Verse 1
JOHN'S THIRD LETTER
The elder unto Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth.
The elder ... For another comment on the apostle's use of this title, see under 2 John 1:1:1.
Gaius ... It is impossible to make any positive identification of this man with any of the four other persons of the same name mentioned in the New Testament. See in introduction, above. Nothing whatever is known of this man, except that which may be supposed or surmised from what is written in this letter.
The beloved ... This expression is personal and intimate, contrasting sharply with the far more general "whom I love in the truth" used in connection with it; and, significantly, it was the general expression only that John used in Second John, indicating that the 2nd epistle was actually addressed to a church, and not to an individual. "Whom I love in the truth" is a broad greeting, much like, "in Christian love," and carries nothing of the personal intensity conveyed by "the beloved."
The truth ... Of this expression, Plummer noted:
We have to notice the characteristic repetition of the word "truth," which occurs four times in the first four verses ... "To walk in the truth" is nothing less than to follow in the footsteps of the Lord.[7]
It is this and other typical words which require the conclusion that the apostle John is indeed the author of all these letters ascribed to him.
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