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3 John 1:13

in 3 John 1

I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with pen and ink.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

I had many things to write unto thee, but I am unwilling to write them to thee with ink and pen:

KJV

I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee:

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This verse in 3 John 1

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
I have many things to write,.... With regard to churches, and particular persons, and concerning hospitality to the poor brethren: but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee; suggesting he should take another method of communicating his mind to him, which he next mentions.

This site's exposition

with ink and pen

on 3 John 1:13-14

The close matches 2 John's nearly word for word, many things to write, but not with ink and pen, kalamos, the reed pen named this once in the New Testament, and the hope of speaking face to face. Peace be to thee is the Lord's own greeting bequeathed, and the friends salute thee, greet the friends by name closes the canon's most personal letter on the most personal note possible, hoi philoi, the friends, each one named. John 10's shepherd who calleth his own sheep by name stands audibly behind the last line.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on 3 John · Written before 550.

proposed

I had many things to write, but I do not want to write to you with ink and pen. However, I hope to see you soon, and we will speak in person. Peace be with you. Your friends greet you. Greet your friends by name. …

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

I had many things to write ... - This Epistle closes, as the second does, with a statement that he had many things to say, but that he preferred waiting until he should see him rather than put them on paper. Perhaps there were some things which he wished to say which he would not like to have exposed to the possibility of being seen by the public eye. But I will not with ink and pen ... - Notes at 2Jn 1:12.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

I had many things to write - That is, I have many things that I might write; but having the hope of seeing thee shortly, I will not commit them to paper. Ink and pen are here mentioned; paper and ink in the preceding epistle.

The words behind it

13 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 John 1:12

    I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come and speak with you face to face, so that…

    it leads to

    • John 16:12

      I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it.

    • 3 John 1:13–14

      I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with pen and ink.

    • John 17:13

      But now I am coming to You; and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them.

    • John 15:11

      I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

    • 1 John 1:4

      We write these things so that our joy may be complete.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 3 John

The Last Supper, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Last Supper, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
3 John: the study guide →Read 3 John 1 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament and Oecumenius, Commentary on 3 John.

Read on in 3 John 1 →