2 John 1:5
“And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The elder urges the lady to keep the old, familiar command they have always had: to love one another.
What Does 2 John 1:5 Mean?
Now the elder turns from greeting to gentle appeal. He 'beseeches' the lady — a tender, earnest request rather than a stern order. He is careful to say this is no novelty; it is the command they have had 'from the beginning,' as old as their first hearing of the gospel.
That ancient command is simply 'that we love one another.' This echoes the very words of Jesus to His followers. The elder knows that the oldest truths are the ones most easily neglected, so he lovingly presses what they already know. For the reader, it is a reminder that the heart of the Christian life is not some advanced secret but the steady, costly practice of loving one another.
In the Original Language
agapaō (ἀγαπάω), 'love' — the self-giving love that seeks another's good, the love Christ both commanded and embodied.