2 Corinthianschapter 6
18 verses · Paul · about AD 56 · Paul's letters
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Introduction
Paul, Paul's letters, 2 Corinthians Overview.
This chapter comes from Paul, writing with Timothy to the church at Corinth and the believers of Achaia. It stands in the middle of the long defence of his ministry that fills the first part of the letter. It opens with an urgent appeal and then lays out what his ministry had cost him. Listen for the little word in that repeats down the list, and for the pairs of opposites that follow it. Listen for the change of voice at verse 11, when Paul speaks to the Corinthians by name. Hear it as a pastor laying his life open before people he loves.
Context
- Who
- Corinthians whose affections, Paul says, are restricted, not toward him, but in themselves.
- What
- A section of Paul's letter that turns his defence of his ministry into a direct appeal to the Corinthians.
- Where
- Written from Macedonia to the church at Corinth, the chief city of the Roman province of Achaia.
- When
- About AD 55 to 56, within a year or so of 1 Corinthians.
- Why
- To urge the Corinthians not to receive God's grace in vain, to open their hearts to Paul, and to separate from the worship of idols.
Historical context
The hardship list here is the fullest in the letter: beatings, imprisonments, riots, sleepless nights, hunger. Each item was a legally or socially recognizable event. Riots could get a city into trouble with Rome; imprisonment without conviction was a normal step in provincial justice; beatings came from both synagogue discipline and Roman magistrates.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
He follows it with paired opposites, as unknown yet well known, as dying and behold we live, as poor yet making many rich. In a culture that ranked people by visible honour, he is claiming that the ledger does not read the way it looks.
The image of being unequally yoked comes from farming and from the Law, which forbade yoking an ox and a donkey together. Two animals of different size and gait pulling one plough injure each other and the work.
Its application here is to pagan worship, not to friendship or business in general, the chapter's parallel questions are about idols and the temple of God. In a city where guilds, civic festivals, and family life were saturated with temple ritual, drawing that line had a real cost.
Significance
The first hearers were being urged not to receive God's grace in vain, with the sharpest possible sense of time: now is the favourable time, now is the day of salvation.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
And Paul's appeal is personal rather than authoritarian. He says his heart is wide open to them and asks them to widen theirs in return, a request from a man who had just listed everything the relationship had already cost him.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Now Is the Accepted Day: Servants Proven in Everything
2 Corinthians 6:1-2
As God’s fellow workers: Verse 2 applies Isaiah 49:8, the prophet’s word to the Servant, to the gospel hour: In the time of favor I heard you. The doubled now, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation, allows no delay.
2 Corinthians 6:1
“We then, as workers together with him - On the meaning of this expression, see the note, 1Co 3:9. The Greek here is (συνεργοῦντες sunergountes) “working together,” and may mean either that the apostles and ministers to whom Paul refers were joint-laborers in entreating them not to receive the grace of God in vain; or it may mean that they cooperated with God, or were engaged with him in endeavoring to secure the reconciliation of the world to himself. Tyndale renders it: “we as helpers.” Doddridge, “we then as the joint-laborers of God.” Most expositors have concurred in this interpretation.”
3 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
2 Corinthians 6:1
“We then not only beseech, but as fellow-labourers with you, who are working out your own salvation, do also exhort you, not to receive the grace of God - Which we have been now describing. In vain - We receive it by faith; and not in vain, if we add to this, persevering holiness.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Corinthians 6:1
“The gospel is a word of grace sounding in our ears; but it will be in vain for us to hear it, unless we believe it, and comply with the end and design of it. And as it is the duty of the ministers of the gospel to exhort and persuade their hearers to accept of grace and mercy which are offered to them, so they are honoured with this high title of co-workers with God.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Corinthians 6:1
“Not only as "ambassadors." beseech--entreat (2Co 5:20). He is describing his ministry, not exhorting directly. you also--rather, "WE ALSO (as well as God, 2Co 5:20) beseech" or "entreat you": 2Co 6:14, 15, on to 2Co 7:1, is part of this entreaty or exhortation. in vain--by making the grace of God a ground for continuance in sin (2Co 6:3).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
now is the day of salvation!: Adam Clarke notes that Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 word for word from the Greek version. He takes the time of favor as the coming of the Messiah.
