Who? 2 John 1.

Backfilling of the blog is ongoing, but here's something for today's reading.

If you're reading in the NIV, you might stop before finishing the first verse, wondering, who's the elder? Who's the chosen lady? If you're reading 2 John online using the NET Bible (where most of the Bible quotes on the blog are from), there are hyperlinked footnotes for each of these two people. These footnotes are quite a window into the translation process, as well as an incredible resource for the reader. As long as the reader remembers they're not inspired. When I use the footnotes I do my best to make sure I re-read the verse in context both with the explanation in mind, and without it in mind (difficult to do if you don't do it before looking at the footnote). But the NET Bible has another resource that makes that easier to do, and that's to "listen to the chapter." While no substitute for reading out loud yourself, I found it useful today to hear the reader's expression of the letter, after reading the footnotes.

The NIV starts this letter with the words: "The elder, To the chosen lady ...". So, who is the elder? And who is the chosen lady? I'm going to put a link here for the NET Bible footnotes. The translators have a "study note" that deals with the issue of who the author, the elder, is. It's John. Well, of course, the title of the letter is 2 John. I don't want to get too arcane here, but the titling of the various books of the Bible are later additions to the manuscripts. The reasons for calling this book the second letter of John include: historical attribution, similarity to the other two letters and the gospel identified as written by John, and later copies of the letter where this title has been added. The footnote in the NET Bible talks about John's own reticence to identify himself in the gospel of John, and here in the letter, "the elder" replaces his calling himself "beloved disciple" in the gospel.

I like that. The impression I have when reading "beloved disciple" is of a young guy. In the letter, at the last stage of his life, John calls himself "the elder." (It may be this is a claim to office, but even as a description of age, the implication is one of authority.)

As to the chosen lady, the NET Bible footnotes discuss a couple of possibilities. One is that there was a specific person the letter was addressed to. This would lead to a translation that was either: "to the lady, Electa" or "to the chosen one, Kuria." A second possibility is that the translation "chosen lady" is correct, but refers to some anonymous Christian woman who received the letter. A third possibility is that the translation "chosen lady" is correct, but it is a collective noun, signifying that this is metaphorical language for the church. The translators' notes then provide evidence to confirm the idea that this is a collective noun, because of its usage later in the same letter.

This is the kind of information that is fun to learn, but not fully necessary to our understanding of God's message for us.. Without knowing whether John is referring to a church or a person, the lesson inside the letter is the same. Further, without knowing the language details, the Bible provides parallel information that help us see the metaphor of church as chosen lady -- in 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about the church as the bride of Christ. John himself refers to the wedding of the Lamb in the Revelation.

Still, I like the immediacy of the reminder (in the footnotes) of the metaphor, and the confirmation from the language, not being a Greek-speaker. (It's also good to see how faithful the translators are trying to be to the original language.) As the church, we are chosen, and intimately connected to Jesus. The elder friend of the bridegroom, has a few words to say to us.

And the words aren't new -- love one another. But we get a clear definition of what that love looks like: "that we walk according to his commandments."

There's also a warning in the letter. Don't give any sign of allegiance (in hospitality in this case) to those who come with false teachings. That makes good sense even today, and the implication is that we're able to recognize such. John says two things about these "antichrists". First, they won't confess Jesus [as] Messiah, a real human being. Second, they will teach something other than the gospel.

Both the warning and the command imply this -- we know his commandments. Back to the text!