2 John 1:1

Contextual Overview

¹The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth-and not I alone, but also all who know the truth-¹ From the church leader. To a very special woman and her children. I truly love all of you, and so does everyone else who knows the truth. ¹ From: The Elder To: The chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth — and not only I but also all who have come to know the truth — ¹ The elder to [the] elect lady and her children, whom *I* love in truth, and not *I* only but also all who have known the truth, ¹ Greetings from the Elder. To the lady chosen by God and to her children. I truly love all of you. And I am not the only one. All those who know the truth love you in the same way. ¹ The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not I only, but also all they that know the truth; ¹ I, a ruler in the church, send word to the noble sister who is of God's selection, and to her children, for whom I have true love; and not only I, but all who have knowledge of what is true; ¹ The Elder to the elect Lady, and her children, whom I loue in the trueth: and not I onely, but also all that haue knowen the trueth, ¹ THE minister, to the mother church, and her children, those whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but also all those who have known the truth, ¹ The elder, to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not I only, but also all those who know the truth;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

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elder: 1 Peter 5:1, 3 John 1:1

the elect lady: 2 John 1:5, 2 John 1:13, Luke 1:3, Ephesians 1:4, Ephesians 1:5, 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Thessalonians 2:14, 1 Peter 1:2

whom: 2 John 1:2, 2 John 1:3, 1 Peter 1:22, 1 Peter 1:23, 1 John 3:18, 3 John 1:1

known: John 8:32, Galatians 2:5, Galatians 2:14, Galatians 3:1, Galatians 5:7, Colossians 1:5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Timothy 2:4, Hebrews 10:26, 1 John 2:21

Reciprocal: Proverbs 11:16 - gracious Isaiah 53:11 - by his Matthew 10:2 - John John 15:7 - my Acts 1:13 - Peter Acts 14:23 - elders Acts 20:17 - the elders Romans 16:13 - chosen 1 Corinthians 1:26 - not many mighty 1 Timothy 5:1 - an elder Titus 3:15 - love

Cross-References

Genesis 1:4
God looked at the light and saw that it was good. He separated light from darkness

Genesis 1:4
God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:4
And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided between the light and the darkness.

Genesis 1:4
He saw the light, and he knew that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:4
And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:4
And God, looking on the light, saw that it was good: and God made a division between the light and the dark,

Genesis 1:4
And God sawe the lyght that it was good: and God deuided the lyght from the darknes.

Genesis 1:4
And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:4
God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness,

Genesis 1:4
And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The elder unto the elect lady and her children,.... By the "elder" is meant the writer of this epistle, the Apostle John, who so calls himself either on account of his age, he being now near an hundred years of age, having outlived all the apostles: or on account of his office, being a bishop or overseer, not only of the church at Ephesus, but of all the Asiatic churches, which is the same with an elder; nor is this incompatible with his being an apostle; see 1 Peter 5:1, the elect lady is the person he writes unto; by whom is designed not the church of Christ, since such a way of speaking is unusual; and besides, he speaks of coming to see her face to face, and of the children of her elect sister: but some particular person, some rich, as well as gracious woman of John's acquaintance; and these words, "elect lady", are neither of them proper names of the person: some think that the word "Kyria", rendered "lady", was the name of the person, as "Domina" with the Romans, and answers to the Hebrew word "Martha"; for as מר, "Mar", signifies lord, so מרתא, "Martha, lady"; and then the inscription runs, "to the choice" or "excellent Martha"; and the Syriac and Arabic versions read, "to the elect Kyria": and others think that the word rendered elect is a proper name, and that this person's name was "Electa", as "Electus" d is a man's name; and then it must read thus, "to the lady Electa"; but her sister also is so called, and it can hardly be thought that two sisters should be both of a name; neither of them are proper names, but characters and titles of respect and honour: she is called a "lady", because she was a person of distinction and substance, which shows that God sometimes calls by his grace some that are rich and noble; and also that titles of respect and honour, where flattery is avoided, may be lawfully given to persons of dignity and wealth; so Nazianzen e calls his own mother by the same title; and it was usual to call women by this name from fourteen years of age f: and this person also is said to be "elect"; either because she was a choice, famous, and excellent person, not only for her birth, nobility, and riches, but for her virtue, grace, and good works; or because she was chosen unto eternal life and salvation; and which the apostle might know without a special and divine revelation, by the Gospel coming with power to her; by the grace that was wrought in her; by the faith of God's elect, which she appeared to have, seeing it worked by love; and which may be, and ought to be concluded in a judgment of charity, of everyone that professes faith in Christ, and walks according to it; and this also makes it appear that election is of particular persons, and not of nations, communities, and churches, as such; nor is it unusual to salute single persons under this character; see Romans 16:13, this epistle is inscribed not only to this lady, but also to "her children"; who were not infants, but grown up, and had made a profession of the truth, and walked in it, 2 John 1:4, and both the mother and the children the apostle represents as the objects of his love:

whom I love in the truth; either as being in the truth and faith of the Gospel; for though all men are to be loved as men, and to be done well to, yet they that are of the household of faith, or are in the faith, are in and especial manner to be loved and respected; see Galatians 6:10; or the sense is, that the apostle loved this lady and her children sincerely and heartily, without dissimulation; not in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth, 1 John 3:18:

and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; either the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the truth; not with a notional knowledge, but with the knowledge of approbation and affection; with a fiducial and appropriating one: or the Gospel, the word of truth; not with a speculative, but with a spiritual and experimental knowledge of it: and this is not to be understood of every individual person then living, which had such a knowledge of the truth; for it cannot be reasonably thought that every individual person should know this lady and her children; but of all such persons who had any knowledge of them; for such who are born again by the word of truth, love not only him that begot them, but all those who are begotten of him: this shows in what sense the word "all" is sometimes taken.

d Herodian. Hist. l. 1. c. 51, 52, 53, 54. e Epist. ad Basil. 4. p. 769. vol. 1. f Epictet. Enchirid. c. 62.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The elder - See the introduction, Section 1, (2,d).

Unto the elect lady - The elect or chosen Kyria. See the introduction, Section 2. He addresses her as one chosen of God to salvation, in the use of a term often applied to Christians in the New Testament.

And her children - The word here rendered “children” (τέκνοις teknois) would include in itself both sons and daughters, but since the apostle immediately uses a masculine pronoun, τοις tois it would seem more probable that sons only were intended. At all events, the use of such a pronoun proves that some at least of her children were sons. Of their number and character we have no information, except that (the notes at 2 John 1:4) a part of them were Christians.

Whom I love in the truth - See the notes, John 3:18. The meaning here is, that he “truly” or “sincerely” loved them. The introduction of the article the here, which is not in the original, (ἐν ἀληθίᾳ en alēthia) somewhat obscures the sense, as if the meaning were that he loved them so far as they embraced the truth. The meaning however is, that he was sincerely attached to them. The word “whom” here, (οὓς hous,) embraces both the mother and her children, though the pronoun is in the masculine gender, in accordance with the usage of the Greek language. No mention is made of her husband, and it may thence be inferred that she was a widow. Had he been living, though he might not have been a Christian, it is to be presumed that some allusion would have been made to him as well as to the children, especially since there is reason to believe that only some of her children were pious. See the notes, 2 John 1:4.

And not I only, but also all they that have known the truth - That is, all those Christians who had had an opportunity of knowing them, were sincerely attached to them. It would seem, from a subsequent part of the Epistle 2 John 1:10, that this female was of a hospitable character, and was accustomed to entertain at her house the professed friends of religion, especially religious teachers, and it is probable that she was the more extensively known from this fact. The commendation of the apostle here shows that it is possible that a family shall be extensively known as one of order, peace, and religion, so that all who know it or hear of it shall regard it with interest, respect, and love.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF JOHN.

Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.

-Year of the Constantinopolitan era of the world, or that used by the Byzantine historians, and other eastern writers, 5593.

-Year of the Alexandrian era of the world, 5587.

-Year of the Antiochian era of the world, 5577.

-Year of the world, according to Archbishop Usher, 4089.

-Year of the world, according to Eusebius, in his Chronicon, 4311.

-Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, or that in common use, 3845.

-Year of the Greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4444.

-Year from the Flood, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 2433.

-Year of the Cali yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3187.

-Year of the era of Iphitus, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 1025.

-Year of the era of Nabonassar, king of Babylon, 834.