2 Corinthians 6:2
"Now is the acceptable time," says the apostle, "now is the day of salvation." This is the time for repentance; the next life, for reward. Now is the time to endure; then will be the day of consolation. Now God is the helper of such as turn aside from the evil way; then he will be the dread and unerring inquisitor of the thoughts and words and deeds of humankind.
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · The Long Rulespatristic
3 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:2
“For he saith - That is, God hath said it, by the prophet Isaiah, Isa 49:8; which place the apostle quotes verbatim et literatim from the Septuagint. And from this we may at once see what is the accepted time, and what the day of salvation. The advent of the Messiah was the עת רצון eth ratson, the time of God’s pleasure or benevolence, of which all the faithful were in expectation; and the day of salvation, יום שועה yom yeshuah, was the time in which this salvation should be manifested and applied.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 6:2
“The gospel day is a day of salvation, the means of grace the means of salvation, the offers of the gospel the offers of salvation, and the present time the only proper time to accept of these offers: To-day, while it is called to-day.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Corinthians 6:2
“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted,.... These words are a citation from Isa 49:8 and are spoken by the Father to Christ, declaring he had heard him, as he always did.”
Cross references
2 Corinthians 6:2
- QuotingIsaiah 49:8“This is what the LORD says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You; I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to apportion its desolate inheritances,”
'In an acceptable time have I heard thee' ('he saith')
2 Corinthians 6:3-5
no one can discredit our ministry: Paul turns to his own record, a doctrine defended by a life. The phrase in great endurance heads nine hardships in three groups of three, offered in place of the letters of commendation his rivals carried.
2 Corinthians 6:3
For those who strive after perfection, according to the same apostle, must "give no offence in anything, but in everything approve themselves not to men, but to God."
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · The Stromata Book 4patristic
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:3
“Giving no offence in anything - We the ministers of God, 2Co 6:1. The word rendered “offence” means, properly, stumbling; then offence, or cause of offence, a falling into sin.”
2 Corinthians 6:3
“Resuming the connection with 2Co 6:1, interrupted by the parenthetical 2Co 6:2. "Giving no offense" (compare 1Co 10:33), "approving ourselves," and all the other participles down to 2Co 6:10, are nominatives to "we also entreat you" (2Co 6:1), to show the pains he took to enforce his exhortation by example, as well as precept [ALFORD].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
in great endurance: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear an allusion to 3:1, since Paul commends himself by deeds where others relied on words. Chrysostom notes that endurance stands first and is called great, the ground of everything that follows. John Wesley sorts the list into general troubles and particular blows.
2 Corinthians 6:4
“Translate, to mark the true order of the Greek words, "in everything, as God's ministers recommending ourselves," that is, that our hearers may give our message a favorable hearing, through our consistency in every respect, not that they may glorify us. Alluding to 2Co 3:1, he implies, We commend ourselves, not like them by word, but by deed. patience-- (2Co 12:12).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
4 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:4
“Note, [1.] It is the lot of faithful ministers often to be reduced to great difficulties, and to stand in need of much patience. [2.] Those who would approve themselves to God must approve themselves faithful in trouble as well as in peace, not only in doing the work of God diligently, but also in bearing the will of God patiently.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Corinthians 6:4
“This is the grace of the Holy Spirit, possessing the entire soul and filling the dwelling place with gladness and power, making sweet for the soul the sufferings of the Lord, and taking away the perception of the present pain because of the hope of the things to come.”
Gregory of Nyssa · written before 395 · On the Christian Mode of Lifepatristic
2 Corinthians 6:4
“But in all things approving ourselves - The apostle now proceeds to show how conscientiously himself and his fellow laborers acted, in order to render the ministry of reconciliation effectual to the salvation of men. They not only gave no offense in any thing, but they labored to manifest themselves to be the genuine ministers of God, in much patience - bearing calmly up under the most painful and oppressive afflictions. In afflictions - Εν θλιψεσιν.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 6:4
“In much patience - Shown, 1. In afflictions, necessities, distresses - All which are general terms. In stripes, imprisonments, tumults - Which are particular sorts of affliction, necessity, distress 3.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
sleepless nights, and hunger: Albert Barnes ties the beatings to 11:23 to 25 and the imprisonments to Philippi at Acts 16:24. Chrysostom divides the verse, the first three troubles coming from others and the last three taken on by Paul himself. John Wesley reads riots as attacks no man can withstand.
