2 John 1 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~AD 85-95, late in the first century, during the reign of the emperor Domitian, after the generation that knew Jesus personally had largely died
Location
Written most likely from Ephesus on the western coast of what is now Turkey, addressed to a nearby house church in the Roman province of Asia
Audience
A single small congregation, addressed as the chosen lady and her children, most likely a symbolic way of naming a house church and its members rather than one woman and her family
Situation
In a letter short enough to fit on one sheet of papyrus, the writer, who calls himself simply the elder, urges the congregation to keep loving one another and warns them about traveling teachers who deny that Jesus came in a real human body. He tells them not to welcome such teachers into the house or wish them well.
Key Background
Ancient letters were limited by the size of a standard papyrus sheet, which is why this one closes by saying the writer would rather speak face to face than use more paper and ink. Early Christianity spread through hospitality, since travelers depended on believers to house and provision them, so refusing a guest was not personal rudeness but a decision about who the community would fund and endorse. The teachers in view appear to be early forerunners of the belief that spirit is pure and physical matter corrupt, which led some to insist that a divine Christ could not truly have taken on flesh.
From the — to the lady and her children, who I genuinely and not just me but everyone who knows the
We love you because of the truth that in us and will be with us forever.
and will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus, the Son of the Father — the — rooted in truth and love.
It made me so happy to find some of your children out the exactly as the Father told us to.
And now I'm asking you, dear lady — and this isn't some new but the one we've had from the very start — that we each other.
And this is what love means: that we to what he told us. This is the command — exactly as you heard it from the beginning — live it out.
I say this because a lot of have gone out into the world — people who won't acknowledge that Jesus, the as a being. Anyone like that is the deceiver and the of the
Watch yourselves carefully so you don't lose what we've worked for — make sure you receive your full
Anyone who wanders off and doesn't stay in what the One taught — that person doesn't have God. But whoever in his has both the Father and the Son.
If someone comes to you and doesn't bring this teaching, don't them and don't even give them a
Because anyone who greets them becomes a in their
I have so much more to tell you, but I'd rather not do it with and ink. Instead, I'm hoping to come see you and talk to — so our can be complete.
The children of your send their love.