In addition to his Gospel and the book of
Revelation, the apostle John reportedly contributed three epistles (or letters)
to the New Testament canon. The documents known as 2 John and 3 John are the shortest
books of the NT, while 1 John lacks the characteristics of a typical Greek
letter and is more akin in form to Hebrews than to the other NT epistles.
Authorship
In none of these epistles does the author
explicitly identify himself. First John does not have the conventional opening
address where the author’s name would normally appear, although the author does
clearly write as an eyewitness (1:1-5; 4:14; 5:6-7) and the writing “contains
an unmistakable air of authority” (D. Guthrie, NT Introduction 866-67). Note the frequent references to the
readers as teknia (“little children”)
(2:1, 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21), expectations to be obeyed (cf. 4:6), and the
emphatic condemnation of error (cf. 2:18 ff.; 4:1 ff.).
In 2 John and 3 John the author simply
identifies himself as ho presbuteros (“the
elder”). First John shares a number of striking similarities in theme,
vocabulary, and syntax with the Gospel of John, and the other two epistles are
closely linked with 1 John in vocabulary and theme, suggesting common
authorship of all four documents.1 The term menō (“abide”) occurs sixty-eight times in the Johannine writings,
and a combined total of only fifty-one times in the rest of the NT.
No ancient source ever ascribes the three
Johannine epistles to anyone other than the apostle John, son of Zebedee. Allusions
to these letters are found in the writings of Clement of Rome (1 Clem. 49.5), the Didache (10.5-6), the Epistle
of Barnabas (5.9-11; 12.10), and Polycarp (Phil. 7.1). Specific references to the epistles are found in Papias
(see Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.39.17),
Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. 3.16.18),
Clement of Alexandria (Strom.
2.15.66), and Origen (see Eusebius, Eccl.
Hist. 6.25.10). The first epistle has greater attestation than the other
two, simply because 2 and 3 John are substantially briefer and less
theologically quotable.
Questioning Johannine Authorship
In the absence of any conclusive evidence
to the contrary, the most reasonable conclusion is that the apostle John did in
fact author these epistles. Nevertheless, many critical
scholars are reluctant to accept this conclusion. Alternative suggestions for
authorship include a Johannine School, a disciple of John, and an obscure
figure simply known as the Elder John.
There are subtle differences between
John’s Gospel and 1 John in vocabulary and teaching, including words and
expressions in 1 John that are not found in the Fourth Gospel, and vice versa.2
The author of 2-3 John identifies himself as ho presbuteros (“the elder”), not as the apostle John.
Responses To These Objections
While the similarities far outweigh the
differences and the respective genres of the documents reflect different
purposes, D. A. Carson and D. J. Moo correctly respond: “We should speak of
complementarity of vision and thought, of differentiation in application, not
of mutual contradiction” (An Introduction
to the NT 773).
John would have been so well known to the
initial recipients of his writings that an explicit mention of his name was
unnecessary. Moreover, John seems to have favored descriptive terms over
personal names, e.g. “the beloved disciple,” and “the mother of Jesus.” The apostle
Peter describes himself as sumpresbuteros
(“fellow-elder”) in 1 Pet. 5:1, and according to Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. 3.39.4), Papias referred to Philip, Thomas, James,
John, and Matthew as presbuteroi (“elders”).
Historically there were no attempts to differentiate among the “Johns” in the respective titles of the canonical Johannine documents, presumably because readers already knew who was intended (see D. Trobisch, First Edition of the NT 55).
Historically there were no attempts to differentiate among the “Johns” in the respective titles of the canonical Johannine documents, presumably because readers already knew who was intended (see D. Trobisch, First Edition of the NT 55).
Provenance, Date, Audience, and Destination
Because of their connection with the
apostle John and their relationship with the Fourth Gospel, the most likely
place of origin of these epistles is Ephesus (see Introducing John's Gospel).
According to tradition, John moved to Ephesus during the Jewish War (66-70) and
eventually died there at the end of the 1st century (see Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.31.3; 5.24.2; Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 3.1.1).
Most scholars understand the Johannine
epistles to have been written after the Gospel of John. The chief opponents in
John’s Gospel are “the Jews,” whereas the main concern in 1-2 John involves
deceivers who are antichristos (“antichrist”
or “against Christ”). As the epistles seem to be confronting a form of
proto-gnosticism, a reasonable date is sometime in the decade of the 90s, ca.
90-95. Among the more liberal scholars who reject Johannine authorship, these
epistles are dated as late as 100-110 (S. L. Harris, Understanding the Bible [7th ed.] 513-14) or even into the
120s-130s (L. M. White, From Jesus to
Christianity 316, 416).
Recipients of the three epistles
No addressee is mentioned in 1 John,
therefore the document is legitimately regarded as a “general epistle.” Second
John is addressed to “chosen lady and her children.” This may have been a
Christian woman with believing children who was accustomed to showing
hospitality to traveling evangelists. Some have suggested that the address is
metaphorical, referring to a local congregation. In v. 13 greetings are sent
either from the nephews and/or nieces of the “chosen lady” or from a sister
congregation (in Ephesus?).
Third John is addressed to “Gaius the
beloved, whom I love in truth.” Since “Gaius” was a fairly common name
throughout the Roman Empire (cf. Acts 19:29; 20:4; Rom. 16:23; 1 Cor. 1:14), no
specific identification is possible here.
It is notable that Gaius is described as “the beloved” by “the beloved
disciple” himself.
Since John’s other writings appear to have
originally been intended for the benefit of those living in the vicinity of
Ephesus, i.e., Asia [Minor] (cf. Rev. 1:11), the same may be the case for his
epistles.
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 See Introducing John's Gospel.
See also R. E. Brown, The Epistles of
John 755-59; An Introduction to the
NT 383, 397-98, 401; D. A. Carson and D. J. Moo, An Introduction to the NT 671-75; D. Guthrie, NT Introduction 867; also A.
E. Brooke, A Critical and Exegetical
Commentary on the Johannine Epistles i-xix, 235-42; R. Law, The Tests of Life 341-63.
2 For examples, see R. E. Van
Voorst, Reading the NT Today 516; R.
E. Brown, An Introduction to the NT
389.
Related Posts: General Epistles: Introduction
Helpful Resources: G. Goswell, "Johannine Corpus," JETS 61.4 (2018): 717-33.
Helpful Resources: G. Goswell, "Johannine Corpus," JETS 61.4 (2018): 717-33.
Image credit:
http://www.plainbibleteaching.com/2015/04/07/a-letter-to-little-children/
