Humanitext Reader

New Testament · 2 John §1.1-1.13

Exhortation to Love in Truth and Warning against Deceivers

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

The elder exhorts the elect lady and her children to love one another and walk in truth, warning them to watch out for and refuse hospitality to deceivers who deny Christ's coming in the flesh.

§1.1Ο ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΟΣ ἐκλεκτῇ κυρίᾳ καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις αὐτῆς, οὓς ἐγὼ ἀγαπῶ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ μόνος ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐγνωκότες τὴν ἀλήθειαν, §1.2διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν τὴν μένουσαν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ μεθʼ ἡμῶν ἔσται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα· §1.3ἔσται μεθʼ ἡμῶν χάρις ἔλεος εἰρήνη παρὰ θεοῦ πατρός, καὶ παρὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ πατρός, ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καὶ ἀγάπῃ.
The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I but also all who have known the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.
§1.4Ἐχάρην λίαν ὅτι εὕρηκα ἐκ τῶν τέκνων σου περιπατοῦντας ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, καθὼς ἐντολὴν ἐλάβομεν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός.
I rejoiced greatly that I found some of your children walking in truth, just as we received commandment from the Father.
§1.5καὶ νῦν ἐρωτῶ σε, κυρία, οὐχ ὡς ἐντολὴν γράφων σοι καινὴν ἀλλὰ ἣν εἴχαμεν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους.
And now I ask you, lady, not as writing you a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
§1.6καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγάπη, ἵνα περιπατῶμεν κατὰ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ· αὕτη ἡ ἐντολή ἐστιν, καθὼς ἠκούσατε ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῇ περιπατῆτε.
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.
§1.7ὅτι πολλοὶ πλάνοι ἐξῆλθαν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, οἱ μὴ ὁμολογοῦντες Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐρχόμενον ἐν σαρκί·
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ coming in the flesh.
οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ πλάνος καὶ ὁ ἀντίχριστος.
This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
§1.8βλέπετε ἑαυτούς, ἵνα μὴ ἀπολέσητε ἃ ἠργασάμεθα, ἀλλὰ μισθὸν πλήρη ἀπολάβητε.
Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward.
§1.9πᾶς ὁ προάγων καὶ μὴ μένων ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ τοῦ χριστοῦ θεὸν οὐκ ἔχει· ὁ μένων ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ, οὗτος καὶ τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει.
Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, this person has both the Father and the Son.
§1.10εἴ τις ἔρχεται πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ ταύτην τὴν διδαχὴν οὐ φέρει, μὴ λαμβάνετε αὐτὸν εἰς οἰκίαν καὶ χαίρειν αὐτῷ μὴ λέγετε· §1.11ὁ λέγων γὰρ αὐτῷ χαίρειν κοινωνεῖ τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ τοῖς πονηροῖς.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting; for the one who greets him takes part in his wicked works.
§1.12Πολλὰ ἔχων ὑμῖν γράφειν οὐκ ἐβουλήθην διὰ χάρτου καὶ μέλανος, ἀλλὰ ἐλπίζω γενέσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ στόμα πρὸς στόμα λαλῆσαι, ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ὑμῶν §1.13πεπληρωμένη ᾖ.
Although I have many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be complete.
Ἀσπάζεταί σε τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἀδελφῆς σου τῆς ἐκλεκτῆς.
The children of your elect sister greet you.

Notes

  1. 1.1ἐκλεκτῇ κυρίᾳ — Usually translated as "to the elect lady," taking them as an adjective and a common noun. Although it is possible to interpret either or both as proper nouns (e.g., "the lady Eclecta" or "the elect Cyria"), treating them as an honorific designation for a lady or a personification of a local church fits best with the context of her children and the collective greetings.
  2. 1.3ἔσται μεθʼ ἡμῶν — Future indicative third-person singular. While opening greetings in New Testament epistles typically use the optative or a wish ("may grace... be"), here a future indicative is used, expressing a confident assurance ("will be with us"). Note also the use of "with us" (μεθʼ ἡμῶν) which includes the sender, unlike the standard Pauline "with you."
  3. 1.4ἐκ τῶν τέκνων σου — A partitive expression using the preposition ἐκ (out of / from). It functions with an implied accusative object (such as τινάς, "some"), meaning "[some] of your children (walking in truth)." This suggests that either the author met only a portion of the children, or only some of them were behaving in this manner.
  4. 1.6ἵνα ἐν αὐτῇ περιπατῆτε — The feminine singular dative pronoun αὐτῇ refer to either "commandment" (ἐντολή) or "love" (ἀγάπη). Since it immediately follows "this is the commandment" (αὕτη ἡ ἐντολή ἐστιν), it grammatically refers to the commandment. However, because the commandment itself is to love one another, the semantic sense remains consistent either way.
  5. 1.8ἃ ἠργασάμεθα — First-person plural active, meaning "what we worked for." While some manuscripts read the second-person plural ἠργάσασθε ("what you worked for"), adopting the first-person plural ἠργασάμεθα emphasizes the warnings that the recipients should not lose the fruits of the labor that the apostles/teachers had established among them.

Cite this passage

New Testament, 2 John §1.1-1.13. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg024.humanitext-grc2:1.1-1.13

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.