2 Corinthians 6:5
“In stripes - In this verse, Paul proceeds to specifications of what he had been called to endure. In the previous verse, he had spoken of his afflictions in general terms. In this expression, he refers to the fact that he and his fellow-laborers were scourged in the synagogues and cities as if they had been the worst of people. In 2Co 11:23-25, Paul says that he had been scourged five times by the Jews, and had been thrice beaten with rods. See the notes on that place. In imprisonments - As at Philippi; Act 16:24 ff.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:5
“In tumults - The Greek word implies such attacks as a man cannot stand against, but which bear him hither and thither by violence.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Corinthians 6:6-7
in sincere love: The list turns from what Paul endured to what marked him under it: in purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness. The Holy Spirit stands among these virtues as their source, so character proves the ministry alongside its suffering.
2 Corinthians 6:6
“By pureness - Εν ἁγνοτητι· In simplicity of intention, and purity of affection; together with that chastity and holiness of life which the Gospel enjoins. By knowledge - Of the Divine mysteries. By long-suffering - Under all provocations. By kindness - To our most virulent persecutors, and to all men.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:6
“By prudence - Spiritual divine; not what the world terms so. Worldly prudence is the practical use of worldly wisdom: divine prudence is the due exercise of grace, making spiritual understanding go as far as possible.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
the weapons of righteousness: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that righteousness, which is only the breastplate in Ephesians 6, is here the whole armour. John Wesley reads the power of God as the power that convinces and converts, attested by miracles. Right and left mean every side.
2 Corinthians 6:7
“By the convincing and converting power of God - Accompanying his word; and also attesting it by divers miracles. By the armour of righteousness on the right hand and the left - That is, on all sides; the panoply or whole armour of God.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:7
“By the word of truth - That is, by making known the truths of the gospel. It was his object to make known the simple truth. He did not corrupt it by false mixtures of philosophy and human wisdom, but communicated it as it had been revealed to him. The object of the appointment of the Christian ministry is to make known the truth, and when that is done it cannot but be that they will commend their office and work to the favorable regards of people.”
2 Corinthians 6:8-10
viewed as imposters, yet genuine: The list turns to paradox, nine pairs in three verses, such as viewed as imposters, yet genuine. The form argues that the world’s opposite verdicts fail to touch a true ministry.
2 Corinthians 6:8
“By honor and dishonor - By going through both; sometimes respected, sometimes despised. By evil report and good report - Sometimes praised, at other times calumniated. As deceivers - Said to carry about a false doctrine for our secular emolument. And yet true - Demonstrated by the nature of the doctrine, as well as by our life and conversation, that we are true men; having nothing in view but God’s glory and the salvation of the world.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:8
“Do not angle for compliments, lest while you win the popular applause, you dishonor God. "If I yet pleased men," says the apostle, "I should not be the servant of Christ." He ceased to please men when he became Christ's servant. Christ's soldier marches on through good report and evil report, the one on the right hand and the other on the left. No praise elates him, no reproaches crush him. He is not puffed up by riches nor depressed by poverty. Joy and sorrow he alike despises.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Letter 52patristic
2 Corinthians 6:8
“By honour and dishonour - When we are present. By evil report and good report - When we are absent. Who could bear honour and good report, were it not balanced by dishonour?”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Corinthians 6:8
“Regarded "as deceivers" by those who, not knowing (2Co 6:9), dishonor and give us an evil report; "as true," by those who "know" (2Co 6:9) us in the real "glory" of our ministry. In proportion as one has more or less of glory and good report, in that degree has he more or less of dishonor and evil report.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
as unknown, yet well-known: Albert Barnes reads unknown of men who came as strangers, with no introduction from the great. John Gill says God knew them though the world did not. Adam Clarke reads the dying and the living as daily danger met by daily rescue through the power of God.
