2 Corinthians 6:16
What does 2 Corinthians 6:16 mean?
A plain-English look at 2 Corinthians 6:16 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 2 Corinthians 6:16 means
Paul asks what agreement God’s temple can have with idols, then declares, “we are a temple of the living God.” The church’s identity is sacred: God Himself dwells and walks among His people, claiming them as His own. This evokes Old Testament covenant language, now realized in the community indwelt by the Spirit through Christ. Idolatry is fundamentally incompatible with such a dwelling; it profanes what God has made holy. Paul’s logic is identity to ethics: because God lives among His people and calls them His, they must guard the purity of His house. Holiness is not an add-on but the natural outflow of God’s presence and ownership.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And 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
King James Version · 1611And 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.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And 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.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And what agreement has the house of God with images? for we are a house of the living God; even as God has said, I will be living among them, and walking with them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862and what agreement to the sanctuary of God with idols? for ye are a sanctuary of the living God, according as God said--`I will dwell in them, and will walk among <FI>them<Fi> , and I will be their God, and they shall be My people,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God: as God saith: I will dwell in them and walk among them. And I will be their God: and they shall be my people.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890and what agreement ofGod's temple with idols? for ye are [the] livingGod's temple; according asGod has said, I will dwell among them, and walk among [them]; and I will be theirGod, and they shall be to me a people.
Context
The argument rises from contrast (vv. 14–15) to identity and promise. By anchoring separation in being God’s temple, Paul turns from mere prohibition to privilege. Verses 17–18 will quote further covenant lines that urge practical separation and offer the promise of God’s reception and fatherly care. The flow shows that the call to come out from uncleanness rests on God’s prior commitment to dwell with and claim His people.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 1 Peter 2:5
ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Hebrews 3:6
but Christ as a son, over his house; whose house are we, if we hold fast our boldness and the glorying of our hope firm unto the end.
- Ezekiel 37:26
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
- Romans 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19
Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own;
- Zechariah 8:8
and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
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