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

12There is no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us. 13I am asking you to respond as if you were my own children. Open your hearts to us! Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? 15What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? 16And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them 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 you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods.
• Leviticus 19:19“You must obey all my decrees. “Do not mate two different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two different kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven from two different kinds of thread.
• Deuteronomy 7:2When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy.
• Deuteronomy 22:9“You must not plant any other crop between the rows of your vineyard. If you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes from the vineyard or the other crop.
• Ezra 9:1When these things had been done, the Jewish leaders came to me and said, “Many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
• Ezra 10:19They vowed to divorce their wives, and they each acknowledged their guilt by offering a ram as a guilt offering.
• Nehemiah 13:1On that same day, as the Book of Moses was being read to the people, the passage was found that said no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the assembly of God.
• Psalms 106:35Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.
• Proverbs 22:24Don’t befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people,
• Malachi 2:11Judah has been unfaithful, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. The men of Judah have defiled the Lord’s beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols.
• 1 Corinthians 5:9When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.
• 1 Corinthians 7:39A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if he loves the Lord.
• 1 Corinthians 15:33Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”
• James 4:4You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
• 1 Samuel 5:2They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon.
• 1 Kings 18:21Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.

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