινεσθε: VERB,pres,mid/pass,imp,2,pl
- ετεροζυγουντες: VERB,pres,act,ptc,nom,m,pl
- απιστοις·τις: ADJ,dat,pl,m
- γαρ: PART
- μετοχη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- δικαιοσυνη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- και: CONJ
- ανομια: NOUN,dat,sg,f
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- τις: PRON,nom,sg,?
- κοινωνια: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- φωτι: NOUN,dat,sg,n
- προς: PREP
- σκοτος: NOUN,nom,sg,n
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 22:10 (allusion): Yoke/paired-animal imagery for prohibited mismatched labor; Paul echoes the OT principle of not pairing unlike things as a basis for 'unequally yoked.'
- 1 Corinthians 7:12–16 (thematic): Paul's counsel about believers married to unbelievers treats the same practical problem of mixed-faith relationships and their spiritual consequences.
- Ephesians 5:8–11 (thematic): Contrasts of light and darkness and the injunction to have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness echo the rhetorical question 'what communion has light with darkness?'
- Ezra 9:11–12 (thematic): Postexilic complaint against intermarriage with foreign peoples as spiritual unfaithfulness — a covenantal separation concern parallel to Paul's warning about association with unbelievers.
Alternative generated candidates
- Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
- Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
2Cor.6.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- τις: PRON,nom,sg,?
- δε: CONJ
- συμφωνησις: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- Χριστου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- προς: PREP
- Βελιαρ: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- τις: PRON,nom,sg,?
- μερις: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- πιστω: ADJ,dat,sg,m
- μετα: PREP
- απιστου: ADJ,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- 2 Corinthians 6:14 (structural): Immediate context and parallel wording: both verses pose rhetorical contrasts (light/dark; Christ/Belial) and argue against yoked or intimate association with unbelievers.
- 1 Corinthians 7:12-16 (thematic): Discusses the problem of mixed marriages (believer with unbeliever) and how believers should relate to unbelieving spouses—a practical parallel to Paul's concern about incompatible, binding relationships.
- Judges 19:22 (verbal): Uses the phrase 'sons of Belial' to label lawless, depraved men; Paul’s use of 'Belial' evokes this OT usage of Belial as a personification of worthlessness/evil.
- 1 Samuel 2:12 (allusion): Speaks of Eli’s sons as 'sons of Belial' (worthless, irreligious), providing background for Paul’s rhetorical use of Belial as opposed to Christ—the contrast between godly and worthless/ungodly.
- 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 (thematic): Paul warns of false apostles and servants of Satan who appear as servants of righteousness—parallels the Christ/Belial antithesis by contrasting authentic Christian ministry with opposing, deceitful forces.
Alternative generated candidates
- What agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what share does a believer have with an unbeliever?
- And what agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what share does a believer have with an unbeliever?
2Cor.6.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- τις: PRON,nom,sg,?
- δε: CONJ
- συγκαταθεσις: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- ναω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- μετα: PREP
- ειδωλων: NOUN,gen,pl,n
- ημεις: PRON,nom,pl,1
- γαρ: PART
- ναος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- εσμεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- ζωντος·καθως: PART,pres,act,gen,sg,m;CONJ
- ειπεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- θεος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- οτι: CONJ
- Ενοικησω: VERB,fut,act,ind,1,sg
- εν: PREP
- αυτοις: PRO,dat,pl,3
- και: CONJ
- εμπεριπατησω: VERB,fut,act,ind,1,sg
- και: CONJ
- εσομαι: VERB,fut,mid,ind,1,sg
- αυτων: PRON,gen,pl,m
- θεος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- αυτοι: PRON,nom,pl,3
- εσονται: VERB,fut,act,ind,3,pl
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
- λαος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
Parallels
- Leviticus 26:11-12 (quotation): Paul directly echoes the promise that God will 'dwell among you' and 'walk among you'—the covenantal language of God’s presence in the LXX of Leviticus.
- Ezekiel 37:27 (quotation): Uses the phrase 'my dwelling place shall be with them' and 'I will be their God, and they shall be my people,' which Paul incorporates to assert believers as God's temple.
- 1 Corinthians 3:16 (verbal): Paul elsewhere applies 'you are God's temple' to the Christian community, the same theological claim about God's indwelling in believers.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19 (verbal): Speaks of the believer’s body as 'a temple of the Holy Spirit,' a related use of temple-imagery to insist on separation from idols and moral purity.
- Revelation 21:3 (allusion): Echoes the prophetic promise that 'the dwelling place of God is with men... He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,' a later cosmic fulfillment of the same covenantal theme.
