3 John — Greek text and reception
Choose a chapter to explore the source readings and their notes. Original references, source labels, and review records are retained.
Source guide and review record
SAINTS TRANSLATION
3 John
V2 • Working translation draft • Sep 13, 2026
Complete working translation draft, V1, Sep 8, 2026. All 15 source verses independently translated from the directly accessed Greek running text, then reviewed against that text for clauses, pronouns, negatives, and sequence. Selected reception passages were consulted in the English presentations identified below. No Hebrew parallel or LXX counterpart is supplied for this New Testament letter. No NA28/UBS, manuscript, or critical-apparatus collation is claimed. Independent specialist review remains outstanding.
1 chapter • 15 translation rows
Reader’s guide
The three columns identify the verse, give its literal-smooth English translation from the declared Greek, and distinguish textual observations from attributed reception.
One chapter; SBLGNT numbering, 1:1–15; one source verse per row, 15 source verses and 15 rows. Sentences may continue across consecutive rows. Editorial pericope headings are navigation aids. The five Hebrew/Greek comparison classifications do not apply to this single-source translation.
Source basis and review scope
Michael W. Holmes, ed., The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010); official Faithlife/SBLGNT electronic text, repository version 1.2 (Jul 10, 2023), accessed Sep 8, 2026.
Sources, Method & Decisions
Source register
[G] Michael W. Holmes, ed., The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010); official Faithlife/SBLGNT electronic text, repository version 1.2 (Jul 10, 2023), accessed Sep 8, 2026.. 3 John 1:1–15, complete Greek running main text, read directly verse by verse. Publisher-maintained electronic Greek transcription; main text only. No manuscript images or apparatus collated. Source [G]. Accessed Sep 8, 2026.
[LIC] SBLGNT licensing and version declaration. Version history and CC BY 4.0 declaration; license also directly read at SBLGNT license. Publisher repository metadata and license. Source [LIC]. Accessed Sep 8, 2026.
[BEN] Benedict of Nursia, Saint Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries, chapter 53, On the Reception of Guests; translated by Leonard J. Doyle (1948; republished 2001), Order of Saint Benedict archive presentation. Chapter 53, opening paragraphs: receiving guests as Christ and honoring fellow believers and pilgrims. English translation of a monastic rule consulted directly; later thematic comparison, not a direct 3 John commentary. Source [BEN]. Accessed Sep 8, 2026.
[W] John Wesley, Notes on the Third Epistle of St John, chapter I, Wesley Center Online, Northwest Nazarene University. Later Methodist exposition; displayed note 14 comments on the farewell numbered 1:15 here.
[R] John Reynolds of Shrewsbury, credited completer of Third John in Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, volume 6. Reynolds, Third John in Matthew Henry’s Commentary. Wikisource English transcription: section 1–2, III.2; section 12–14, II.1. The latter jointly discusses 13–14; its closing greeting belongs to SBLGNT 1:15.
Contextual term record
πρεσβύτερος → elder. Self-designation at 1:1; no additional office or personal name inserted.
εὐοδόομαι → all goes well / all may go well. At 1:2; general welfare rather than a financial-only rendering of prosperity.
ἀλήθεια → truth / truthfulness. Truthfulness at 1:3 describes the truth evident in Gaius; elsewhere truth retains the repeated noun.
ἐκκλησία → Church. The Christian gathering or community at 1:6, 9, 10.
τὸ ὄνομα → the Name. At 1:7; the reverential expression retained without expanding the source.
προπέμπω / ὑπολαμβάνω → send onward / support. Travel hospitality and practical assistance at 1:6, 8.
κάλαμος → reed pen. The writing implement at 1:13; not a modern material substitution.
Material decisions
Greek base text copyright 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license). This independent English translation and its editorial notes adapt that Greek text; they are not the publishers’ English translation and imply no publisher endorsement. The source is supplied without warranties under its license.
Initial version: new English translation from source G; no intentional departure from its main-text reading. Apparatus boundary symbols in the electronic text are editorial markers, not translated words.
SBLGNT has 15 verses; the final greeting is separately translated as 1:15 and must not be lost to a 14-verse navigation expectation.
Benedict’s hospitality instruction is labeled thematic comparison; no claim is made that it is an ancient commentary on 3 John.
The letter’s wishes for Gaius, accusations about Diotrephes, and testimony about Demetrius remain statements about their named contexts.
Open questions and remaining review
The identity of Gaius and the earlier writing mentioned in 1:9 are not established by the text consulted.
Further review can examine fellow workers with the truth in 1:8 and the precise practical scope of sending onward in 1:6.
Version record
V1: First working translation of the declared scope under the updated Saints Translation reference.
Review continuation
All fifteen Greek source verses and every inherited note were reviewed. The existing translation is retained. Each verse now has a specific textual note and verified reception; the concluding visit has one accurately scoped joint commentary note. Benedict’s hospitality comparison was rechecked. Wesley’s displayed note 14 concerns the farewell numbered 1:15 in SBLGNT; Reynolds is expressly credited as the completer of Third John in the Henry commentary. The practical travel-support sense at 1:6 and the dative construction at 1:8 were re-examined and remain defensible, with their nuances explained in the notes. This remains a working draft awaiting independent specialist review.
Collation against Nestle–Aland 28
On 13 September 2026 every verse of this book where the SBLGNT and NA28 differ was identified from the edition marks of Tyndale House's Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0) and the SBLGNT apparatus, and the rendering above was read at each one. 1 verses differ; 0 of them would read differently in English if NA28 were translated instead of the SBLGNT, and each of those carries a note above beginning "NA28". The collation is against TAGNT's edition marks and the SBLGNT apparatus; a printed NA28 apparatus has not been consulted, and NA28's square brackets are inferred, not recorded.
At no place was the rendering found to follow a reading other than the SBLGNT it declares.