¹ tn Heb “beloved and dear.”

⁴ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive, i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

¹ tn Grk “dear friends, waiting for.” See note in v. 13 on “waiting for.”

² sn The owner’s decision to send his one dear son represents God sending Jesus.

¹ sn The owner’s decision to send his one dear son represents God sending Jesus.

² tn Or “those who devote themselves to service are faithful and dearly loved” (referring to slaves who serve them).

⁴ tn Or more clearly, “restored to spiritual health”; Heb “Why then has healing not come to my dear people?”

² tn Grk “the beloved.” The term ἠγαπημένῳ (ēgapēmenō) means “beloved,” but often bears connotations of “only beloved” in an exclusive sense. “His dearly loved Son” picks up this connotation.

³ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

³ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

³ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

¹ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

¹ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

¹ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

² sn God’s grace can be poured out on believers only because of what Christ has done for them. Hence, he bestows his grace on us because we are in his dearly loved Son.

⁴ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

¹ tn The author has already described Gaius as “dear friend” or “beloved” (τῷ ἀγαπητῷ, tō agapētō) in v. 1; he will address Gaius in the same way in vv. 5 and 11 (᾿Αγαπητέ, Agapēte). This is a term of endearment and personal warmth, much as it is when used by the author as an address in 1 John 2:7.

³ tc Instead of “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight,” one Greek ms and several Latin mss and church fathers (D it Ju [Cl] Meth Hil Aug) quote Ps 2:7 outright with “You are my Son; today I have fathered you.” But the weight of the ms testimony is against this reading.

² tc Most witnesses (D² Ψ 1241 1505 M) here read τῇ ἀγαπητῇ (tē agapētē, “beloved, dear”), a reading that appears to have been motivated by the masculine form of the same adjective in v. 1. Further, the earliest and best witnesses, along with a few others (א A D* F G I P 048 0278 33 81 104 1739 1881), have ἀδελφῇ (adelphē, “sister”). Thus on internal and external grounds, ἀδελφῇ is the strongly preferred reading.

¹ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular, see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical, having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27 and Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.