2 John #63

2 John is a brief personal letter warning against offering hospitality to traveling teachers who deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, echoing the concerns of 1 John in miniature.

Read 2 John in the King James Version →

Author and Date

The writer calls himself “the elder” (2 John 1:1) without giving a name. Tradition identifies him as John the apostle, and the vocabulary closely matches 1 John and the Gospel of John. Most scholars who accept this tradition date the three letters c. AD 85-95; some propose a different author, an elder in the Johannine circle, and the question is disputed.

Background and Audience

The letter is addressed to “the elect lady and her children” (verse 1), which is understood either as a local congregation or as an individual woman and her family; the closing greeting from “the children of thy elect sister” (verse 13) suggests a sister church. Traveling teachers relied on local hospitality, which made it a way for false teaching to spread.

Outline

• Verses 1-3: Greeting, rooted in truth, grace, mercy, and peace.
• Verses 4-6: Joy that some of her children walk in truth, and the reminder to love one another by keeping God’s commands.
• Verses 7-11: Warning against deceivers who deny Christ’s coming in the flesh, and instructions not to welcome or support them.
• Verses 12-13: Hope to visit in person, and greetings from the sister church.

Key Themes

Truth and love are held together: love is defined as walking according to God’s commandments, and truth is tied to teaching about Christ. The letter shows that Christian hospitality has limits when it would support the denial of the gospel itself. Interpreters note that verses 10-11 concern itinerant teachers in a particular setting and should be read within it.

Key Verses

• 2 John 1:3 — grace, mercy, and peace come from God the Father and Christ in truth and love
• 2 John 1:4 — the elder’s joy at finding believers walking in truth
• 2 John 1:5-6 — the old commandment to love, defined as walking in obedience
• 2 John 1:7 — many deceivers have gone out, denying that Jesus Christ came in the flesh
• 2 John 1:9 — abiding in the teaching of Christ means having both the Father and the Son
• 2 John 1:10-11 — no welcome for teachers who bring a different teaching

How It Fits the Bible

2 John is the second of the three Johannine letters, following 1 John and preceding 3 John. It condenses the earlier letter’s warning about the incarnation and its command to love, and it belongs with New Testament warnings about false teaching.