2 Corinthians 6:14

2 Corinthians 6:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
• New International Version (NIV)Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

Context of 2 Corinthians 6:14

12We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. 13I speak as to my children; as a proper response, open your heart to us. Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.

2 Corinthians 6:14 word by word

Μὴ γίνεσθε ἑτεροζυγοῦντες ἀπίστοις· τίς γὰρ μετοχὴ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἀνομίᾳ; ἢ τίς κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Be yeγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• notμήmē · notG3361
• unequally yoked togetherἑτεροζυγέωheterozugeō · to yoke a mismatchG2086
• with unbelieversἄπιστοςapistos · unbelievingG571
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• whatτίςtis · which?G5101
• fellowshipμετοχήmetochē · participationG3352
• hath righteousnessδικαιοσύνηdikaiosunē · righteousnessG1343
• withκαίkai · andG2532
• unrighteousnessἀνομίαanomia · lawlessnessG458
• andδέde · thenG1161
• communionκοινωνίαkoinōnia · participationG2842
• hath lightφῶςphōs · lightG5457
• withπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• darknessσκότοςskotos · darknessG4655

Cross-references for 2 Corinthians 6:14

• Exodus 34:16Then you will take some of their daughters as brides for your sons. Their daughters will prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.
• Leviticus 19:19“You are to keep my statutes. Do not crossbreed two different kinds of your livestock, sow your fields with two kinds of seed, or put on a garment made of two kinds of material.
• Deuteronomy 7:2and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
• Deuteronomy 22:9Do not plant your vineyard with two types of seed; otherwise, the entire harvest, both the crop you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled.
• Ezra 9:1After these things had been done, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the surrounding peoples whose detestable practices are like those of the Canaanites, Hethites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
• Ezra 10:19They pledged to send their wives away, and being guilty, they offered a ram from the flock for their guilt;
• Nehemiah 13:1At that time the book of Moses was read publicly to the people. The command was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,
• Psalms 106:35but mingled with the nations and adopted their ways.
• Proverbs 22:24Don’t make friends with an angry person, and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered one,
• Malachi 2:11Judah has acted treacherously, and a detestable act has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the Lord’s sanctuary, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
• 1 Corinthians 5:9I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.
• 1 Corinthians 7:39A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants — only in the Lord.
• 1 Corinthians 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
• James 4:4You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.
• 1 Samuel 5:2brought it into the temple of Dagon and placed it next to his statue.
• 1 Kings 18:21Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 6:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers - This is a military term: keep in your own ranks; do not leave the Christian community to join in that of the heathens. The verb ̔ signifies to leave one's own rank, place, or order, and go into another; and here it must signify not only that they should not associate with the Gentiles in their idolatrous feasts, but that they should not apostatize from Christianity; and the questions which follow show…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers - This is closely connected in sense with the previous verse. The apostle is there stating the nature of the remuneration or recompence which he asks for all the love which he had shown to them. He here says, that one mode of remuneration would be to yield obedience to his commands, and to separate themselves from all improper alliance with unbelievers. “Make me this return for my love. Love me as a…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-18Verses 11-18 It is wrong for believers to join with the wicked and profane. The word unbeliever applies to all destitute of true faith. True pastors will caution their beloved children in the gospel, not to be unequally yoked. The fatal effects of neglecting Scripture precepts as to marriages clearly appear. Instead of a help meet, the union brings a snare. Those whose cross it is to be unequally united, without their wilful fault, may expect consolation…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers: This advice refers to the Jewish rule against certain mixtures (Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:10). Paul likely referred to the Corinthians' involvement in idol worship (see 1 Corinthians 8–10; compare 1 Corinthians 10:14–22).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. Be not--Greek, "Become not." unequally yoked--"yoked with one alien in spirit." The image is from the symbolical precept of the law (Le 19:19), "Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind"; or the precept (De 22:10), "Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together." Compare De 7:3, forbidding marriages with the heathen; also 1Co 7:39. The believer and unbeliever are utterly heterogeneous. Too close intercourse with unbelievers in…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Corinthians 6:14

• Church
• Communion
• Company
• Darkness
• Fellowship
• Holiness
• Marriage
• Unbelief

In the dictionaries

• Agreement
• Care
• Cause
• Communion
• Concord
• Corinthians, Second Epistle to the
• Unequally
• Unrighteousness
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Corinthians, Second Epistle to the

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings