John's Salutation and Greeting

See the "Overview of the Book of 2 John" below. %%SBUncial0232.jpg%%Uncial 0232 on 2 John%% John identifies himself and the recipients of his letter and blesses them. He uses the term "elder." He also identifies himself in this way in 3 John 1:1. He was referring either to his church office (see 1 Tim. 3:1) or to his biological age. There is no real difficulty with an apostle identifying himself as an elder, since the responsibilities of an apostle toward each individual congregation were precisely those of an elder (1 Pet. 5:1-4). See "The Apostles: Can There Be Apostles Today?" below.

John also uses the phrase "chosen lady." This refers either to an otherwise unknown woman or speaks figuratively of a local Church. The latter figurative use does not appear elsewhere, so the former seems more likely (cf. 2 John 1:13). Case writes:

Is this a woman and her children, or is it a church? Warren Wiersbe has an interesting view of who the lady and her children are. He acknowledges that by John's use of the plural in several parts of the letter, it seems that he is speaking to a group (2 John 1: 6, 8, 10, 12). And yet, in several verses, he speaks to an individual (2 John 1:1, 4-5, 13). Possibly, John is writing to a house church that meets at the home of the "chosen lady," and he has both the family and the congregation in mind.

Either way, John addressed this woman with much respect and love in Christ, thus indicating his pastoral interest in her. "Her children" refers to either the biological children of the woman or her spiritual children, i.e., her followers. The former seems more likely.