Alternative generated candidates
- And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'
- And what accord has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
2Cor.6.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- διο: CONJ
- εξελθατε: VERB,aor,act,imp,2,pl
- εκ: PREP
- μεσου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- αυτων: PRON,gen,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- αφορισθητε: VERB,aor,pass,imp,2,pl
- λεγει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- κυριος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- ακαθαρτου: ADJ,acc,sg,n
- μη: PART
- απτεσθε·καγω: VERB,pres,mid,imp,2,pl+CONJ+PRON,nom,sg,1
- εισδεξομαι: VERB,fut,mid,ind,1,sg
- υμας·: PRON,acc,pl,2
Parallels
- Isaiah 52:11 (quotation): Paul closely echoes Isaiah 52:11 (LXX/MT): 'Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing'—the source of the verbal command to come out and not touch the unclean.
- Leviticus 20:26 (allusion): Leviticus repeatedly commands Israel to be 'holy' and 'separate' (e.g. 20:26), providing the Torah background for the call to separation from impurity.
- 2 Corinthians 6:14 (structural): Earlier in the same passage Paul exhorts: 'Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers'—both verses form the immediate argument urging Christians to separate from pagan practices and associations.
- 1 John 2:15 (thematic): 'Do not love the world' parallels the ethical impulse behind 2 Cor 6:17—avoidance of worldly/unclean influences and preservation of covenantal purity.
Alternative generated candidates
- Therefore, 'Come out from among them and be separate,' says the Lord, 'and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you.'
- Therefore—“Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you.”
2Cor.6.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- εσομαι: VERB,fut,mid,ind,1,sg
- υμιν: PRON,dat,pl,2
- εις: PREP
- πατερα: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- υμεις: PRON,nom,pl,2
- εσεσθε: VERB,fut,act,ind,2,pl
- μοι: PRON,dat,sg,1
- εις: PREP
- υιους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- θυγατερας: NOUN,acc,pl,f
- λεγει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- κυριος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- παντοκρατωρ: NOUN,nom,sg,m
Parallels
- 2 Samuel 7:14 (verbal): OT promise in which God says, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son" (LXX/MT). Paul’s wording echoes this covenantal father–son language, adapted to address the community.
- Isaiah 43:6-7 (verbal): God’s call to gather "my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth," with the formulaic divine summons ("declares the Lord"). Echoes the "sons and daughters" motif and the Lord’s declaration in 2 Cor 6:18.
- Romans 8:14-17 (thematic): Develops the theme of believers as children of God—led by the Spirit, bearing the Spirit of adoption, and being heirs with Christ—paralleling Paul’s claim that God will be Father and they sons and daughters.
- Galatians 4:6-7 (thematic): Speaks of God sending the Spirit of his Son so we can cry "Abba, Father," and thus being no longer slaves but sons (and heirs). Closely related theological language about adoption and filial status used by Paul.
Alternative generated candidates
- 'And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,' says the Lord Almighty.
- “I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,” says the Lord Almighty.
2Cor.7.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ταυτας: PRON,acc,pl,f
- ουν: CONJ
- εχοντες: VERB,pres,act,part,nom,pl,m
- τας: ART,acc,pl,f
- επαγγελιας: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- αγαπητοι: ADJ,voc,pl,m
- καθαρισωμεν: VERB,aor,act,subj,1,pl
- εαυτους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- απο: PREP
- παντος: ADJ,gen,sg,masc
- μολυσμου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- σαρκος: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- και: CONJ
- πνευματος: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- επιτελουντες: VERB,pres,act,part,nom,pl,m
- αγιωσυνην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- εν: PREP
- φοβω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- 2 Cor 6:17–7:1 (structural): Immediate context — continuation of the call to be separate from impurity (’be separate…cleanse yourselves’), forming the structural rationale for cleansing and holiness.
- 1 Thess 5:23 (verbal): Similar language and concept of entire sanctification — ‘spirit and body’ / ‘sanctify you wholly’ parallels cleansing ‘from all defilement of flesh and spirit’ and being made holy.
- Hebrews 12:14 (thematic): Shared imperative to pursue holiness — ‘strive for peace and holiness’ and the necessity of holiness to approach God echo ‘perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’
- Titus 2:14 (thematic): Christ’s purpose to ‘purify for himself a people’ mirrors the call to cleanse oneself and be devoted to holiness, linking sanctification and distinctively holy life.
- Ephesians 5:25–27 (verbal): The picture of Christ cleansing and presenting the church holy and blameless parallels the exhortation to cleanse from defilement and perfect holiness (sanctification language and imagery).
Alternative generated candidates
- Since, then, we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of God.
- Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what share does a believer have with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God—just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Therefore, “Come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; I will receive you.”
“And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,” says the Lord Almighty.
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.