3 John 1:6

1:6 They ¹  have testified to your love before the church. ²  You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. ³ 

3 John 1:14

1:14 But I hope to see you right away, and we will speak face to face. ⁴  (1:15) Peace be with you. ⁵  The friends here ⁶  greet you. Greet the friends ⁷  there ⁸  by name.

3 John 1:1

Introduction and Thanksgiving

1:1 From ⁹  the elder, ¹⁰  to Gaius ¹¹  my dear brother, whom I love in truth. ¹² 

[1:6]  ¹ tn Grk “who” (a relative pronoun that continues the sentence begun in 3 John 5).

[1:6]  ² sn Which church does the author refer to here? The church where Gaius is, the church where the author is, a different local church where the “brothers” are, or the ‘universal’ church, the church at large? Since the suggestion in 3 John 3 is that the “brothers” have come and testified in the author’s church about what Gaius has done for them, it seems most likely that the “church” mentioned here is also the author’s church, where he is currently located. Other possibilities cannot be ruled out, but seem unnecessarily complicated.

[1:6]  ³ sn Now the author, after commending Gaius for his faithful service to the traveling missionaries in the past (see 3 John 5), now requests additional assistance at the present time (send them on their way in a manner worthy of God). Apparently the missionaries are on their way to visit the area where Gaius’ church is located a second time. They had been there once already and had returned with a good report of how Gaius had assisted them. It is entirely possible that they themselves carry with them the present letter as a letter of introduction. Along these lines it has been suggested that Demetrius (see 3 John 12) is one of these traveling missionaries, perhaps the leader of the delegation, and the author is formally introducing him to Gaius, since when he was there the last time he was a stranger (v. 5) but Gaius assisted him anyway.

[1:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “speak mouth to mouth,” an idiom for which the contemporary English equivalent is “speak face to face.”

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “peace to you.”

[1:14]  ⁶ tn The word “here” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[1:14]  ⁷ sn It is possible that the designation friends (φίλοι, filoi) indicates that these are personal friends of Gaius who send their greetings, but if this is the case it is somewhat surprising that their names are not mentioned, especially when the author instructs Gaius, Greet the friends there by name. More likely this is an alternative to “brothers” (ἀδελφοί, adelfoi) as an early Christian self-designation, especially within the Johannine community. It may have arisen in the Johannine community from Jesus’ teaching in John 15:13-15, “you are my friends if you do what I command you.”

[1:14]  ⁸ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[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 sn Little reliable information is available concerning the identity of the person to whom 3 John is addressed. Because the name Gaius was very common in the Roman Empire, it is highly unlikely that the person named here is to be identified with any of the others of the same name associated with Paul (1 Cor 1:14, Rom 16:23 [these two references are probably to the same person]; Acts 19:29, Acts 20:4). A 4th century tradition recorded in the Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.9 (ca. a.d. 370) states that John the Apostle ordained Gaius as bishop of Pergamum, but this is questionable because of the relatively late date. The only certain information about this individual must be obtained from 3 John itself, and there is not a great deal there. It is obvious that this person is well known to the author, but it is not so certain whether they had met personally or not, because the report of Gaius’ conduct toward the brothers is received secondhand by the author (v. 3). Nor can it be determined with certainty whether Gaius belonged to the same local church as Diotrephes (v. 9), or was himself the leader of another local congregation. It is clear that the author regarded him as orthodox (v. 3) and a valuable ally in the controversy with the secessionist opponents and their false Christology discussed at length in 1 John.

[1:1]  ¹⁰ tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ἀληθείᾳ (en alhqeia) in 3 John 1 is similar to 2 John 1, although it is not qualified here as it is there (see 2 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).