3 John 1 (BHT-FTN)

“To: Gaius, My Dear Friend”

1 From: The Elder.

To: Gaius, my dear friend, whom I truly love.+

“My Dear Friend, You Are So Loyal and Faithful”

2 My dear friend, I pray that ˢyou are getting along well in every way,+ and that you are in good health and doing as well in body as ˢyou are in mind and will and heart.+ 3 For it brought me great joy when some brothers came and told me about your faithfulness to the truth,+ how you are in accordance with the truth living your life.+ 4 There is nothing else that gives me such+ great joy as this:+ Hearing that my children are conducting themselves according to the truth.+

5 My dear friend, you are so+ loyal and faithful in all you do to help and serve+ the brothers, even those who are traveling from other places, whom you don’t know.+ 6 They+ have spoken about your love in front of the assembly, and it will be very kind of you+ to help them with what is needed for the next part of their journey+ in a manner befitting God. 7 It is+ in service to the Name,+ after all, that they have left their homes,+ receiving no help from the Gentiles.+ 8 We, therefore, should provide help and assistance to people such as this, so that we may be with the truth fellow-workers.+

9 I wrote a letter to the assembly, but the man who loves to domineer the others,+ Diotrephes, refuses to listen+ to us. 10 That is the reason why, if I come, I will draw attention to his shameful+ conduct, bringing against us as he does such+ malicious accusations.+ And not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but continually stands in the way of those who do+ have it on their hearts to help+ them—even to the point+ of trying to have+ them thrown out+ of the assembly!

11 My dear friend, don’t ever follow an evil example, but conduct yourself like those who do what is good.+ If+ someone does what is good, it is+ God to whom he belongs; if+ someone’s deeds are evil, he is still void of God.+ 12 As for Demetrius, everyone speaks well of him, as does the truth itself. We, too, can ourselves+ vouch for him, and ˢyou know that our report is completely+ reliable.+

13 There is so+ much that I want to say+ to you, but it isn’t+ with pen and ink that I want to do so. 14 I hope to see ˢyou very+ soon, and we can talk, then,+ face to face. 15 Shalom to ˢyou.+ Your friends here+ send ˢyou greetings. Please+ greet each of our friends+ there+ by name.

