3 John 1:3-4

1:3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, just as you are living according to the truth. ¹ 

1:4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear ²  that my children are living according to the truth. ³ 

[1:3]  ¹ 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, 2 John 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 3 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]  ² tn Grk “that I hear”; the ἵνα (Jina) clause indicates content. This is more smoothly expressed as an English infinitive.

[1:4]  ³ tn Grk “walking in (the) truth” (see the note on the phrase “living according to the truth” in 3 John 3).