2 Corinthians 6:9
“As unknown - For the world knoweth us not, as it knew him not. Yet well known - To God, and to those who are the seals of our ministry. As dying, yet behold - Suddenly, unexpectedly, God interposes, and we live.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:9
“As unknown - As those who are deemed to be of an obscure and ignoble rank in life, unknown to the great, unknown to fame. The idea, I think, is, that they went as strangers, as persons unknown, in preaching the gospel. Yet, though thus unknown they endeavor to commend themselves as the ministers of God. Though among strangers; though having no introduction from the great and the noble, yet they endeavored so to act as to convince the world that they were the ministers of God.”
2 Corinthians 6:9
“As unknown, and yet well known,.... Not unknown to Father, Son, and Spirit, or to one another, but to the world; and that not with respect to their outward estate, but their spiritual and eternal state; as that they were the chosen of God, the children of God, and born again; they knew not what a life they lived, or what they lived upon; and as they were unacquainted with their inward troubles, they were strangers to their spiritual joys here, and to what they shall partake of hereafter.”
having nothing, and yet possessing everything: Adam Clarke reads the riches Paul gives as the treasures of salvation, faith and an inheritance in the kingdom. John Wesley says all things belong to those who are Christ's. Augustine applies the line to Christians who would give up their property sooner than give up Christ.
2 Corinthians 6:10
“As sorrowful - Considerate men supposing, from our persecuted state and laborious occupation, (often destitute of the necessaries of life; seldom enjoying its conveniences; and scarcely ever, its comforts), that we must be the most miserable of all men. Yet alway rejoicing - Having the consolation of God’s Spirit at all times, and a glorious prospect of a blessed immortality. As poor - Destitute of all worldly good and secular interest, Yet making many rich - By dispensing to them the treasures of salvation; making them rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:10
“As sorrowing - For our own manifold imperfections, and for the sins and sufferings of our brethren. Yet always rejoicing - In present peace, love, power, and a sure hope of future glory. As having nothing, yet possessing all things - For all things are ours, if we are Christ's.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Corinthians 6:10
“As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,.... As to their outward appearance they are sorrowful, and oftentimes really so on account of sin, their own and others, by reason of afflictions, temporal and spiritual; and as to the state and condition of the church of Christ, and the interest of religion: and yet always rejoicing; not in themselves, or in any creature, but in the Lord, in the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ, and salvation by him.”
2 Corinthians 6:10
“The things both of the present and of the future are, in the truest sense, the believer's in possession, for he possesses them all in Christ, his lasting possession, though the full fruition of them is reserved for the future eternity.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Our Mouth Is Open, Our Heart Is Wide
2 Corinthians 6:11-13
We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians: The defense breaks into direct address, We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, Paul naming the church itself. Any coldness lies on their side, so Paul pleads as a father, I ask you as my children: Open wide your hearts also.
2 Corinthians 6:11
“O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you - We speak freely, and fully. This is an affectionate address to them, and has reference to what he had just said. It means that, when the heart was full on the subject, words would flow freely, and that he had given vent to the fervid language which he had just used because his heart was full. He loved them; he felt deeply; and he spoke to them with the utmost freedom of what he had thought, and purposed, and done.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:11
“O ye Corinthians - He seldom uses this appellation. But it has here a peculiar force. Our mouth is opened toward you - With uncommon freedom, because our heart is enlarged - In tenderness.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
that is restrained: Adam Clarke takes the figure from a person pent up in a narrow place with hardly room to breathe. Chrysostom hears a rebuke given with forbearance, one that faults the measure of their love. Paul holds a whole city; they need hold one man.
2 Corinthians 6:12
“Ye are not straitened in us - That is, Ye have not a narrow place in our affections: the metaphor here is taken from the case of a person pent up in a small or narrow place, where there is scarcely room to breathe. Ye are straitened in your own bowels - I have not the same place in your affections which you have in mine. The bowels are used in Scripture to denote the most tender affections. See the note on Mat 9:36.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:12
“Any constraint ye feel towards me, or narrowness of heart, is not from want of largeness of heart on my part towards you, but from want of it on your part towards me. bowels--that is, affections (compare 2Co 12:15). not straitened in us--that is, for want of room in our hearts to take you in.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Open wide your hearts also: Albert Barnes hears this as the only payment Paul asks, love returned with no silver or gold. Chrysostom adds that one who loves second can never quite match one who loved first, yet Paul will keep no strict account. He speaks as a father.
