1–3 OPENING GREETINGS

v. 1 Unlike 1 John, this letter does begin with the usual A to B greeting formula, and the
author does identify himself, but not as clearly as we, the modern readers, might like. He
introduces himself simply as the elder. His self-references in the rest of the letter are
entirely in the first person (unlike 1 John, where the author uses the first person plural in
some places to associate himself with other eyewitnesses of the incarnate Christ). The term
‘elder’ may not denote an official position in the church, for where office is indicated in the
NT a plural form (‘elders’, presbyteroi) is always used, not the singular (‘elder’, presbyteros),
as here. However, the fact that two such brief letters by the elder (2 John and 3 John) have
been incorporated in the NT canon is strong evidence of the importance of the author and
possibly indicates that he was ‘the principal authority’ in his circle, as Strecker suggests.2
The term ‘elder’ itself does not necessarily indicate a person of advanced years. However,
the paternal attitude the elder adopts towards his readers in this letter indicates that this
was probably the case in this instance. See the Introduction, pp. 13–14, 36–37, for a
discussion of the identity of ‘the elder’.
The letter is addressed to the chosen lady (eklektē kyria) and her children. The
expression eklektē kyria has been variously interpreted. Brown lists five possibilities: (i) ‘the
lady Electa’, referring to a certain Babylonian woman called ‘Electa’; (ii) ‘the noble Kyria’;
(iii) a term of courteous address to an individual woman: ‘dear lady’; (iv) a term denoting
the church at large; (v) part of a larger expression, ‘the elect lady and her children’, which
is a metaphorical way of addressing a local church and its members.3 This last alternative is
the choice of most modern interpreters, and is supported by four considerations: (i) While
the addressees are referred to as ‘the chosen lady and her children’ in verse 1 and the elder
says ‘it has given me great joy to find some of your [singular] children walking in the truth’
in verse 4, in the rest of the letter (vv. 6, 8, 10, 12) he addresses all his readers in the second
person plural (‘you’), suggesting that ‘the chosen lady and her children’ is another way of
addressing all members of a local church. (ii) In the OT and the Apocrypha Israel is referred
to as a wife, bride, mother, and daughter,4 indicating that there would have been some
precedent for a Christian community to be addressed in similar terms. (iii) In 1 Pet 5:13 the

2
Georg Strecker, The Johannine Letters (Hermeneia, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1996) 219.
3
Raymond E. Brown, The Epistles of John (AB 30, New York: Doubleday, 1982) 652–54.
4
Hans-Josef Klauck, ‘Kyria ekklēsia in Bauers Wörterbuch und die Exegese des zweiten
Johannesbriefes’, ZNW 81 (1990) 135–38, points out that BAG is misleading when it cites
Hellenistic sources (which include references to kyria ekklēsia) in support of an interpretation of
eklektē kyria as lady congregation. The references cited refer to an Athenian assembly and provide
no support for a metaphorical interpretation of the kyria ekklēsia. However, Klauck agrees with
most modern commentators, nevertheless, that eklektē kyria does refer to the congregation, and
finds support for this in the many references in the OT and Apocrypha to Israel as wife, bride,
mother, daughter, etc.
church in Rome is described as ‘she who is in Babylon’, indicating that NT Christians could
speak of a Christian community as a woman. (iv) The letter closes with the words ‘the
children of your chosen sister send their greetings’ (v. 13), which appears to be a way of
conveying the greetings of the elder’s Christian community to his readers. If this is the case,
then the letter opens and closes with references to Christian communities: the one to which
this letter is sent (‘the chosen lady and her children’), and the one to which the elder belongs
(‘the children of your chosen sister’).
The elder describes members of the Christian community to whom he writes as those
whom I love in the truth (en alētheia). The expression en alētheia can be construed in two
ways: (i) ‘in the truth’ (as in the NIV); or (ii) ‘truly’. In the first case, the elder would be saying
that he loves the readers, who, like him, are ‘in the truth’, that is, those who continue
faithful to the truth concerning Jesus Christ as it was heard at the beginning. In the second
case the elder would be simply saying that he ‘truly’ loves his readers. The first option
probably reflects what the elder intended, for he adds that it is not I only, but also all who
know the truth who love the readers. Taken together, what he is emphasising is the
community of love that exists among those who ‘know the truth’; those who are ‘in the
truth’. The affirmation in the opening greeting of the letter that his readers are ‘in the truth’
would serve to silence doubts that may have arisen in their minds as a result of the teaching
of the secessionists.
v. 2 Here the elder explains that this community of love exists among those who know
the truth: because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever. On the surface,
the text appears to indicate that the truth of the message has been internalised by believers
so that it ‘lives in’ them and this is what creates the community of love. The text may also
be alluding to Christ, as the embodiment of truth (cf. John 14:6), who lives in believers and
who will be with them ‘forever’.5 In this case, the community of love is created not simply
by believers internalising the truth of the gospel, but also by the indwelling of Christ, who
is the embodiment of the gospel message, in each of them. Either way it boils down to much
the same thing, for one cannot know the truth without knowing the person of Christ who
first proclaimed it and also embodied it. If the elder is alluding to the presence of Christ
within his readers and assuring them of Christ’s presence with them forever, this would
function as a further encouragement to people unsettled by the secessionists’ teaching.
v. 3 The opening greeting concludes with the words, Grace, mercy and peace from God
the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. Most
NT letters include an expression of the writer’s desire that the readers experience the grace
and peace that come from God (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; Phil 1:2; Col
1:2; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:2; 1 Tim 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2; Titus 1:4; Phlm 3; 1 Pet 1:2; 2 Pet 1:2;
Jude 2; Rev 1:4). What is found here in 2 John differs from the norm in several ways: (i) Here
it is not so much a wish as an affirmation that grace, mercy, and peace will be with the

NIV New International Version

5
In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus promises his disciples that he will not leave them ‘orphaned’ but that
he will come to them and abide with them forever, something which was to be effected by the
coming of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14:18–20).
writer and readers. (ii) Emphasis is placed on the fact that these blessings will be with them
by placing the words ‘will be with us’ (estai meth’ hēmōn) at the beginning of the sentence
in the original language. (iii) The affirmation relates to the experience of both writer and
readers (‘with us’), not just readers. (iv) To the name Jesus Christ is added the description,
‘the Father’s Son’. (v) Grace, mercy and peace, the text says, will be with them ‘in truth and
love’. Each of these variations from the norm reflects something of the elder’s concerns as
he writes this brief letter. He reassures his readers by emphasising that God’s grace, mercy,
and peace will be with them, despite what the secessionists might say. He includes himself
with his readers as a recipient of these blessings to reinforce the sense of their community
of love. He emphasises that these blessings come from God the Father and Jesus Christ, ‘the
Father’s Son’, reflecting the truth about Jesus which he defends against the secessionists’
teaching. He adds that these blessings from God are experienced ‘in truth and love’, a rather
imprecise expression, possibly meaning that the blessings are experienced by those who
continue to hold to the truth and practise love among themselves; 6 something he believes
he and his readers do, but the secessionists do not.1

6
Rudolf Schnackenburg, The Johannine Epistles (Tunbridge Wells, Kent: Burns & Oates, 1992) 281,
suggests that ‘truth and love’ here are to be understood as ‘the effect the divine blessing has upon
the believers’.
1
Colin G. Kruse, The letters of John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI;
Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos, 2000), 203–206.