3 John 1:1

Notes on Third Epistle of John.

1. The elder Note on 2 John 1:1.

Well beloved An epithet thrice used in the epistle, as elect is twice in the Second Epistle. This epithet in the Greek comes after the name, and strikingly reads, Gaius the well beloved, as if the epithet were a regular title.

Gaius Or Caius, a very common name among the Romans. There was among the followers of St. Paul a Caius of Macedonia, (Acts 19:29;) a Caius of Derbe, (Acts 20:4;) and a Caius of Corinth, at whose house St. Paul probably wrote his epistle to the Romans. This Gaius is some thirty-five or forty years later, and in Asia Minor, being in visiting distance from John, 3 John 1:14. He cannot, therefore, be probably identified with either of the other three. Wordsworth reminds us that “a Gaius was appointed by St. John to be bishop of Pergamos.” Constitut. Apost. 7:46.

In the truth As the article is wanting in the Greek, some interpreters understand the phrase, whom I truly love. This makes good correspondence with beloved. Thou art the well beloved, and I love thee in truth. But John often omits the article where the real meaning is the gospel truth, as in 3 John 1:3.