2 John
About this date: Dates are broad scholarly estimates of composition or final editing, not dates of the events narrated. Traditional attributions and scholarly assessments can differ.
The writer calls himself 'the elder' and addresses the 'chosen lady and her children,' usually read as a community image. The short letter binds truth and love together while warning against teachers who deny Jesus Christ's coming in flesh. Its hospitality warning concerns that concrete dispute.
Key points
- The address is figurative and should not be turned into a confidently identified individual recipient.
- Walking in truth and loving one another belong together in the first half.
- The travel and hospitality warning reflects a specific controversy over teaching.
Scripture
- 2 John 1:1-3 — The elder addresses the chosen lady and her children in truth and love.
- 2 John 1:4-6 — The old commandment to love is restated as a way of life.
- 2 John 1:7-13 — The warning concerns denial of Christ's coming in flesh and the reception of teachers.
Primary sources
2 John 1:7 states:
The warning identifies the disputed confession as Jesus Christ's coming in the flesh, giving the later hospitality instruction its immediate setting.
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don’t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist.
Passage context and translation
The warning concerns denial of Christ's coming in flesh and the reception of teachers.
Before the excerpt
This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
After the excerpt
Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward.