2 John 1:12

Conclusion

1:12 Though I have many other ¹  things to write to you, I do not want to do so with ²  paper and ink, ³  but I hope to come visit you and speak face to face, ⁴  so that our joy may be complete. ⁵ 

2 John 1:3

1:3 Grace, mercy, and ⁶  peace will be with us from God the Father and from ⁷  Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

2 John 1:13

1:13 The children of your elect sister greet you. ⁸ 

[1:12]  ¹ tn “Other” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity in English.

[1:12]  ² tn Grk “by means of.”

[1:12]  ³ 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).

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “speak mouth to mouth,” an idiom for which the English equivalent is “speak face to face.”

[1:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “be fulfilled.”

[1:3]  ⁶ tn “And” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for smoothness in English.

[1:3]  ⁷ 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.

[1:13]  ⁸ tc The Byzantine text has ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the conclusion of this letter. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, the particle is lacking in excellent, early, and diffuse witnesses (א A B P Ψ 33 81 323 1739 1881 al co), rendering its omission the strongly preferred reading.