2 Corinthians 6:13
“Now for a recompence in the same - “By way of recompence, open your hearts in the same manner toward me as I have done toward you. It is all the reward or compensation which I ask of you; all the return which I desire. I do not ask silver or gold, or any earthly possessions. I ask only a return of love, and a devotedness to the cause which I love, and which I endeavor to promote.” I speak as unto my children - I speak as a parent addressing his children.”
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:13
“Now for a recompence in the same,.... That your love to me may answer mine to you; that as you have my heart, I may have yours, and the same room in your heart, as you have in mine. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "having the same recompence"; and the Arabic version renders it, "grant to me the same recompence"; and the Syriac version, "recompense to me my usuries that are with you"; that is, repay me with affection, let love be returned for love.”
2 Corinthians 6:13
“Translate, "As a recompense in the same kind . . . be enlarged also yourselves" [ELLICOTT]. "In the same way" as my heart is enlarged towards you (2Co 6:11), and "as a recompense" for it (Ga 4:12).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Do Not Be Yoked With Unbelievers
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers: renders heterozygountes, the yoking of two unlike animals. The figure draws on Deuteronomy 22:10, which forbids plowing with an ox and a donkey together, unequal in strength and kind.
2 Corinthians 6:14
“What an absurdity is it to think of joining righteousness and unrighteousness, or mingling light and darkness, fire and water, together! Believers are, and should be, righteous; but unbelievers are unrighteous.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
3 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:14
“Be 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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 6:14
“There cannot be two contradictory loves in one man. Just as there is no harmony between Christ and Belial, between justice and iniquity, so it is impossible for one soul to love both good and evil. You who love the Lord, hate evil, the devil; in every deed, there is love of one and hatred of the other. "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me." … You who love the things that are good, hate the things that are bad. You cannot love good unless you hate evil.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Homily 73 on Psalmspatristic
2 Corinthians 6:14
“Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers - Christians with Jews or heathens. The apostle particularly speaks of marriage. But the reasons he urges equally hold against any needless intimacy with them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Corinthians 6:15-16
between Christ and Belial?: The questions set Christ against Belial and climb to identity: we are the temple of the living God, as in 1 Corinthians 3:16. The call to separation rests on this identity.
2 Corinthians 6:15
Belial--Hebrew, "worthlessness, unprofitableness, wickedness." As Satan is opposed to God, and Antichrist to Christ; Belial being here opposed to Christ, must denounce all manner of Antichristian uncleanness [BENGEL]. he that believeth with an infidel--Translate, "a believer with an unbeliever."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:15
“And what concord - (συμφώνησις sumphōnēsis). Sympathy, unison. This word refers properly to the unison or harmony produced by musical instruments, where there is a chord. What accordance, what unison is there; what strings are there which being struck will produce a chord or harmony? The idea is, then, there is as much that is discordant between Christ and Belial as there is between instruments of music that produce only discordant and jarring sounds.”
the temple of the living God: Adam Clarke notes that nothing could appear more abominable to a Jew than an idol in God's temple. The promise comes from Leviticus 26:12.
2 Corinthians 6:16
“And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?.... That is, what association, confederation, or covenant agreement can the saints, who are the temple of God, have with idols, or their worshippers? no more than the ark of the Lord had with Dagon, or Dagon with the ark; which when brought into his temple, and set by him, the idol fell down, and part of him was broke to pieces: for ye are the temple of the living God; some copies read "we are", and so the Ethiopic version.”
