THE
PULPIT COMMENTARY. J
EDITF.ll BY THE
VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DEAN OF GLOUCESTBB;
AND BY THE
REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
I I I. JOHN. @xposftion BY REV. A. PLUMMER, M.A., D.D., .IU.STEII OF UNIVBIISITY COLLIIO.BI, DUii.BA II,
1Qomfletfcs BY REV. C. CLEMANCE, B.A., D.D.
~omflirs b11 1-Tntious ~utf)ors. REV. W. JONES. REV. R. FINLAYSON, D.A.
NEW EDITION.
FUNK & W.AGNALLS 001\IPANY LONDON AND NEW YORK 1907 THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN. EXPOSITION, FROM very early times some have held the surely never have said that) thou ma.yest opinion that the Second Epistle is addressed prosper and be in health, even a.a thy soul to a community, which is spoken of allegori- prospereth, The a.postlo wishes that his earthly career may be as bright as hie cally as" the elect lady," her "elect sister" spiritual career is ; may he have a sound being a sister community; but o.t no time body for his sound mind, and may his does there seem to have been any doubt fortunes be sound e.lso. The Greek for that the Third Epistle is nddressed to an "prosper" (ebolioiia-Ba,) means exactly to individual. It certainly would be an extra- "have e. good career." vagant hypothesis that Gaius symbolizes a Vers. 3, 4.-Por I rejoiced greatly. We must not lose sight of the "for," which is Church, full of meaning. The elder has juat ex- Vera. 1-4.-INTRODUOT!ON. .Address and pressed a. wish that the external well- occasion. Respecting the address and the being of Gaius may equal the well-being title of" the elder," see note on 2 John 1. of his soul; e.nd he is quite sure of the fatter, for brethren keep coming nnd bearing Ver. 1.-To Gains the beloved (ratq, -rcj wituess to the fact. The good report of ci-ya1r11-ri), This is e.dditiono.l reason for Ge.ins is still greater joy to the apostle than thinking the.t Kvpia in the Second Epistle is the evil report of DiotrAphes is e. sorrow to not e. proper name; if it were we should him. The language in condemnation of probably have the same formula as we have Diotrephes, severe as it is, is not so strong here, Kvplq. -rp lK/1.EKTP, The name Gaius as this in thnnkful delight respecting Gains : occurs elsewhere in the New'restament four Greater joy have I none the.n (to hear o!) . times (Acts xix. 29; xx. 4: Rom. xvi. 23; 1 these things. "Greater" is ma.<le doubly Cor. i. 14); e.s it was as common in the Roman emphatic, first by position at the beginning I Empire as John Smith is among ourselves, of the sentence, and secondly by the double ~ it would be rash to infer tha.t the Gai us comparative (},«(o-r,p<lY). /: addressed here is the so.me as e.ny of those \i mentioned elsewhere. In all probnbility Vers. 5-12.-2. MAIN D1nsroY. Ei:hor- there nre at least four persons of this name tati011. Having thus stated the circnm• in the New Testament. In the opening of stances which have led to his writing (comp. this Epistle also we have to remark the oharaoteristic repetition of the word" truth," 2 John 4), the elder begins the ma.in portion which occurs four times in the first four of the letter, which consists of three sections: verses. Deeds, in which Ga.ins and Deme- the hospitality of Ge.ins, and its ve.lue (vere. trius were rich, not words, of whioh Di_otre- 5-8); the arrogance of Diotrephes, and its phes was so prodigal, are what win the results (vers. 9, 10); the moral (vers. ll, 12). approbation and love of the apostle. The thing which he hates is unreality ; the The transition to this central portion of the obj eci of his special adoration is " the Epistle is marked by a repetition of the truth;" "to walk in the truth" is nothing loving address. In e.11 three ce.ses (vers. 2, less than to follow in the footsteps of the 5, 11), the introductory" beloved" indicates Lord. the beginning of a. section. Ver. 2.-Beloved, I pray that in all reepeota (not "above all things "-St. John would Vor, 5.-It is by no means easy to translate m. lOBlll, B 2 THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN. [1-14.