+1:1Or whom I love in truth.+1:2περὶ πάντων ( peri pantōn) is in P2 (see BART Display), and therefore a comma has been used to give extra focus to this element.+1:2Lit I pray/wish you concerning all things to succeed/get along well and to be in health, as/to the degree that your soul succeeds/gets along well. ME (see L-N, 26.4; UBSHS [3 Jn], 176; translation and note at Mk 3:5). Cf NLT.+1:3Lit and testified to your truth. ME (see UBSHS [3 Jn], 177). Cf HCSB, NIV, NRSV, TEV.+1:3περιπατεῖς ( peripateis) is in a DFE position (see BART Display and LDGNT; note, though, that the BART Display is marked for focal ambiguity), and therefore inversion has been used to give this element extra focus and stress.+1:4μειζοτέραν τούτων χαράν ( meizoteran toutōn charan) is in a split focal position (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore an adverb and a dummy subject have been used to give extra focus to this element within the ME (see following note).+1:4Lit I do not have greater joy than these things. ME. Cf CJB, NCV, TEV.+1:4ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ( en tē alētheia) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore italics have been used to give this element extra focus and emphasis.+1:5πιστὸν ( piston) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore an adverb and repetition have been used to give extra focus to this element. Cf TEV.+1:5εἰς ( eis) here is interpreted as a marker of benefaction (see L-N, 90.41). This is reflected in the translation.+1:5Lit even this strangers. ME (see UBSHS [Rm], 240; UBSHS [3 Jn], 179). Cf NCV.+1:6Lit who.+1:6Cf various English translations at Php 4:14.+1:6Lit whom you will do well sending on their way. ME. In this context, προπέμπω ( propempō) means to help someone with the provisions needed for a trip (see BDAG, 873, sv 2). Cf NCV, NLT, TEV.+1:7ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος ( huper tou onomatos) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore a cleft-construction has been used to give extra focus to this element. γὰρ ( gar) has also been used as a spacer to the same end.+1:7Or for the sake of the Name, or on behalf of the Name.+1:7Drawing from the UBSHS in translation here (see UBSHS [3 Jn]), 180.+1:7Or pagans, or unbelievers.+1:8συνεργοὶ ( sunergoi) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and has therefore been placed in clause-final for extra focus and stress.+1:9Lit who loves to be leader/first of them. ME (see BDAG, 1058, sv φιλοπρωτεύω; UBSHS [3 Jn], 183).+1:9Lit will not welcome/accept. ME (see L-N, 36.14). Cf NCV.+1:10IT. The context makes it clear that the conduct is evil/dishonorable/shameful.+1:10λόγοις πονηροῖς ( logois ponērois) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore an adverb has been used to give extra focus to this element within the ME (see following note). The element has also been placed in clause-final to the same end.+1:10Lit talking nonsense/making empty charges against us with malicious words. ME (see ANLEX, 400, sv φλυαρέω; UBSHS [3 Jn], 184).+1:10τοὺς βουλομένους ( tous boulomenous) is in P2 (see BART Display), and therefore an auxiliary verb and a stop (a dash) have been used to give extra focus to this element.+1:10An ellipsis is used here in the Greek text, with the thing desired implied from the context.+1:10Lit and. Koine Greek often uses parataxis in places where some sort of hypotactic relationship is implied, and/or where English may prefer hypotaxis (see BDAG, 494, sv καί 1.b.β-ζ.; BDF, §471; Wallace, Grammar, 19; NET Bible Notes, Mk 10:28). Cf NET and NET Bible Notes at 2 Pt 2:1.+1:10The verb here is interpreted as functioning causatively and conatively. This is reflected in the translation. Cf CJB, TEV. For more on causative/ergative actives (in which the subject is the ultimate source behind the action), see Wallace, Grammar, 411.+1:10ἐκ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ( ek tēs ekklēsias) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore italics have been used to give this element extra focus and emphasis.+1:11Lit Don’t imitate the evil, but the good. ME (see UBSHS [3 Jn], 185). Cf NJB, NLT.+1:11A condition is implied in the participle here. For more on implicit conditions in Greek, see Wallace, Grammar, 687-9.+1:11ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ( ek tou theou) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore a cleft-construction has been used to give this element extra focus and stress.+1:11A condition is implied in the participle here. For more on implicit conditions in Greek, see Wallace, Grammar, 687-9.+1:11Lit he has not seen God. ME (see translation and note at 1 Jn 3:6).+1:12καὶ ἡμεῖς ( kai hēmeis) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore an intensive pronoun has been used to give extra focus to this element. καὶ has also been used as a spacer to the same end.+1:12ἀληθής ( alēthēs) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore an adverb has been used to give extra focus to this element.+1:12Or true, or faithful.+1:13πολλὰ ( polla) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore an adverb, a dummy subject, and subordination have been used to give extra focus to this element. Cf NLT at Jn 16:12.+1:13Lit write. Cf NLT, TEV.+1:13διὰ μέλανος καὶ καλάμου ( dia melanos kai kalamou) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore a cleft-construction has been used to give this element extra focus and stress.+1:14εὐθέως ( eutheōs) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore an adverb has been used to give extra focus to this element.+1:14στόμα πρὸς στόμα ( stoma pros stoma) is in P2 (see BART Display and LDGNT), and therefore a spacer (drawn from the context; cf L-N, 89.87) has been used to give extra focus to this element.+1:15Cf CJB.+1:15IT. Cf NCV, NET, NLT.+1:15The imperative here is an imperative of entreaty (ie, it is functioning as a polite request).+1:15Cf ISV, NCV.+1:15IT. Cf NCV, NET, NLT.