2 John 1:5

καὶ νῦν ἐρωτῶ σε, κυρία, οὐχ ὡς ἐντολὴν γράφων σοι καινὴν ἀλλ᾽ ἣν εἴχομεν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους.

Translation:

⁵ And now I ask you, lady, not as writing to you a new commandment, but one which we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.

Commentary:

Who is the Lady?

There is some debate upon the identity of the lady which is the recipient of this letter. One reason for argument’s sake is because the personal pronoun the elder uses for her, σε, is singular. The reason this has the tendency to stir up confusion is because in other places throughout the New Testament the apostles would use plural pronouns [as is fitting] when referring to multiple individuals [cf. 1 John 2:7]. This is seen more clearly in Greek than in English.

One could argue that this lady is one singular church which is the mindset that I have thus far strongly upheld. However, I cannot completely dismiss the possibility of this being an actual woman that the elder is communicating with. Support for this position could be seen in the fact that 3 John is another example of the elder writing to a single individual [i.e. Gaius]. Nevertheless, I am still inclined to see this lady as a church since the elder chooses to use both singular and plural pronouns when referring to her throughout the whole letter and due to what is written in the very last verse of the book:

“The children of your elect sister greet you.”

What Commandment is the Elder Talking About?

In Matthew 22:36-40 we are told about a time when a lawyer asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was in the Law. What the elder is doing by bringing this up is reminding the lady [or church] that this is not a new command. We are to love God and also one another. That command had always been the emphasis of both the Law and the Prophets [i.e. the Old Testament].

Also, we must remember that the elder is directing our attention back to what he had just stated in verse four about walking in the truth. This is the point that the elder is making: that walking in the truth is displayed both in and throughout the way we love one another. But how do we practically love one another? That answer is found in verse six which I will comment on in the coming days. Stay tuned.

*Continue on with 2 John 1:6