II. CORINTHIANS 6, 14. 167

10. In Lev. 19, 19, hepo^vyoq^ in the Septuagint, means an animal of a different kind. It is the union of incons^ruous, un- congenial elements or persons that is forbidden. With unbe- lievers y as the dative, dTrto-Tois, cannot depend on the preced- ing word, it is explained by resolving the concise phrase of the apostle into the full form, /a^ ytVecr.^e ercpo^ir/. koX oi^tcos 6/ai- ^vyowTcs d7rt(7Tot5. Winer, p. 252. By unbelievers, as above remarked, are to be understood the heathen, those who did not profess faith in the gospel. The exhortation is enforced by the following questions, which are designed to show the incongruity of such unions. For what fellowship hath right- eousness icith imrighteousness f This is stronger than asking, What fellowship have the righteous with the unrighteous ? because there are many bonds of sympathy between good and bad men, arising from the participation of a common nature, and from the fact that in this life, the good are not wholly good, nor the bad wholly bad. The apostle, therefore, con- trasts the characteristic and opposing principles by which the two classes are distinguished. By righteousness as opposed to unrighteousness, (StKaioo-wT; to di/o/xia,) is meant goodness, or moral excellence in general, conformity to the law of God as opposed to opposition to that law. It does not mean justi- fying righteousness, as though the contrast were, as some explain it, between the justilied and the not justified. The opposition intended is that which exists between the righteous and the wicked. ys\i2X fellowship^ (/xerox>?,) partnership. That is, what have they in common ? What bond of union or sym- pathy is there between them? And lohat communion (kol- vtovta), see Acts 2, 42. 1 Cor. 1, 9. 10, 16. Parties are said to be in communion when they are so united that what belongs to the one belongs to the other, or when what is true of the one is true of the other. Believers are in communion, or have fellowship one mth another, when they recognize each other as having a joint interest in the benefits of redemption, and are conscious that the mward experience of the one is that of the other. Incongruous elements cannot be thus united, and any attempt to combine them must destroy the character of one or the other. Ilath light loith darkness. Light is the common scriptural emblem of knowledge, holiness and blessed- ness. Hence Christians are said to be the children of light. Luke 16, 8. 1 Thess. 5, 5. Paul was sent "to turn men from darkness to light," Acts 26, 18. Rom. 13, 12. Eph. 5, 8. 9. Darkness^ on the otlier hand, is the emblem of error, sin and