What Does 2 Corinthians 6:16 Mean?
And what setting down together has the temple of God with images? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, "I will dwell in them, and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
The “you” is plural and the “temple” is singular: God makes a people one dwelling and walks within their shared life.
THE MEANING
You belong to the living God as part of a people in whom God dwells and walks. The verse describes sacred space as a shared life, with divine presence among the people themselves.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that the living God can be confined to an object or sacred building while the people remain outside God’s dwelling.
THE ROOT
ἐνοικήσω
enoikēsō
GROWS FROM
οἰκ-
oik-
house, home; the basis of words for dwelling
Under “dwell” is the language of house and home: the people become God’s dwelling, and the same sentence says God walks there. The image holds settled presence and active companionship together.
ALSO GROWS
oikos: house, household
οἶκος
The people are described as God’s household, not merely as people near a sacred place.
oikeō: live in, dwell
οἰκέω
This verb shares the root and makes the verse’s indwelling presence explicit.
ζῶντος
zōntos
GROWS FROM
ζα-/ζω- (za-/zō-)
live, be alive
The verse contrasts idols with the living God, then places that living presence among the people. The emphasis is not only that God exists, but that God’s presence is active.
ALSO GROWS
zōē: life
ζωή
This noun shares the root and makes the language of living presence visible.
zōopoieō: make alive, give life
ζωοποιέω
This related compound carries the same life-root into the idea of imparting life.
THE PATTERN
God’s presence makes a people the dwelling place, binding shared belonging to God’s active nearness.
And I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people.Have you not seen that you are God's temple, and that the breath of God dwells in you?Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, that one will guard my word, and my Father will love that one, and we will come to him and make a place to remain with him.THE THREAD
And I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people.Leviticus joins the same two claims found here: God walks among the people and is their God. Second Corinthians names that people as God’s temple, making the dwelling image explicit.
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