2 John 1:12

For ἐλθεῖν ([907][908]) read γενέσθαι ([909][910][911]). For ἀλλὰ ἐλπίζω ([912][913][914][915]) [916] and the Vulgate have ἐλπίζω γάρ. For ἡμῶν ([917][918][919]) read ὑμῶν ([920][921]).

[907] 9th century. All three Epistles.
[908] 9th century. All three Epistles.
[909] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles.
[910] 5th century. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. All three Epistles.
[911] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles.
[912] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles.
[913] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles.
[914] 9th century. All three Epistles.
[915] 9th century. All three Epistles.
[916] 5th century. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. All three Epistles.
[917] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles.
[918] 9th century. All three Epistles.
[919] 9th century. All three Epistles.
[920] 5th century. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. All three Epistles.
[921] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles.

12. πολλὰ ἔχων. The First Epistle gives us some idea of what these many things were. Γράφειν is used in the wide sense of ‘to communicate’: just as our ‘say’ or ‘tell’ may include writing, γράφειν includes other modes of communication besides letters. In the οὐκ ἐβουλήθην we may perhaps trace a sign of the failing powers of an old man, to whom writing is serious fatigue. But what follows shews that the Apostle has not yet reached the state of feebleness recorded by Jerome, when he had to be carried to church.

‘Paper’ (χάρτης) occurs nowhere else in N.T.; but it occurs in LXX. of Jeremiah 36:23; and its diminutive (χαρτίον) is frequent in that chapter. In 3Ma 4:20 we have a cognate word (χαρτήρια), which probably, like ‘paper’ here, means Egyptian papyrus, as distinct from the more expensive ‘parchment’ (μεμβράναι) mentioned 2 Timothy 4:13. But both papyrus and parchment were costly, which may account for the Apostle’s brevity. Augustine writes to Romanianus; “This letter indicates a scarcity of paper (charta) without testifying that parchment is plentiful here. My ivory tablets I used in the letter which I sent to your uncle. You will more readily excuse this scrap of parchment, because what I wrote to him could not be delayed; and I thought it would be absurd not to write to you for want of better material” (Ep. xv.). The very perishable nature of papyrus accounts for the early loss of the Apostolic autographs. See Dict. of the Bible, WRITING, and Dict. of Antiquities, LIBER.

‘Ink’ (μέλαν) is mentioned again 3 John 1:13; elsewhere in N.T. only 2 Corinthians 3:3 : comp. LXX. of Jer. 43:18. It was made of lampblack and gall-juice, or more simply of soot and water.

ἀλλὰ ἐλπίζω. As R.V., but I hope: the verb is frequent in N.T., and there seems to be no reason for changing the usual rendering: comp. 1 Timothy 3:14; Philippians 2:19; Philippians 2:23. A.V. wavers needlessly between ‘hope’ and ‘trust’.

γενέσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. To appear before you: literally, ‘to come to be in your presence, to become present with you, to be with you’. Comp. 1 Corinthians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 16:10. The phrase is used of words as well as of persons: πρὸς οὓς ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγένετο (John 10:35); ἐγένετο φωνὴ πρὸς αὐτόν (Acts 10:13). In all these cases the coming is expressed with a certain amount of solemnity.

The ‘you’ (ὑμῖν, ὑμᾶς) in this verse includes the children mentioned in 2 John 1:1. This, when contrasted with ‘thee’ (σε, σοι) in 2 John 1:5, seems to be in favour of understanding the ‘lady’ literally. The change from ‘thee’ to ‘you’ seems more in harmony with a matron and her family than with a Church and its members.

στόμα πρὸς στόμα. In Numbers 12:8 we have στόμα κατὰ στόμα λαλήσω αὐτῷ: comp. Jeremiah 39 (32):4. In 1 Corinthians 13:12 the phrase is πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον: comp. Genesis 32:31.

ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ὑμῶν ἦ πεπληρωμένη. As R.V., that your joy may be fulfilled. See on 1 John 1:4, and comp. Romans 1:12.