2 John 1:13

Study note

Setting — The author, identified as the elder, closes his letter to the chosen lady and her children immediately after stating his preference for a face-to-face visit to complete their shared joy.

The words — The text uses ἀσπάζομαι (aspazomai) to denote "greet" and ἀδελφῆς (adelphēs) to mean "sister," structurally framing the closing as a familial transmission from "your elect sister."

The thread — This closing salutation parallels 1 Peter 5:13, where the church in Babylon and Mark send greetings to a distant community, and directly echoes the opening address in 2 John 1:1 that names the chosen lady and her children as the recipients.

Why it lands — It requires the reader to recognize the closing as a formal epistolary benediction that extends the letter's authority beyond the immediate recipient to a broader ecclesiastical network. It demands acknowledgment of the sender's relational and spiritual jurisdiction over the named community.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.