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

12Our affection for you is not restricted, but you are restricted in your affections for us. 13Now as a fair exchange – I speak as to my children – open wide your hearts to us also. Do not become partners with those who do not believe, for what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15And what agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever? 16And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, “I will live in them and will 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 34:16and you then take his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.
• Leviticus 19:19You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed, you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear a garment made of two different kinds of fabric.
• Deuteronomy 7:2and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy!
• Deuteronomy 22:9You must not plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed; otherwise the entire yield, both of the seed you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled.
• Ezra 9:1Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
• Ezra 10:19(They gave their word to send away their wives; their guilt offering was a ram from the flock for their guilt.)
• Nehemiah 13:1On that day the book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people. They found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever enter the assembly of God,
• Psalms 106:35They mixed in with the nations and learned their ways.
• Proverbs 22:24Do not make friends with an angry person, and do not associate with a wrathful person,
• Malachi 2:11Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god!
• 1 Corinthians 5:9I wrote you in my 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 marry anyone she wishes (only someone in the Lord).
• 1 Corinthians 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
• James 4:4Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.
• 1 Samuel 5:2The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon.
• 1 Kings 18:21Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? If the Lord is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not 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