3 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:16
“What agreement hath the temple of God with idols - Nothing could appear more abominable to a Jew than an idol in the temple of God: here, then, could be no agreement; the worship of the two is wholly incompatible. An idolater never worships the true God; a Christian never worships an idol. If ye join in idolatrous rites, it is impossible that ye should be Christians. Ye are the temple of the living God - God intends to make the heart of every believer his own house.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 6:16
“For He saith, That I will dwell in you, and will walk in (you), and will be their God, and they shall be to Me a people. Wherefore depart from the midst of them, be separate, and touch not the unclean.' This (thread of discourse) also you spin out, O apostle, when at the very moment you yourself are offering your hand to so huge a whirlpool of impurities; nay, you superadd yet further, 'Having therefore this promise, beloved, cleanse we ourselves out from every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting chastity in God's fear.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Modestypatristic
2 Corinthians 6:16
“As God hath said - To his ancient church, and in them to all the Israel of God. I will dwell in them, and walk in them - The former signifying his perpetual presence; the latter, his operation. And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people - The sum of the whole gospel covenant.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Cross references
2 Corinthians 6:16
- QuotingLeviticus 26:12“I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.”
'I will dwell in them... and they shall be my people' (w/ Eze 37:27)
2 Corinthians 6:17-18
come out from among them: The call to come out from among them and be separate draws on Isaiah 52:11, the call out of Babylon, applied to separation from idolatry. The exodus pattern is reused as the shape of holiness.
2 Corinthians 6:17
“Touching is more polluting, as implying participation, than seeing. receive you--The Greek implies, "to myself"; as persons heretofore out of doors, but now admitted within (2Co 5:1-10). With this accords the clause, "Come out from among them," namely, so as to be received to me.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
3 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:17
“Wherefore come out from among them,.... Since they were the temple of the living God, built up an habitation for the Most High; since he resided among them, took his walks in the midst of them, was their God, and they were his people. These words are taken out of Isa 52:11 where the several phrases here used may be observed.”
2 Corinthians 6:17
“Wherefore - Since you are a special people. Since God, the holy and blessed God, dwells with you and among you. Come out from among them - That is, from among idolaters and unbelievers; from a frivolous and vicious world. These words are taken, by a slight change, from Isa 3:11. They are there applied to the Jews in Babylon, and are a solemn call which God makes on them to leave the place of their exile, to come out from among the idolaters of that city and return to their own land; see my note on that place.”
2 Corinthians 6:17
“And ye shall be to me for sons and for daughters, saith the Lord Almighty - The promise made to Solomon, 1 Chr. xxviii, 6, is here applied to all believers; as the promise made particularly to Josh. is applied to them, Heb. xiii, 5. Who can express the worth, who can conceive the dignity, of this divine adoption? Yet it belongs to all who believe the gospel, who have faith in Christ.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Cross references
2 Corinthians 6:17
- QuotingIsaiah 52:11“Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.”
'Come out from among them, and be ye separate'
My sons and daughters: John Gill traces the promise to 2 Samuel 7:14, spoken of Solomon, and to Jeremiah 31:9, spoken of Israel. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the title Lord Almighty is found elsewhere in the New Testament only in Revelation. Matthew Henry asks what greater honour there could be.
2 Corinthians 6:18
“Will be a Father unto you - I will act towards you as the most affectionate father can act towards his most tender and best beloved child. And ye shall be my sons and daughters - Ye shall all be of the household of God, the family of heaven; ye shall be holy, happy, and continually safe. Saith the Lord Almighty - Κυριος παντοκρατωρ· The Lord, the Governor of all things.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 6:18
“God has promised to be a Father to them, and that they shall be his sons and his daughters; and is there a greater honour or happiness than this? How ungrateful a thing then must it be if those who have this dignity and felicity should degrade and debase themselves by mingling with unbelievers!”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Corinthians 6:18
“Paul is prophetic in telling us to put up a barrier, not between ourselves and the married but between ourselves and the Gentiles who are still living immorally, and also from those heresies which believe neither in chastity nor in God.”
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · The Stromata Book 3patristic
2 Corinthians 6:18
“And will be a father unto you,.... The same is promised to Solomon, 2Sa 7:14 and said of Israel, Jer 31:9 which is thought to be referred unto.”
Cross references
2 Corinthians 6:18
- Quoting2 Samuel 7:14“I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.”
