The love of which I am speaking (2John, Traducere)

 "The love of which I am speaking"

 

2 John

1The Elder to the elect lady and her children. Truly I love you all, and not I alone, but also all who know the truth, 2for the sake of the truth which is continually in our hearts and will be with us forever. 3Grace, mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father, and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

4It is an intense joy to me to have found some of your children living true Christian lives, in obedience to the command which we have received from the Father. 5And now, dear lady, I pray you—writing to you, as I do, not a new command, but the one which we have had from the very beginning—let us love one another. 6The love of which I am speaking consists in our living in obedience to God's commands. God's command is that you should live in obedience to what you all heard from the very beginning.

7For many deceivers have gone out into the world—men who do not acknowledge Jesus as Christ who has come in flesh (1). Such a one is 'the deceiver' and 'the anti-Christ.' 8Keep guard over yourselves, so that you may not lose the results of your good deeds, but may receive back a full reward (2).

9No one has God, who instead of remaining true to the teaching of Christ (3), presses on in advance: but he who remains true to that teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone who comes to you does not bring this teaching, do not receive him under your roof nor bid him Farewell. 11He who bids him Farewell is a sharer in his evil deeds.

12I have a great deal to say to you all, but will not write it with paper and ink. Yet I hope to come to see you and speak face to face, so that your happiness may be complete.

13The children of your elect sister send greetings to you. Amen!

 

Differences of interpretation

Note 1: Greek “sarki” = flesh. In the first century some so called “Gnostic” leaders, reject the testimony of the apostles that Lord Jesus Christ “became flesh” (John 1:14). This verse applies to the first coming of the Lord, not to the second, as some have misunderstood.

Although some force the text with fulfillment in the future, it is formulated in the past, given the context of the letter and the historical framework, which confirms this reality. Those who reject that Christ was in flesh, were the so-called "Illusionists" (dokētaí) - of whom the encyclopedias and apologetics speak, being a heretical branch of first-century Christians (see 1 John 2: 18,19). Trying to explain Christology in dualistic terms, they rejected the birth and death of the Son of God as a human being, saying that matter is evil, being created by an evil god, called the Demiurge, so that he was not born as a man and did not die as man, but only united with a man, a meritorious rabbi named Jesus, whom he instructed / breathed what to say, and then left death on the cross. From their point of view, not the Son of God died on the cross, but only a man, Rabbi Jesus, the two being two distinct persons, who collaborated.

 

Note 2. Some ancient scribes understand and rendering "You watch over yourself, not to lose what we have worked, but to receive full reward." - assuming that here is a person in question - either the elder who was the leader of the assembly, or another important person - who was a collaborator of the apostle John, or a collaborator, maybe even a woman by the name of Kyria, with whom he planted that gathering (ekklēsia). However, if this hypothesis is not correct, but someone - a copyist - from antiquity has thus perceived the text in question, then we can understand the modification he made to the text, so that his hypothesis can be supported textual.

 

Note 3. A scribe wanted to emphasize the "teaching of Christ from here", that is, to strengthen the rejection of teaching another Christology that was not specific to that place, but as it is said, was brought from Syria.

 

Textual differences noticed (differences between manuscripts):

2 John 3 "Jesus" vs. "The Lord Jesus"

2 John 8 "watch over" versus "watch" ("you watch" Irenaeus, Against Heresies p.443)

2 John 8 "don't lose" vs. "let's not lose"

2 John 8 "receive" vs. "to receive"

2 John 8 "did you work" vs. "I worked"

2 John 9 "teaching" vs. "the teaching here"

2 John 12 "yours" vs. "our"

2 John 13 added "Amen" at the endSome manuscripts add post scriptum, "John's Second Epistle"