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 haven’t cut you off. Your own emotions have cut you off ⌞from us⌟. 13I’m talking to you as I would talk to children. Treat us the same way we’ve treated you. Make a place for us in your hearts too. Stop forming inappropriate relationships with unbelievers. Can right and wrong be partners? Can light have anything in common with darkness? 15Can Christ agree with the devil? Can a believer share life with an unbeliever? 16Can God’s temple contain false gods? Clearly, we are the temple of the living God. As God said, “I will live and walk among them. 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 your sons will end up marrying their daughters. When their daughters chase after their gods as though they were prostitutes, they’ll lead your sons to do the same thing.
• Leviticus 19:19“Obey my laws. Never crossbreed different kinds of animals. Never plant two kinds of crops in your field. Never wear clothes made from two kinds of material.
• Deuteronomy 7:2When the Lord your God gives them to you and you defeat them, destroy every one of them because they have been claimed by the Lord. Don’t make any treaties with them or show them any mercy.
• Deuteronomy 22:9Never plant anything between the rows in your vineyard. Otherwise, you will have to give everything that grows there to the holy place. This includes the crop you planted and the grapes from the vineyard.
• Ezra 9:1After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have failed to keep themselves separate from the neighboring groups of people and from the disgusting practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
• Ezra 10:19They shook hands as a pledge that they would get rid of their wives. They sacrificed a ram from their flock as an offering for guilt because they were guilty.
• Nehemiah 13:1On that day the Book of Moses was read while the people were listening. They heard the passage that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into God’s assembly.
• Psalms 106:35Instead, they intermarried with other nations. They learned to do what other nations did,
• Proverbs 22:24Do not be a friend of one who has a bad temper, and never keep company with a hothead,
• Malachi 2:11Judah has been unfaithful! A disgusting thing has been done in Israel and Jerusalem. Judah has dishonored the holy place that the Lord loves and has married a woman who worships a foreign god.
• 1 Corinthians 5:9In my letter to you I told you not to associate with people who continue to commit sexual sins.
• 1 Corinthians 7:39A married woman must remain with her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if the man is a Christian.
• 1 Corinthians 15:33Don’t let anyone deceive you. Associating with bad people will ruin decent people.
• James 4:4You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that love for this ⌞evil⌟ world is hatred toward God? Whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.
• 1 Samuel 5:2They brought it into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon.
• 1 Kings 18:21Elijah stood up in front of all the people and asked them, “How long will you try to have it both ways? If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal is God, follow him.” The people didn’t say 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