1:5 But now 3 I ask you, lady (not as if I were 4 writing a new commandment 5 to you, but the one 6 we have had from the beginning), 7 that 8 we love one another.
1:1 From 9 the elder, 10 to an elect lady 11 and her children, whom I love in truth 12 (and not I alone, but also all those 13 who know the truth),
1:12 Though I have many other 14 things to write to you, I do not want to do so with 15 paper and ink, 16 but I hope to come visit you and speak face to face, 17 so that our joy may be complete. 18
1 sn The things we have worked for probably refers to the pastoral and missionary efforts undertaken by the recipients of the letter in their own community and surrounding communities. This work would be “lost” if the opponents with their false teaching are allowed to proselytize unopposed.
2 sn The idea of a reward for Christians who serve faithfully is not common in the Johannine writings, but can be found in Rev 11:18 and 22:12.
3 tn The introductory καὶ νῦν (kai nun) has some adversative (contrastive) force: The addressees are already “living according to the truth” (v. 4) but in the face of the threat posed by the opponents, the author has to stress obedience all the more.
4 tn The words “if I were” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for clarity in English.
5 sn An allusion to John 13:34-35, 1 John 2:7-8.
6 tn “The one” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for clarity in English.
7 sn See 1 John 2:7.
8 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause indicates content.
5 tn The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
6 tn Or “presbyter.”
7 tn This phrase may refer to an individual or to a church (or the church at large). Some have suggested that the addressee is a Christian lady named “Electa,” but the same word in v. 13 is clearly an adjective, not a proper name. Others see the letter addressed to a Christian lady named “Kyria” (first proposed by Athanasius) or to an unnamed Christian lady. The internal evidence of 2 John clearly supports a collective reference, however. In v. 6 the addressee is mentioned using second person plural, and this is repeated in vv. 8, 10, and 12. Only in v. 13 does the singular reappear. The uses in vv. 1 and 13 are most likely collective. Some have seen a reference to the church at large, but v. 13, referring to “the children of your elect sister” is hard to understand if the universal church is in view. Thus the most probable explanation is that the “elect lady” is a particular local church at some distance from where the author is located.
8 tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ἀληθείᾳ (en alhqeia) in 2 John 1 is similar to 3 John 1, although it is not qualified there as it is here (see 3 John 1). This is not merely the equivalent of an adverb (“truly”), but is a theological statement affirming the orthodoxy of Gaius, to whom the letter is addressed. “Truth” is the author’s way of alluding to theological orthodoxy in the face of the challenge by the opponents (see 1 John 3:19).
9 sn All those who know the truth refers to true Christians who are holding fast to the apostolic Christology in the face of the secessionist opponents described in 1 John.
7 tn “Other” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity in English.
8 tn Grk “by means of.”
9 sn Presumably the author means he would rather say the additional things he wants to say to the recipients in person rather than by letter (with paper and ink).
10 tn Grk “speak mouth to mouth,” an idiom for which the English equivalent is “speak face to face.”
11 tn Grk “be fulfilled.”