3 John

The New Testament in the original Greek. Westcott, Brooke Foss; Hort, Fenton John Anthony, editors. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1882-1892.

Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA 4.0

Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.

This work is a short letter written by an author referring to himself as "the Elder" to his beloved friend Gaius. Its central theme revolves around Christian hospitality toward traveling missionaries and the challenges of church leadership and authority within early Christian communities. At the outset, the Elder commends and praises Gaius for his faithful support and warm reception of the traveling brothers. In contrast, the middle section of the letter sharply criticizes a man named Diotrephes, who refuses to acknowledge the Elder's authority, rejects the visiting brothers, and attempts to expel cooperative members from the church. To counter this, the Elder commends Demetrius, a man of good standing and truth. Finally, rather than continuing to write with pen and ink, the Elder expresses his hope to visit Gaius soon and speak face-to-face, concluding the letter with wishes of peace.