2 John 1:5

Warning Against False Teachers

1:5 But now ¹  I ask you, lady (not as if I were ²  writing a new commandment ³  to you, but the one ⁴  we have had from the beginning), ⁵  that ⁶  we love one another.

2 John 1:1

Introduction and Thanksgiving

1:1 From ⁷  the elder, ⁸  to an elect lady ⁹  and her children, whom I love in truth ¹⁰  (and not I alone, but also all those ¹¹  who know the truth),

2 John 1:1

Introduction and Thanksgiving

1:1 From ¹²  the elder, ¹³  to an elect lady ¹⁴  and her children, whom I love in truth ¹⁵  (and not I alone, but also all those ¹⁶  who know the truth),

[1:5]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The words “if I were” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for clarity in English.

[1:5]  ³ sn An allusion to John 13:34-35, 1 John 2:7-8.

[1:5]  ⁴ tn “The one” is not in the Greek text. It is supplied for clarity in English.

[1:5]  ⁵ sn See 1 John 2:7.

[1:5]  ⁶ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause indicates content.

[1:1]  ⁷ tn The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Or “presbyter.”

[1:1]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.

[1:1]  ¹² tn The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹³ tn Or “presbyter.”

[1:1]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.