Truth and love together
The letter holds the two notes of Johannine pastoral care in tension: love for the brethren and doctrinal fidelity. Each without the other distorts the gospel.
New Testament · Book 63 of 66
2 John
The elder writes to ‘the elect lady and her children’ — thirteen verses of truth and love, with a warning not to welcome those who bring another doctrine.
1
Chapter
13
Verses
Truth + love
Twin notes
“And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.”
- Author
- The apostle John (traditional), styling himself ‘the elder’ (v. 1)
- Date
- Late 1st century, c. AD 85–95
- Audience
- ‘The elect lady and her children’ (v. 1) — either a specific woman and her household or a particular local church
- Position
- New Testament · Book 63 of 66
Structure
Section pages
Each section is one focused part of 2 John — purpose, key movements, key verses, Christ-in-this-section. Roughly five minutes each.
Themes
Guarded hospitality
‘If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house’ (v. 10) — a culturally situated warning against the docetic teachers whose hospitality became endorsement.