2 John 1:2

διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν τὴν μένουσαν ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἔσται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

Translation:

² on account of the truth which remains in us and will be with us into the age.

Commentary:

διὰ, when followed by a word in the accusative case, tends to have the meaning of either “on account of” or “because of”. τὴν ἀλήθειαν refers to “the truth” as was previously discussed in verse one. Again, this truth that John is speaking of is not the subject or the action of the sentence, but the reason for the action – the logic behind the verb. Thus, verse two begins with saying “on account of the truth” or “because of the truth”.

τὴν μένουσαν is the first of two verbs presented within this verse. It is an accusative singular feminine present active participle meaning “to remain”. Since the verb is preceded by the article “τὴν”, we know that it is acting adjectivally. Therefore, the verb is aided by the addition of the key word “which”. Thus, the translation reads, “…which remains….”

Where, or with whom, does this truth currently remain? The answer is, “ἐν ἡμῖν”, which, when translated, means, “in us”. This truth is in us [i.e. believers in Christ]. We are the partakers of the truth, and it is this truth, which unites us in love for one another. However, this truth is not just a current possession that we have right now. John continues his thought by stating, “καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἔσται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.” What the apostle is saying is that “…this truth will be with us forever.”

Two interesting things happened to “μεθ᾽”. First, since the next word begins with a vowel, it dropped its own final vowel in order to make room for a smoother glide into the following pronoun “ἡμῶν”. The apostrophe at the end shows the reader that an elision has taken place. Second, the “τ” on the end transformed into a “θ” since the following pronoun’s frontal vowel contains a rough breathing mark. The reason this happens in the Greek text is to help with pronunciation.

Both of the pronouns: “ἡμῖν” and “ἡμῶν” are written in the 1^st person plural form indicating personal ownership [i.e. this is for us or this is ours]. ἔσται is the second and final verb in the verse. It is written as the 3^rd person singular future middle indicative of the verb “εἰμί”, which means, “I am”.

“εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα” literally reads, “into the age” or “into eternity”. However, a better way of translating this phrase for our context would simply be to sum it up in the word “forever”. This would meet both the desire to remain faithful to the text and also to clearly state the intended meaning of the passage. The truth that we share in Christ and the expression of love which naturally flows from it will govern our lives for the rest of eternity. In the same way that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39), the same is equally foundational to the Christian faith that nothing will separate us from the truth of God.

*Continue on with 2 John 1:3