NT Text: 2 Corinthians 6:17
OT Source(s):
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Analogy + Redemptive-Historical Progression
Significance: Paul alludes to Isaiah 52:11 in 2 Corinthians 6:17a — "come out from them and be separate... touch no unclean thing" (exelthate ek mesou autōn kai aphoristhēte... kai akathartou mē haptesthe). Isaiah's original command addressed the Levitical priests carrying the temple vessels during the return from Babylonian exile: they must maintain ritual purity because they bear the LORD's sacred objects. Paul applies this new-exodus language to the church's separation from idolatry and unbelief. The command to "touch no unclean thing" (akathartou) draws on the priestly purity language of Leviticus while functioning in Isaiah's context as a call to leave Babylon. Paul's application transfers the principle from geographic/ritual separation to moral/spiritual holiness: the church as God's temple (v. 16) must maintain the same purity as the priests who bore the temple vessels. This reflects the new covenant reality that all believers are a "kingdom of priests" (Exod 19:6; 1 Pet 2:9).
NT Use Pattern: Assimilated — Second element of the five-text catena at 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 — the call to come out from among them.