2 Corinthians 6:16 BSB

2 Corinthians 6:16

What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

KJV

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

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Commentary

3 voices

Tertullian

On Modesty (220)

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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

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.

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

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.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

32 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
τίς	tis	What	G5101 →
δὲ	de	now	G1161 →
συγκατάθεσις	sugkatathesis	agreement	G4783 →
ναῷ	naō	[the] temple	G3485 →
θεοῦ	theou	of God	G2316 →
μετὰ	meta	with	G3326 →
εἰδώλων;	eidōlōn	idols?	G1497 →
ἡμεῖς	hēmeis	We ourselves	G3165 →
γὰρ	gar	for	G1063 →
ναὸς	naos	[the] temple	G3485 →
θεοῦ	theou	of God	G2316 →
ἐσμεν	esmen	we are	G1510 →
ζῶντος,	zōntos	[the] living,	G2198 →
καθὼς	kathōs	even as	G2531 →
εἶπεν	eipen	has said	G2036 →
ὁ	ho	<the>	G3588 →
θεὸς	theos	God	G2316 →
ὅτι	hoti	that	G3754 →
ἐνοικήσω	enoikēsō	I will dwell	G1774 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
αὐτοῖς	autois	them	G846 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ἐμπεριπατήσω,	emperipatēsō	will walk among [them],	G1704 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ἔσομαι	esomai	I will be	G1510 →
αὐτῶν	autōn	their	G846 →
θεὸς	theos	God	G2316 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
αὐτοὶ	autoi	they themselves	G846 →
ἔσονταί	esontai	will be	G1510 →
μου	mou	to Me	G3165 →
λαός.	laos	a people.	G2992 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Hebrews 8:10
For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And…
leads to
- Ezekiel 36:26–28
  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
- Jeremiah 31:33
  “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And…
- 2 Corinthians 3:3
  It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on…
- Ezekiel 11:19–20
  And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- Hebrews 10:16–17
  “This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.”
Through
Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will…
leads to
- Ezekiel 37:27
  My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.
- John 14:23
  Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
- Leviticus 26:11–12
  And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.

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The Crown of Thorns — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

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01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 2 Corinthians

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 2 Corinthians