1. The elder] cp. Intro.
The elect lady] Gk. eklektç kuriâ. The question who is meant by this designation has given rise to much discussion. The various opinions are as follows: (1) Some regard the second word of the phrase as a proper name, and translate, 'To the lady Electa.' This is not likely; because if it had been intended, the Greek would probably have been different; because we should then be. obliged to translate Electa as a proper name in 2 John 1:13 also, in spite of the unlikelihood that two sisters would have the same name; and because St. Paul uses the word (Romans 16:13) plainly not as a name, but as a descriptive adjective. (2) The third word is a proper name—' the elect Kyria.' This opinion has in its favour the fact that Kyria was a common name among the Greeks, being the feminine of 'Cyrus.' The analogy of 3 Jn V. 1 is also in favour of an address by name. But this same analogy would lead us to expect a different order of words. Again, if Kyria were the lady addressed, and if she was known and loved by 'all that have known the truth' (2 John 1:1), it would perhaps be strange that we have no other mention of so prominent a person. This, with other considerations, has led to the opinion (3) that not a person but the Church in general is meant. This seems inconsistent with the Apostle's expectation (2 John 1:12) of visiting her and seeing her face to face. Others hold (4) that it is not the Church universal, but some particular Church, to which the Apostle writes of his approaching visit. Others still find here no proper name and no metaphor, but translate (5), 'To the elect lady'; while some who agree in the main with this position point out (6) that there is in the Greek no definite article, and therefore translate, 'To an elect lady.' The weight of evidence seems in favour of the last opinion in one of its forms, (5) or (6); though the case is best summed up in the words of Bp. Westcott: 'No solution of the problem offered by eklektç kuriâ is satisfactory.'
The truth in this and the following Epistle has come to have almost a technical meaning, implying not only the eternal principle, but also the organisation which embodies it—the Church. Cp. in Acts the use of 'the Way': Acts 9:2; Acts 19:9; Acts 19:23; Acts 22:4; Acts 24:22.