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 1:10

1:10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting, ⁷ 

[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.

[1:10]  ⁷ sn Do not give him any greeting does not mean to insult the person. It means “do not greet the person as a fellow Christian” (which is impossible anyway since the opponents are not genuine believers in the author’s opinion).