Second Epistle of John

Definition and Meaning

Second John is the twenty-fourth of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. With thirteen verses, it is the shortest book in the New Testament by verse count. The letters from James through Jude are called the "General Epistles" (or "Catholic Epistles") because they were addressed to a number of churches rather than to a particular congregation, and Second John belongs to this group. The author identifies himself only as "the elder" (2 John 1:1). Church tradition has identified this elder with the apostle John. Some scholars, however, attribute the letter to a different figure, "John the Elder," who is mentioned in early Christian writings.

Biblical and Historical Background

The letter is addressed to "the elect lady and her children" (v. 1). Some interpreters understand this as an actual woman and her family, while others take it as a figurative designation for a local church and its members. Many likewise hold that "the children of thy elect sister" in verse 13 refers to the members of another church.

The content falls into two main parts:

• The commandment of love: The author urges the readers to love one another, in keeping with the commandment they have had from the beginning, and to walk in the truth (vv. 5–6).
• A warning against false teachers: Anyone who confesses not "that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh" is called "a deceiver and an antichrist" (v. 7). The readers are told neither to receive into their house anyone who brings such teaching nor to bid him God speed (vv. 10–11). Scholars often link this to teachings associated with Docetism, which held that Christ did not take on a real body but only appeared to do so.

Its vocabulary and themes closely resemble those of First John, and for this reason it is regarded, together with Third John, as originating from the same community. Because it is a short personal letter, some regions of the early church are known to have hesitated to accept it into the canon. It later came to be widely recognized as part of the New Testament canon.

Practice in the Korean Church

Because of its brevity, Second John is seldom used as a text for Sunday sermons. It is read mainly in through-the-Bible reading programs and in quiet time devotional materials, usually together with First and Third John. All denominations accept it as canonical, and there are no notable differences among denominations regarding the book itself.

In the Korean church, the book is cited most frequently in the context of responding to heresies. Many churches and practitioners of cult counseling appeal to verses 10–11 in advising believers not to admit evangelists from heretical groups into their homes and not to accept invitations to their Bible study meetings. Others, however, consider it excessive to apply these verses so broadly as to forbid ordinary kindness or conversation between individuals. On this view, the text means that believers should not provide a base of operations for activities that spread false teaching.