Later text
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.”
Intertextuality Pair
2 Corinthians 6:16 → Ezekiel 37:27
Allusion
Earlier text
My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Significance
Paul's composite quotation in 2 Corinthians 6:16 — "I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people" — draws primarily from Ezekiel 37:27, which envisions the eschatological reunion of Israel and Judah under a Davidic shepherd with God's sanctuary (miqdash) permanently in their midst. This covenant formula ("I will be their God, and they will be My people") runs from Genesis 17:7-8 through Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:11-12, Jeremiah 31:33, and Ezekiel 37:27 to its consummation in Revelation 21:3. While the existing IP connects 2 Cor 6:16-18 to Leviticus 26:11-12 (the source for "walk among"), Ezekiel 37:27 specifically contributes the "dwelling place" (mishkan) language and its eschatological new-covenant context. Paul applies this to the church as God's temple (naos theou), where the prophesied permanent divine indwelling is realized through the Spirit. The text thus marks the inaugurated fulfillment of Ezekiel's vision of restored Israel.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Allusion
- Connection Method(s)
- Promise-Fulfillment + Longitudinal Theme
Related Anchor-Text Networks
Hermeneutical Notes
NT Use Pattern: Assimilated — Tributary element of the 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 catena — Ezekiel's new-covenant dwelling-place promise.
Linked Mentions 3