1 Corinthians 6:16

What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

1 Corinthians 6:16, King James Version

1 Corinthians 6:16 in other translations

BSB	Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”
WEB	Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.”
ASV	Or know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body? for, The twain, saith he, shall become one flesh.
YLT	have ye not known that he who is joined to the harlot is one body? ‘for they shall be--saith He--the two for one flesh.'
DARBY	Do ye not know that he that is joined to the harlot is one body? for the two, he says, shall be one flesh.
BBE	Or do you not see that he who is joined to a loose woman is one body with her? for God has said, The two of them will become one flesh.
Webster	What? know ye not that he who is joined to a harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

What does 1 Corinthians 6:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

16. Justification of his having called fornicators "members of an harlot" (1Co 6:15). joined--by carnal intercourse; literally, "cemented to": cleaving to. one body--with her. saith he--God speaking by Adam (Ge 2:24; Mt 19:5). "He which made them at the beginning said," &c. (Ep 5:31).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 16.

1Cor 6:15

(b) "for two" Gen 2:24, Mt 19:5

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Some among the Corinthians seem to have been ready to say, All things are lawful for me. This dangerous conceit St. Paul opposes. There is a liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, in which we must stand fast. But surely a Christian would never put himself into the power of any bodily appetite. The body is for the Lord; is to be an instrument of righteousness to holiness, therefore is never to be made an…

Read the full comment on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 →

1 Corinthians 6:16 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ἢēOrG2228

οὐκouksurelyG3756

οἴδατεoidateyou know

ὅτιhotithatG3754

ὁhowhoG3588

κολλώμενοςkollōmenosis being joinedG2853

τῇtēato theG3588

πόρνῃpornēprostituteG4204

ἓνhenoneG1520

σῶμάsōmabodyG4983

ἐστιν;estinis?G1510

ἔσονταιesontaiWill becomeG1510

γάρgarforG1063

φησινphēsinit saysG5346

οἱhoitheG3588

δύοduotwoG1417

εἰςeisintoG1519

σάρκαsarkafleshG4561

μίαν·mianone;G1520

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Corinthians 6:16

Genesis 2:24
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Ephesians 5:31
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Mark 10:8
And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
Matthew 19:5-6
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Matthew 21:31-32
Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Hebrews 11:31
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
Genesis 34:31
And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
Judges 16:1
Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
Genesis 38:24
And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
Genesis 38:15
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

an harlot.
Ge 34:31; 38:15,24; Jud 16:1; Mt 21:31,32; Heb 11:31
for.
Ge 2:24; Mt 19:5,6; Mr 10:8; Eph 5:31

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

1 Corinthians 6:15
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
1 Corinthians 6:16
What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
1 Corinthians 6:17
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

Read all of 1 Corinthians 6

1 Corinthians 6:16 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	¿O no sabéis que el que se junta con una ramera, es hecho con ella un cuerpo? porque serán, dice, los dos en una carne.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Ne savez-vous pas que celui qui est uni à une prostituée est un seul corps avec elle? « Car les deux, dit-il, seront une seule chair »;
German Elberfelder 1871	Oder wisset ihr nicht, daß, wer der Hure anhängt, ein Leib mit ihr ist? "Denn es werden", spricht er, "die zwei ein Fleisch sein."
Latin Clementine Vulgate	An nescitis quoniam qui adhæret meretrici, unum corpus efficitur? Erunt enim (inquit) duo in carne una.