Summary: The elder writes to the chosen lady, who has known the truth from the beginning. He admonishes her to love and warns her of deceivers. He particularly tells her not to invite such people into her house. Read from the World English Bible.
Transcript for comments on 2 John:
Unlike most of the other letters in the New Testament, John doesn’t identify himself by name in the body of the letter. However, from the earliest times, these letters were attributed to him. They also distinctly match the style of the gospel of John.
He also doesn’t name the chosen lady, as it is addressed to. The whole tone of the letter is that she is a distinct person. In fact, some people think that possibly the word lady, that is translated lady, might be an actual name.
Now, some of her children are walking in truth, she’s not to receive certain people into her house, and he plans to speak to her face to face. But the most convincing comment that she is a certain person is that she has a sister.
The letter is also to her children, and apparently everyone who knows the truth loves her and her children. That is a pretty sweeping statement and it is the main reason that Chuck Missler wonders if this chosen lady is Mary, the mother of Jesus. And I’ll link to his article where he discusses this book.
It is true that in Matthew 22, in particular, in the parable of the wedding feast, those who accept the invitation are chosen to wear a wedding garment. Other places like 2 Thessalonians 2:13 are referencing that the Gentiles are also chosen to be invited to salvation, not just the Jews. So the greeting could be recognizing a fellow believer.
If it is Mary, it is noteworthy because she is treated as having the same standing and need for encouragement as other believers. If it is not, it is still of note that the elder wrote a personal letter of encouragement to a woman, that includes the concept that she manages who is allowed into her house. Even if this is because she is a widow, it shows some level of authority over who is allowed to teach or influence in the name of Jesus Christ.
But finally in this discussion of who the chosen lady might be, the date that is usually attributed to the letter, which is the late first century, or around 90 to 100 AD, would make Mary very old at this time. If you assume that at the youngest that she was about 14 when she first became pregnant with Jesus, then she would have been somewhere around 45 when he died on the cross and rose again. So that is 60 years earlier than this letter is supposed to have been written. So that would make her close to 100 years old. It seems unlikely that at that age she would be running her own household. But it’s not impossible.
(Additional comment: In John 19:25-27, we are told that from the time of the crucifixtion, John took Mary into his own home)
But getting back to verse 5, John, the elder, gives the same guidance about love as in 1 John. Although he uses the word beg or beseech, in the King James Version, the Young’s Literal Translation, and the American Standard Version, and in the World English Bible, here. In the English Standard Version and the Christian Standard Bible it is translated to the word ask.
The King James Dictionary on the blueletterbible.org website (I accidentally said “.com” in the recording) defines beseech as: to call upon or to appeal or to beg. This seems stronger than a casual ask, as how we often use that word in English today.
Strongs says that beseech means to desire or to long for. So the same sort of greater sense of intensity. However, I looked at the actual Greek word used, which you can do on the blueletterbible.org, and this Greek word for ask indicates a more equal standing or familiarity with the person being addressed.
After John say he asks or begs, then he briefly goes over what he goes over in more detail in the first letter of John.
The caution about deceivers is also like what is found in 1 John, but here with the added instruction not to let such people into her house. The implication is that this gives such a person validity or opportunity to speak, whether or not some of the church physically meet in groups there. Because her accepting such a person gives him a platform.
This got me to searching out other places in the Bible that talk about separating ourselves from others.
One category is shaking the dust off of your feet as you leave those who refuse to accept the words of the gospel. See Matthew 10, Mark 6, and Luke 9 that all give the incident where Jesus instructs his disciples that way. But this is also applied in Acts 13:51, where Paul and Barnabas in Antioch shake the dust off of their feet.
Then the second category is divisive people in the church, who are likely believers, who get into a lot of unnecessary arguments. See Titus 3:10 and Matthew 18:15-17. Also a version of this is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 5:5 where a brother is disciplined by separation because he continues in sin.
Then the third category is those people who spread false teaching about Jesus Christ, as mentioned here in the second letter of John. And this is also referenced in 2 Peter 2:1 and Romans 16:17.
These are hard things to deal with, the nitty-gritty of speaking the truth in love. We cannot compromise on the claims of who Jesus Christ is.
In the middle of warning about deceivers, he explains that allowing deceivers to influence could result in the loss of reward. Not salvation. Loss of what has been accomplished.
Since the context is in speaking the truth about the gospel, I’m getting the impression that the loss would be the loss of the effect of the gospel and the effect of living in true love.
Finally, adding chosen to sister at the end makes it seem more like it is referring to being a believer. And lastly (haha) the letter is evidence of general literacy. John was just a fisherman and then he talks about paper and ink being generally available.
Addendum 12/4/2022 from discussion during a time of fellowship:
- Some commentaries suggest that the elect lady is referring to one local church and the elect sister is referring to a sister church. This is partially based on the fact that when John uses the term my children throughout 1 John he is referring to those whom he has led to believe on the name of Jesus Christ, not actual physical offspring. This also offers a reason why individuals were not named. This idea is somewhat weakened by the fact that John always uses my children indicating a personal relationship. No where (else, if he does indeed do it here) does he speak of the children of a group of people. Also, there are examples of other letters preserved in the Bible being addressed to individuals by both him (3 John) and Paul (Philemon), so there is no reason to rule it out on that basis. Regardless of exactly who the letter was written to, it obviously contains truth that is applicable to all followers of Christ.
- The word transgress not only means to go against something, it also means to go beyond it. One definition even used the wording to progress beyond. So anyone who says there is something more or beyond the doctrines taught by the Biblical record is transgressing, trying to add to what was taught. This would effectively change the gospel, often under the guise that someone has had more enlightenment or that the disciples understood as best they could.
- The emphasis of not having someone in your home who is transgressing the doctrine of who Jesus Christ is is about someone who is actively teaching what is false. We are still supposed to love our enemies and we can interact in the world apart from church fellowship as long as nothing we do gives the appearance of approving those false doctrines, doctrines which can do damage in many ways. It also does not seem to mean there can’t be questions or discussions. People don’t need to be afraid that honest, humble search for Biblical truth will get them quickly excommunicated from fellowship.
(This addendum was written from what I remember being discussed. If I have left out anything would, those who were part of the discussion can please let me know.)
The Epistles of John by Chuck Missler
GOD HAS CHOSEN YOU FROM THE BEGINNING (2 THESSALONIANS 2:13)
Definitions of beseech and ask on blueletterbible.org dictionaries
Why I read from the World English Bible
I read from the 2016 edition, linked to by the image below:
There is also a 2019 edition:
