2 John 1:1-7

Introduction and Thanksgiving

1:1 From ¹  the elder, ²  to an elect lady ³  and her children, whom I love in truth ⁴  (and not I alone, but also all those ⁵  who know the truth), 1:2 because of the truth ⁶  that resides in us and will be with us forever. 1:3 Grace, mercy, and ⁷  peace will be with us from God the Father and from ⁸  Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

1:4 I rejoiced greatly because I have found some ⁹  of your children living according to the truth, ¹⁰  just as the Father commanded us. ¹¹ 

Warning Against False Teachers

1:5 But now ¹²  I ask you, lady (not as if I were ¹³  writing a new commandment ¹⁴  to you, but the one ¹⁵  we have had from the beginning), ¹⁶  that ¹⁷  we love one another. 1:6 (Now this is love: that we walk ¹⁸  according to his commandments.) This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning; thus ¹⁹  you should walk in it. ²⁰  1:7 For ²¹  many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as ²²  Christ ²³  coming in the flesh. ²⁴  This person is the deceiver and the antichrist! ²⁵ 

[1:1]  ¹ tn The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ² tn Or “presbyter.”

[1:1]  ³ 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.

[1:1]  ⁴ 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).

[1:1]  ⁵ 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.

[1:2]  ⁶ tc The prepositional phrase that begins v. 2, διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν (dia thn alhqeian, “because of the truth”), is missing in a number of significant mss, among them Ψ 614 1241 1505 1739 al. However, it looks to be a simple case of homoioteleuton, for v. 1 ends with τὴν ἀλήθειαν. For some of these mss it could be an intentional omission, for the sense of the passage is largely the same without the prepositional phrase (the following adjectival participle, in this case, would simply attach itself to the previous τὴν ἀλήθειαν). The phrase could thus have been viewed as redundant and for this reason expunged from the text.

[1:3]  ⁷ tn “And” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for smoothness in English.

[1:3]  ⁸ tc Most witnesses, including some early and important ones (א P 33 Ï sy), have κυρίου (kuriou, “Lord”) before ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Ihsou Cristou, “Jesus Christ”), but this is a typical scribal addition, motivated by pietistic and liturgical concerns. Further, early and excellent mss (A B Ψ 048 0232 81 323 1739 al) lack κυρίου. Thus, both internally and externally, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.

[1:4]  ⁹ tn “Some” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied because the prepositional phrase beginning with ἐκ (ek) has partitive force. The partitive force of the prepositional phrase here has been taken by some interpreters to mean that the author has found some of the elect lady’s children who are living according to the truth and some who are not. This is grammatically possible, but the author has merely stated that he knows of some Christians in the church addressed who are “walking in the truth.” He does not know for certain that all of them are, and concern over this is probably part of the motivation for writing the letter.

[1:4]  ¹⁰ sn Living according to the truth (Grk “walking in [the] truth”). The use of the Greek verb περιπατέω (peripatew) to refer to conduct or lifestyle is common in the NT (see 1 John 1:6, 3 John 3-4, as well as numerous times in Paul. Here the phrase refers to conduct that results when a person has “truth” residing within, and possibly alludes to the indwelling Spirit of Truth (see 2 John 2). In the specific context of 2 John the phrase refers to true Christians who are holding fast to an apostolic Christology in the face of the secessionist opponents’ challenge to orthodoxy.

[1:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “just as we received commandment from the Father.” The idiom “we received commandment from the Father” means the Father gave (a) commandment to them (the author plus the recipients).

[1:5]  ¹² 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.

[1:5]  ¹³ tn The words “if I were” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for clarity in English.

[1:5]  ¹⁴ sn An allusion to John 13:34-35, 1 John 2:7-8.

[1:5]  ¹⁵ tn “The one” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for clarity in English.

[1:5]  ¹⁶ sn See 1 John 2:7.

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause indicates content.

[1:6]  ¹⁸ tn Or “that we live.”

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause indicates result, parallel to John 13:34 where the final ἵνα clause also indicates result.

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn Or “should live in obedience to it.”

[1:7]  ²¹ tn Technically this ὅτι (Joti) clause is subordinate to the verb περιπατῆτε (peripathte) at the end of v. 6, giving the reason why the readers should walk in the commandment to love one another. But BDF §456.1 notes that subordination “is often very loose” in such cases and can be translated “for.” Thus the ὅτι assumes something of an inferential sense, drawing an inference based on what has preceded.

[1:7]  ²² tn “As” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for clarity in English, since (like in the same confession in 1 John 4:2) ᾿Ιησοῦν (Ihsoun) should be understood as object and Χριστόν (Criston) as complement of an object-complement double accusative construction.

[1:7]  ²³ tn Or “Messiah.”

[1:7]  ²⁴ tn This is the same confession as in 1 John 4:2 except the perfect participle used there is replaced by a present participle (ἐρχόμενον, ercomenon) here. It is not clear why the author changed from a perfect participle in 1 John 4:2 to a present participle here. The perfect participle suggests a reference to the incarnation (past). The present participle could suggest a reference to the (future) second advent, but based on the similarity to 1 John 4:2 it is probably best to take it as referring to the incarnation.

[1:7]  ²⁵ sn The statement This person is the Deceiver and the Antichrist! is a metaphor (metonymy). The author does not mean that each individual is to be identified as the Antichrist. The opponents are compared to the Deceiver (Satan) and the Antichrist since they are accomplishing Satan’s work and preparing the way for the Antichrist.