II CORINTHIANS 6:14 "DO NOT BE UNEQUALLY YOKED."

Most Christians would have no trouble recognizing this familiar passage or identifying its meaning as prohibiting mixed marriages between believers and unbelievers. But things aren't always that simple. And even if they are at times, biblical scholars will always find a way to complicate them. First, there is the apparent issue of the authenticity of this saying:

“Whether this passage [II Corinthians 6:14-7:1] actually belongs where it is located in our canonical 2 Cor has been discussed since early in the nineteenth century, and whether it can be attributed to Paul himself has been discussed almost as long.” (Fitzmyer)

Most conservative scholars do not share this concern. But even they often disagree as to its actual meaning:

Hawthorne points to the same Greek root present in Jesus' words applied to marriage in Mark 10:9. “So it is correct to see marriage as at least one kind, if not the only kind, of mismating Paul had in mind.”

Fee and Stuart take a decidedly different approach to this passage: “Traditionally, this text has been interpreted as forbidding marriage between a Christian and non-Christian. However, the metaphor of a yoke is rarely used in antiquity to refer to marriage, and there is nothing whatever in the context that remotely allows marriage to be in view here. Our problem is that we cannot be certain as to what the original text is forbidding.”

Brauch is in complete agreement and concerning the application to marriage says, “Though this understanding may be a valid application, the context of the passage suggests that marriage was not what Paul had in mind here.” Brauch reasons: “The statement...is followed by a series of five antithetical questions which define the nature of incompatibility between believers and unbelievers. The questions are rhetorical; thus the answers are obvious.” There is nothing in common between the two parties.

Fitzmyer basically agrees with the above assessment. “As to what Paul is referring to specifically, nothing in this passage itself, or even in the wider context of 2 Cor 1-9, warrants particularizing the admonition...It is better, pending a convincing judgment on this point, to regard the appeal as a very general one, hardly more specific than the concern expressed in Jas 1:26, 'to keep oneself unstained from the world.'”

Others, such as Hughes, remain somewhat uncommitted as to the intended application but yet leave the door open for mixed marriages to be one of the possibilities. Concerning the key term for “yoke” (zygos), Link and Brown, contra Fee and Stuart, note “the association of the word group in general with marriage, though it is by no means an exclusive association.” Thus, “the whole context and argument of 2 Cor 6:14ff. appears to look beyond mixed marriages to idolatry and defilement in general...although a mixed marriage could lead to such idolatry and defilement.” As a prime example of this truth, just consider the sad end of “wise” King Solomon.

Getting to the underlying principle being expressed by Paul is Tasker, who applies it to the general danger of compromising with believers; and R.P. Martin explains that it did not counsel complete withdrawal from the Gentile world, but was warning “against compromising the integrity of faith.” As to that last point, see passages such as John 17:15; I Corinthians 5:10; 7:12-16,39; 10:27.

Clines gets a little more specific when he says, “He [Paul] is speaking generally of permanent association with unbelievers; but not all associations are yokes. He does not exhort them to abandon any such ties they may have contracted...but warns them not to continue forming them.” See I Corinthians 7:12ff about his teachings on existing mixed marriages. And whereas for Clines the forbidden “yoking” is in terms of permanent associations, Brauch defines it in terms of the degree of association: “Thus to be 'yoked with unbelievers' is to be of one heart and mind with them, co-opted by the values that guide them, seduced by their commitments to various 'gods and lords.'”

Lowery says, “Though verses 14-15 are often applied to various sorts of alliances (e.g., mixed marriages, improper business associations), Paul's primary association was probably ecclesiastical.” This would include both pagan idolaters and false prophets. Fitzmyer adds that the immediate context requires that the reference is strictly to non-Christians, not Paul's Christian opponents or Gentile Christians who do not follow the Jewish law.

In closing, it is imperative to keep in mind that Paul was quoting here directly from Deuteronomy 22:10, which along with Leviticus 19:19 contains various prohibitions against admixtures of incompatible items. So if you are interested in the broader rationale behind such OT regulations, please read my blog on “Mixtures in the Bible,” which traces the development of different aspects of this theme throughout the Scriptures.