'I will be a Father unto you' (Davidic adoption promise applied to the church)
How this psalm is built
The form: A description of his ministry, given to enforce his appeal by example as well as by precept, as Jamieson, Fausset & Brown classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Item after item in | From verse 4 to verse 7 the word in opens item after item, first troubles, then blows, then marks of character, then truthful speech and the power of God. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the word as naming the sphere in which the ministry moved, where the older English had by. The list proves the ministry by what it endured and by what it was.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 6:6. | 2 Corinthians 6:4, 2 Corinthians 6:5, 2 Corinthians 6:6, 2 Corinthians 6:7 |
| Nine pairs of opposites | Verses 8 to 10 set nine pairs side by side, from glory and dishonor to having nothing and possessing everything, and the word yet stands seven times among them. Most pairs set how the apostles were seen against what they were. The site's published exposition of verses 8 to 10 reads the form itself as argument.This site's published exposition of 2 Corinthians 6:8, The exposition_notes row on 2 Corinthians 6:8 to 10, citing Charles Spurgeon, My Grace Is Sufficient (and the 2 Corinthians sermons), and Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. | 2 Corinthians 6:8, 2 Corinthians 6:9, 2 Corinthians 6:10 |
| Five questions | Verses 14 to 16 ask five questions, two in verse 14, two in verse 15 and one in verse 16. Each pairs opposites: righteousness and wickedness, light and darkness, Christ and Belial, a believer and an unbeliever, the temple of God and idols. Chrysostom notes that Paul uses the bare names of the opposites themselves, which cannot admit each other.John Chrysostom, Homily 13 on 2 Corinthians, on 2 Corinthians 6:15. | 2 Corinthians 6:14, 2 Corinthians 6:15, 2 Corinthians 6:16 |
| A chain of Scripture | Verse 2 quotes Isaiah 49:8, and verses 16 to 18 join promises from several books into one quotation. The site's published exposition traces the chain to Leviticus 26:12, Isaiah 52:11 and 2 Samuel 7:14. The call to separate rests on God's promises to dwell with His people and to be their Father.This site's published exposition of 2 Corinthians 6:17, The exposition_notes row on 2 Corinthians 6:17 to 18, citing Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. | 2 Corinthians 6:2, 2 Corinthians 6:16, 2 Corinthians 6:17, 2 Corinthians 6:18 |
How the chapter is built
5 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verses 1 and 2 make the appeal and support it from Isaiah 49:8. Verses 3 to 10 give Paul's record: endurance and troubles in verses 3 to 5, character and the weapons of righteousness in verses 6 and 7, and nine paired opposites in verses 8 to 10. Verses 11 to 13 open his heart to the Corinthians by name. Verses 14 to 18 ask five questions and close on a chain of Scripture, and the thought runs on into 7:1.
Where it stands in the letter
The first verse carries on the plea of 5:20, Be reconciled to God, now pressed by men who work together with God. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read verses 14 to 18, on to 7:1, as part of the same entreaty that begins at verse 1 (Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 6:1). The plea of verse 13 to open wide their hearts is taken up again at 7:2, where Paul asks the Corinthians to make room for him in their hearts.
The debated reading: what the unequal yoke forbids
Adam Clarke reads the yoke of verse 14 as a military term, a call to keep in their own ranks and not leave the Christian community for the heathen (Commentary on the Bible, on 2 Corinthians 6:14). Matthew Henry sees danger in communicating with unbelievers and idolaters, the danger of being defiled and rejected (Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 6:16). Clement of Alexandria answers readers who turned the passage against marriage, and he sets the barrier between believers and the Gentiles still living immorally, and the heresies (The Stromata Book 3, on 2 Corinthians 6:18). The Apostolic Constitutions apply the words of verse 15 to clergy who receive the baptism or the sacrifice of heretics (The Ecclesiastical Canons of the Same Holy Apostles, citing 2 Corinthians 6:15).
Keep studying
Studies12
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on 2 Corinthians 6:11; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 6:3 and John Chrysostom, Homily 13 on 2 Corinthians, on 2 Corinthians 6:11.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 157, TO HILARIUS; Basil of Caesarea, THE LONG RULES; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Charles Spurgeon, My Grace Is Sufficient (and the 2 Corinthians sermons); Frederic Godet, Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.