2 John 1:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The children of your elect sister greet you.

NIV: The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.

NASB: The children of your chosen sister greet you.

CSB: The children of your elect sister send you greetings.

NLT: Greetings from the children of your sister, chosen by God.

KJV: The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.

NKJV: The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.

This final verse of 2 John is a very brief signature. The "children" referred to are almost certainly the believers with John in his current location. We aren't sure if John is with a few Christian friends or an entire church, but he is clearly in touch with some type of Christian community. This is in contrast to the book of Revelation, which John wrote while alone in exile on Patmos (Revelation 1:9). In Revelation, John is alone and hearing directly from the Lord.

These fellow believers were spiritual family with the recipients of John's letter. Using terms such as "children" and "sister" implies relationship. John is using familial terms for believers in his location and those receiving his writing. These fellow Christians send greetings, which are simple positive blessings to those they could not visit in person at the time. Still today, believers often send greetings to one another while apart. Likewise, we long to see one another in person, view one another as family, and anticipate eternity together with Christ.

The reference to the "sister" in this verse is a strong reason to think that the "elect lady" mentioned earlier in this letter is an entire church or community, rather than a single person.

Second John 1:12–13 concludes the letter of 2 John. John could have written much more, but this is not the purpose of the letter. His preference is to meet face-to-face, something he hopes will occur. The use of family terminology is common in Christian writing. John also refers, again, to an “elect sister,” suggesting that this is a letter from one Christian church to another.

The entire book of 2 John is only 13 verses long. It is written by ''the elder,'' in this case the disciple John. In it, John commends a group of believers for holding fast to the truth of the gospel. He also warns these people to avoid those who deny aspects of the Christian faith, and who deceive people away from the truth. John uses the term ''elect lady and her children'' as a reference to this entire local church.

As a short letter, 2 John doesn’t develop any one topic too deeply. John is pleased to see that some believers are sticking to the truth, but this implies that others are not. He is concerned over the influence of false teachers, using strong terms to reject their teachings. John’s reference to ''the elect lady and her children'' is probably a reference to an entire local church and its members.

Second John is one of the disciple John’s letters. The others are 1 John and 3 John. He is also the author of the gospel of John and the book of Revelation. Letters such as this help us understand John’s guidance of early churches. As the last surviving disciple, John’s words would have carried great weight in the Christian community.