Paul cites the LXX version of Isaiah 52:11 to make his point. The final line comes from Ezekiel 20:34/41 where God promises to gather His people to Him when they leave the pagan world of idolatry (Archer and Chirichigno, OT Quotations in the NT, 118-119). Paul draws a parallel between Christians in his day and Israel during the days of Isaiah and Ezekiel. The prophets picture a time when God restores His people after their years of living under the idolatrous systems of Assyria and Babylon. God proclaims the good news of God's salvation. "How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news ... and says "Your God reigns" (Isaiah 52:7). In that day, they were to get out of the pagan world of idolatry without touching anything unclean because they were the carriers of God's holy vessels.
The Corinthian Christians lived under the Roman patronage system which pressured ambitious believers to build alliances with influential idolaters in order to climb the social ladder of success (Chow, "Patronage in Roman Corinth," in Paul and Empire, edited by Horsley, 104-125). A businessman would align himself with a wealthy patron who controlled the contracts in his world. The wealthy patron was in turn aligned with a patron god and the temple devoted to that god. Maintaining membership in that temple cult was the key to success in the political and economic world of Corinth - the way to power and prestige. A businessman showed his loyalty by attending ceremonies related to birth, death, and marriage in the temple of the patron god of his business.
"Temples were the restaurants of antiquity" (Witherington, Conflict & Community in Corinth, 188). The temples had dining rooms where the wealthy and powerful held their major social events. There were two stages to these feasts. The first stage was the "symposium" which combined a banquet with political speeches. Party loyalty was combined with pagan idolatry. The second stage was the "convivia," essentially a Roman drinking party (Witherington, 191ff). Participation in such events opened the door to success in Corinth, and many Christians were compromising their faith by pledging loyalty to the patron gods of politics and money in order to achieve affluence and influence.
Come out and be separated from such unholy alliances even if it costs your career! The verb "be separate" (ἀφορίσθητε) means to exclude or excommunicate one's self, but in the passive (as here) it can be translated "be separate" (BDAG, 127). We are not even to touch (ἅπτεσθε) anything unclean. The verb can mean to eat anything unclean (BDAG, 102) which fits the context of a feast. The word "unclean" (ἀκαθάρτου) refers to anything connected to idolatry because the idols pollute whatever they touch (BDAG, 29). As Christians, we must not enter into any relationship which endangers our loyalty to Christ. The relationships may seem benign at first but later create a dependency that draws us away from our Lord.
God promises to welcome us when we avoid such alliances. The "and" (κἀγὼ) can be translated "and I in turn" or "and I for my part" (BDAG, 386). Our part is to obey Him. His part is to welcome us. The verb is future tense (εἰσδέξομαι) and means to take in, receive or welcome as a guest (BDAG, 232). We must draw sharp lines of loyalty between the world's idols and our Lord. It may cost us to be true to Christ. We may face, financial, social, and political repercussions, but we must avoid any dependency on a party or person that supersedes Christ. When we maintain clear lines of loyalty to Christ, we will enjoy His warm welcome in life.
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