2 John 1:1-2

Introduction and Thanksgiving

1:1 From 1  the elder, 2  to an elect lady 3  and her children, whom I love in truth 4  (and not I alone, but also all those 5  who know the truth), 1:2 because of the truth 6  that resides in us and will be with us forever.

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

2 tn Or “presbyter.”

sn The author’s self-designation, the elder, is in keeping with the reticence of the author of the Gospel of John to identify himself. This is the same self-designation used by the author of 3 John.

3 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.

sn 2 John is being written to warn a “sister” church some distance away, referred to as an elect lady, of the missionary efforts of the secessionist false teachers (discussed in 1 John) and the dangers of welcoming them whenever they arrive.

4 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).

5 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.

6 tc The prepositional phrase that begins v. 2, διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν (dia thn alhqeian, “because of the truth”), is missing in a number of significant mss, among them Ψ 614 1241 1505 1739 al. However, it looks to be a simple case of homoioteleuton, for v. 1 ends with τὴν ἀλήθειαν. For some of these mss it could be an intentional omission, for the sense of the passage is largely the same without the prepositional phrase (the following adjectival participle, in this case, would simply attach itself to the previous τὴν ἀλήθειαν). The phrase could thus have been viewed as redundant and for this reason expunged from the text.

sn While truth certainly has a doctrinal aspect in this context, the following phrase that resides in us and will be with us forever suggests more than doctrine is involved. A close parallel is John 14:16-17 where Jesus promised his disciples that the Spirit (Paraclete) would be with them forever: “He remains with you and will be in you.” The “truth” the author speaks of here is a manifestation of the Spirit of Truth who is permanently with the believer.