-Year of the CCXVIth Olympiad, 1.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Fabius Pictor, 832.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Frontinus, 836.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to the Fasti Capitolini, 837.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Varro, which was that most generally used, 838.

-Year of the era of the Seleucidae, 397.

-Year of the Caesarean era of Antioch, 133.

-Year of the Julian era, 130.

-Year of the Spanish era, 123.

-Year from the birth of Jesus Christ, according to Archbishop Usher, 89.

-Year of the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 85.

-Year of Artabanus IV., king of the Parthians, 4.

-Year of the Dionysian period, or Easter Cycle, 86.

-Year of the Grecian Cycle of nineteen years, or Common Golden Number, 10; or the year before the fourth embolismic.

-Year of the Jewish Cycle of nineteen years, 7; or the year before the third embolismic.

-Year of the Solar Cycle, 10.

-Dominical Letter, it being the first year after the Bissextile, or Leap Year, B.

-Day of the Jewish Passover, the twenty-seventh of March, which happened in this year on the Jewish Sabbath.

-Easter Sunday, the third of April.

-Epact, or age of the moon on the 22d of March, (the day of the earliest Easter Sunday possible,) 9.

-Epact, according to the present mode of computation, or the moon's age on New Year's day, or the Calends of January, 17.

-Monthly Epacts, or age of the moon on the Calends of each month respectively, (beginning with January,) 17, 19, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 24, 25, 27, 27.

-Number of Direction, or the number of days from the twenty-first of March to the Jewish Passover, 6.

-Year of the Emperor Flavius Domitianus Caesar, the last of those usually styled the Twelve Caesars, 5.

-Roman Consuls, Domitianus Augustus Caesar, the eleventh time, and T. Aurelius Fulvus or Fulvius.

-The years in which Domitian had been consul before were, A. D. 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80, 82, 83, and 84.

It should be observed that the date of this epistle is very uncertain. The above is only upon the supposition that it was written about A. D. 85. See the preface.

II JOHN.

The apostle's address to a Christian matron and her children,

1-3.

He rejoices to find that certain of her family had received,

and continued to adorn, the truth; and he exhorts them to

continue to love one another according to the commandment of

Christ, 4-6,

And particularly cautions them against deceivers, and to so

watch, that they might not lose the benefit of what they had

received, 7, 8.

The necessity of abiding in the doctrine of Christ, 9.

He cautions them against receiving, or in any way forwarding,

those who did not bring the true doctrine of Christ, 10, 11.

Excuses himself from writing more largely, and purposes to pay

her and family a visit shortly, 12, 13.

NOTES ON II. JOHN.

Verse 2 John 1:1. The elder — John the apostle, who was now a very old man, generally supposed to be about ninety, and therefore he uses the term ο πρεσβυτερος, presbyter or elder, not as the name of an office, but as designating his advanced age. He is allowed to have been the oldest of all the apostles, and to have been the only one who died a natural death.

This title led some of the ancients to attribute this epistle to a person called John the Presbyter, a member of the Church at Ephesus; and not to John the apostle. But this is a groundless supposition.

The elect lady — εκλεκτη κυρια. As κυρια, kuria, may be the feminine of κυριος, kurios, lord, therefore it may signify lady; and so several, both ancients and moderns, have understood it. But others have considered it the proper name of a woman, Kyria; and that this is a very ancient opinion is evident from the Peshito Syriac, the oldest version we have, which uses it as a proper name [Syriac] koureea, as does also the Arabic [Arabic] kooreea.

Some have thought that Eclecta was the name of this matron, from the word εκλεκτη, which we translate elect, and which here signifies the same as excellent, eminent, honourable, or the like. Others think that a particular Church is intended, which some suppose to be the Church at Jerusalem, and that the elect sister, 2 John 1:13, means the Church at Ephesus; but these are conjectures which appear to me to have no good ground. I am satisfied that no metaphor is here intended; that the epistle was sent to some eminent Christian matron, not far from Ephesus, who was probably deaconess of the Church, who, it is likely, had a Church at her house, or at whose house the apostles and travelling evangelists frequently preached, and were entertained. This will appear more probable in the course of the notes.

Whom I love in the truth — Whom I love as the Christian religion requires us to love one another.

And not I only — She was well known in the Churches; many had witnessed or heard of her fidelity, and partook of her hospitality; so that she had a good report of all Christians in that quarter.