III John 1:4
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I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
my children--members of the Church: confirming the view that the "elect lady" is a Church.
Open source ↗In this epistle the apostle congratulates Gaius upon the prosperity of his soul (Jo3 1:1, Jo3 1:2), upon the fame he had among good Christians (Jo3 1:3, Jo3 1:4), and upon his charity and hospitality to the servants of Christ (Jo3 1:5, Jo3 1:6). He complains of contemptuous treatment by an ambitious Diotrephes (Jo3 1:9, Jo3 1:10), recommends Demetrius (Jo3 1:12), and expresses his hope of visiting Gaius shortly (Jo3 1:13, Jo3 1:14).
Open source ↗1:4 As in 2 John (see 2 Jn 1:1-4), John’s emphasis is on knowing and following the truth in contrast to Diotrephes and his followers (3 Jn 1:9).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,
To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
“Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
When I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains.
Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.