3 John study section

3 John word studies

A handful of Greek words carry the theology of 3 John. Tap the speaker next to any word to hear it pronounced.

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Key words

ἀλήθεια (alētheia): “Truth”

Usage: 3 John 1, 3-4, 8, 12

Meaning: Truth, reality, the truth of the gospel, lived out as well as believed.

Theological Significance: Alētheia saturates this short letter: John loves “in truth,” rejoices that Gaius walks “in the truth,” and calls supporters “fellow workers for the truth.” Even Demetrius is commended “by the truth itself.” The truth of Christ is meant to be walked in and advanced (3 John 3-4, 8; 2 John 4; John 17:17).

ξένος / φιλοξενία (xenos / philoxenia): “Stranger / Hospitality”

Usage: 3 John 5 (Gaius serves the brothers “even though they are strangers”)

Meaning: Xenos is a stranger or foreigner; philoxenia (literally “love of strangers”) is hospitality.

Theological Significance: Gaius shows love by welcoming traveling believers who are strangers to him, a hallmark of Christian hospitality. Such care for gospel workers is service to Christ and partnership in His mission (3 John 5-8; Hebrews 13:2; Matthew 25:35).

συνεργός (synergos): “Fellow Worker”

Usage: 3 John 8

Meaning: A fellow worker, co-laborer, partner in a shared task.

Theological Significance: Those who support gospel workers become synergoi “for the truth,” genuine partners in the mission, sharing in its labor and reward though they stay at home. The whole church advances the gospel together (3 John 8; 1 Corinthians 3:9; Philippians 4:15-17).

φιλοπρωτεύω (philoprōteuō): “To Love to Be First”

Usage: 3 John 9

Meaning: To love being first, to desire preeminence or the chief place. Used only here in the New Testament.

Theological Significance: Diotrephes’s philoprōteuō, his love of being first, is the root of his refusal of hospitality, his slander, and his domineering. It is the opposite of Christ, who “came not to be served but to serve” (3 John 9; Mark 10:43-45; Philippians 2:3).

ἀγαθοποιέω (agathopoieō): “To Do Good”

Usage: 3 John 11

Meaning: To do good, to act rightly and beneficially.

Theological Significance: “Whoever does good (agathopoieō) is from God.” Doing good, in imitation of God’s own goodness, reveals one’s true relationship to Him, in contrast to the one who does evil and “has not seen God” (3 John 11; 1 Peter 2:15; Galatians 6:9-10).

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