3 John 1:13-14

THE CONCLUSION

3 John 1:13-14

13I had many things to write,29 but I will30 not with ink and pen write31 unto thee:32 14But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face.33 Peace be to thee. Our friends34 salute thee. Greet the friends35 by name.36

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Close of the Epistle. 3 John 1:13-14.

3 John 1:13. I should have much to write to thee.—Πολλὰ, emphatic, placed first. The Imperfect εἶχον without ἄν, is idiomatic Greek and must be rendered in the Subjunctive in German. See Winer p. 283 sqq.; [The objection to the rendering of E. V. “I had many things to write” is that the Apostle does not advert to the past but to the present. So Huther 2d ed. “I should have much to write” brings out this shade of thought in English.—M.].

But I will not write unto thee with ink and pen.—Cf. 2 John 1:12.

3 John 1:14. But I hope, soon to see thee.—The contrast to writing, for which the Apostle has no further inclination (Düsterdieck), is oral intercourse which he hopes soon to realize.

And we shall speak mouth to mouth.—The Future λαλήσομεν denotes the assurance of hope. The object is πολλὰ 3 John 1:13, and the particulars indicated in the Epistle.

Greetings 3 John 1:14.

3 John 1:14. Peace be to thee.—The greeting of the Apostle to the beloved Gaius. As at the beginning of the Epistle the simple χαίρειν is not sufficient for the fulness of the Christian greeting, so at the close the common ἔῤῥωσο (Acts 23:30; Acts 15:29) is displaced by richer and deeper forms. There the wish of peace is most appropriate (Galatians 6:16; Ephesians 6:23; 1Pe 5:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:16; Romans 15:33 and al.), because peace may be regarded as the sum-total of the Divine gifts of grace in Christ (Luke 2:4; John 14:27) as N. de Lyra correctly explains it: “Pax interna conscientiæ, pax fraterna amicitiæ, pax superna gloriæ” (Düsterdieck). [Alford: “Remember our Lord’s legacy, John 14:27; and His greeting after the resurrection, εἰρήνη ὑμῖν, John 20:19; John 20:26.”].—Joy moreover is health of the soul.

The friends salute thee.—Bengel: “Rara in N. T. appellatio, absorpta majori fraternitatis. Errant philosophi, qui putant amicitiam non instrui a fide.” John 15:15. The expression suits a purely private Epistle, written on purely personal relations (Lücke). Bede: “Amicis gratiam pacis mandat et salutis et per hæc Diotrephen ceterosque veritatis inimicos a salute et pace vestra monstrat extraneos.” Among the ἀδελφοί, which are generally saluted (Php 4:21; 1 Corinthians 16:20; Ephesians 6:23), John, according to 2 John 1:9-11, probably included Diotrephes, because he acted only as an ambitiosus, but does not seem to have been wrong and erred in the doctrine of Christ’s incarnation; but he and his party were not φίλοι to the Apostle, like Gaius and Demetrius. Cf. John 11:11; Acts 27:3.

Greet the friends by name.—Κατ’ ὄνομα ὀνομαστί (John 10:3); Bengel: “Non secus ac si nomina eorum præscripta essent.” The greetings, and especially those by name, have so deep an import and so great a value, that Paul fills a whole chapter of his Epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:1-24) with them, and often adds a series.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Starke:—It is not advisable to confide every thing to the pen; many things may be better and more effectively stated orally than in writing.—It is not a small benefit, if the children of God may visit each other and delight in friendly conversation.—We are in the company of the holy men of God whenever we hear or read their writings.

Heubner:—We see, how even letters of friendship are hallowed by faith. Everything should have the impress of our evangelical frame of mind. A mind wholly penetrated by the spirit of Christianity will not deny itself even in unimportant letters of friendship. Examples may be seen in Sailer’s Christian letters of every century, in the letters of Luther, Tersteegen and John Newton.—The children of peace receive peace (Luke 10:5-6).

Besser:—John greets the friends by name; he carries them all in his heart, and every one in particular. This is presbyter-fidelity.—

[Wordsworth:—The good pastor imitates that Good Shepherd, who “calleth His sheep by name.” John 10:3.—M.].

Footnotes: 

3 John 1:13; 3 John 1:13. A. B. C. Cod. Sin. read: γράψαισοι.

3 John 1:13; 3 John 1:13. B. C. Cod. Sin.: οὐ θέλω. The reading οὐκ ἐβουλήθην in A. originated from 2 John 1:12, and like οὐκ ἤθελον formed alter it.

3 John 1:13; 3 John 1:13. B. C. Cod. Sin.: σοιγράφειν; A: γράφεινσοι.

3 John 1:13; 3 John 1:13. [German: “I should have much to write unto thee, but I will not write unto thee with ink and pen.”—M.]

3 John 1:14; 3 John 1:14. [German: “But I hope soon to see thee, and we shall speak mouth to mouth.”—M.]

3 John 1:14; 3 John 1:14. B. C. G. K. Cod. Sin. read: φίλοι; A. ἀδελφοί. [German: “The friends salute thee.”—M.]

3 John 1:14; 3 John 1:14. Several unimportant Codd. read ἀδελφούς instead of φίλους.

3 John 1:14; 3 John 1:14. G. inserts ἀμήν.—A. B. Cod. Sin. have the subscription: Ἰωάννου γ. The usual additions occur here and there, but are not sufficiently authenticated.