Chapter
1
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

2 John 1:5
ESV And now I ask you, dear lady — not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning — that we love one another.
NIV And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
NASB Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
CSB So now I ask you, dear lady—not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
NLT I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning.
KJV And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
NKJV And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.

What does 2 John 1:5 mean?

Verse 4 focused on obedience to truth. Verses 5 and 6 emphasize love. John now makes a request, again addressed to the "Dear lady," a reference to the entire local church. What John is about to ask is not a new command, but something which has been part of their faith from the start.

This "beginning" probably refers to Jesus' teaching in John 13:34–35. There, He commanded us to love each other, so that we would be identified by love. Jesus would repeat this commandment in John 15:12 and John 15:17. Paul echoes it in Romans 12:10 and 1 Thessalonians 4:9. Peter mentions it in 1 Peter 1:22. John mentions it repeatedly in his first letter (1 John 3:11; 4:7; 4:11–12). Loving one another is obedience to the commandment of Jesus. It is so important that it's meant to be the primary way the world recognizes us as Christians (John 13:35).
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