3 John 1:3

[939], Vulgate, and Thebaic omit γάρ.

[939] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles.

3. ἐχάρην γὰρ λίαν. The γάρ has been omitted in some important authorities, perhaps under the influence of 2 John 1:4. It means ‘I know that thy soul is in a prosperous condition, for I have it on good authority’. For ἐχάρην see on 2 John 1:4 : but here it cannot so well be the epistolary aorist, but refers to the definite occasions when information was brought to the Apostle. Of course if ἐχάρην be rendered ‘I rejoice’ as epistolary aorist ἐρχομένων and μαρτυρούντων must be treated in like manner; as in R.V. margin.

ἐρχομένων. Imperfect participle of what happened repeatedly: so also μαρτυρούντων. When brethren (no article) came and bare witness (see on 1 John 1:2) to thy truth (see on 3 John 1:6). The whole, literally rendered, runs thus; For I rejoiced greatly at brethren coming and witnessing to thy truth. John 5:33 is wrongly quoted as a parallel. There the Baptist ‘hath borne witness to the truth,’ i.e. to the Gospel or to Christ. Here the brethren bare witness to Gaius’s truth, i.e. to his Christian life, as is shewn by what follows. The σου is emphatic, as in 3 John 1:6; perhaps in contrast to the conduct of Diotrephes. Comp. Luke 4:22. What follows, καθὼς σὺ κ.τ.λ., is part of what these ἀδελφοί reported, explaining what they meant by Gaius’s truth.