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Introduction to 2 John

OCCASION AND PURPOSE

The two brief epistles of 2 and 3 John are the shortest New Testament books. Each contains fewer than 300 words in the Greek text and could have fit on a single papyrus sheet (cf. 2 John 12; 3 John 13). They closely approximate the conventional letter form of the contemporary Greco-Roman world.

But despite their brevity, both epistles are significant in that they stress the importance and boundaries of loving in the truth. Second John addresses the same basic historical events as 1 John: false teachers were assaulting the congregations under John’s care (v. 7). Having left the fellowship of believers (1 John 2:19), the heretics were traveling from church to church, taking advantage of Christian hospitality as they spread their venomous lies. The lady to whom John addressed this letter may have inadvertently or unwisely shown them hospitality. John cautioned her (as a model for all believers) against participating in false teachers’ evil deeds by showing them hospitality.

AUTHOR, DATE AND PLACE OF WRITING

This letter’s close affinities with 1 John (e.g., v. 5 and 1 John 2:7; 3:11; v. 6 and 1 John 5:3; v. 7 and 1 John 2:18-26; v. 9 and 1 John 2:23; v. 12 and 1 John 1:4) make it clear that it also was written by John the apostle (see the discussion under The Author of 1 John in the Introduction to 1 John). Second John was most likely composed at Ephesus at about the same time or shortly after 1 John (c. A. D. 90-95).

DESTINATION AND READERS

Many commentators believe the phrase “the chosen lady” (v. 1) refers metaphorically to a local church. The more natural understanding in the context, however, is to take it as a reference to an actual woman and her children, whom John knew personally. The letter’s obvious similarity to 3 John, which clearly (v. 1) was written to an individual, favors the view that 2 John also was written to an individual. Further, it would be unnatural to sustain such a figure of speech throughout the whole letter. Such an elaborate metaphor is also not in keeping with the letter’s simplicity and the tenderness of its tone. Finally, the change from the singular form of the personal pronoun “you” in v. 5 to the plural form in v. 12 applies more naturally to a woman and her children than to a church and its members.

OUTLINE

  1. The Basis of Christian Hospitality (1-3)

  2. The Behavior of Christian Hospitality (4-6)

  3. The Bounds of Christian Hospitality (7-11)

  4. The Blessings of Christian Hospitality (12-13)