1 Corinthians 6:16

Contextual Overview

¹² You say, "For me, everything is permitted"? Maybe, but not everything is helpful. "For me, everything is permitted"? Maybe, but as far as I am concerned, I am not going to let anything gain control over me. ¹² All things are lawful to me, but all things do not profit; all things are lawful to me, but *I* will not be brought under the power of any. ¹² "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are expedient. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be brought under the power of anything. ¹² Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not allow anything to control me.1 Corinthians 10:23;">[xr] ¹² ALL (food) is lawful to me, but all is not expedient for me. All is lawful to me, but over me no one shall have power. ¹² 12 Every thing is in my power: but every thing is not profitable to me. Every thing is in my power; but none [fn] shall have dominion over me. ¹² All things are lawful for me; but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful for me; but I will not be brought under the power of any. ¹² I am free to do all things; but not all things are wise. I am free to do all things; but I will not let myself come under the power of any. ¹² "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. ¹² All thinges are lawfull vnto mee, but all thinges are not profitable. I may doe all things, but I will not be brought vnder the power of any thing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

an harlot: Genesis 34:31, Genesis 38:15, Genesis 38:24, Judges 16:1, Matthew 21:31, Matthew 21:32, Hebrews 11:31

for: Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5, Matthew 19:6, Mark 10:8, Ephesians 5:31

Reciprocal: Isaiah 40:28 - thou not known Hosea 4:14 - for Romans 6:3 - Know 1 Corinthians 1:1 - through 1 Corinthians 3:16 - Know 1 Corinthians 6:9 - Know 1 Corinthians 6:19 - What Hebrews 8:10 - I will be

Cross-References

Genesis 7:16
And they that came, came male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him. And Jehovah shut him in.

Genesis 7:16
All these animals went into the boat in groups of two, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind Noah.

Genesis 7:16
Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

Genesis 7:16
And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

Genesis 7:16
Male and female of all flesh went in, as God had said, and the ark was shut by the Lord.

Genesis 7:16
And they entryng in, came male and female of all fleshe, as God had commaunded him: and God shut hym in rounde about.

Genesis 7:16
And they entring in, came male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.

Genesis 7:16
And they that entered, males and females of every living thing went in, as God had commanded him. Then the LORD shut him in.

Genesis 7:16
as God had commanded. Then the Lord shut the door behind Noah.

Genesis 7:16
And they that entered went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded Noe, and the Lord God shut the ark outside of him.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot,.... Not in marriage, but in carnal copulation, and unclean embraces, is one body with her

for two ("saith he", Adam, or Moses, or God, or the Scripture, or as R. Sol. Jarchi says, the Holy Spirit, Genesis 2:24)

shall be one flesh; what is originally said of copulation in lawful marriage, in which man and wife, legally coupled together, become one flesh, is applied to the unlawful copulation of a man with an harlot, by which act they also become one body, one flesh; and which is made use of by the apostle, to deter the members of Christ from the commission of this sin, which makes a member of Christ one body and flesh with an harlot, than which nothing is more monstrous and detestable. The apostle here directs to the true sense of the phrase in Genesis, "and they shall be one flesh"; that is, man and wife shall only have carnal knowledge of, and copulation with each other. Some Jewish k writers interpret this phrase, מצד הולד "on account of the foetus", which is formed by the means of them both, and which becomes "their one flesh": others l, thus as if they were, or because they are, like as if they were one flesh; but others m, in more agreement with the apostle, think that this has respect אל החבור, "to that conjunction", by which the fixing of the species is completed; and others n expressly thus, "they two shall be one flesh",

למקום ששניהם עושים בשר אחד, "that is, in the place where both of them make one flesh": which is equally done by unlawful copulation with an harlot, as with a man's own wife.

k Tzeror Hammor, fol. 6. 3. Jarchi in Gen. ii. 24. l Aben Ezra in ib. m R. Levi ben Gersom in ib. n Bereshit Rabba, sect. 18. fol. 15. 3. T. Hieros. Kiddushin, fol. 58. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Know ye not ... - This is the third argument against licentiousness. It is, that we as Christians are united to Christ (compare the notes at John 15:1 ff); and that it is abominable to take the members of Christ and subject them to pollution and sin. Christ was pure - wholly pure. We are professedly united to him. We are bound therefore to be pure, as he was. Shall that which is a part, as it were, of the pure and holy Saviour, be prostituted to impure and unholy embraces?

God forbid! - See the note at Romans 3:4. This expresses the deep abhorrence of the apostle at the thought. It needed not argument to show it. The whole world revolted at the idea; and language could scarcely express the abomination of the very thought.

Know ye not ... - This is designed to confirm and strengthen what he had just said.

He which is joined - Who is attached to; or who is connected with.

Is one body - That is, is to he regarded as one; is closely and intimately united. Similar expressions occur in Classic writers. See Grotius and Bloomfield.

For two, saith he ... - This Paul illustrates by a reference to the formation of the marriage connection in Ger. Romans 2:14. He cannot be understood as affirming that that passage had original reference to illicit connections; but be uses it for purposes of illustration. God had declared that the man and his wife became one; in a similar sense in unlawful connections the parties became one.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 6:16. He that is joined to a harlot is one body — In Sohar Genes., fol. 19, we have these remarkable words: Whosoever connects himself with another man's wife, does in effect renounce the holy blessed God, and the Church of the Israelites.