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"I rejoiced greatly..."

Text: 2 John 4

A SPECIAL MOMENT OF JOY FELT

As one may expect in a personal letter, there would be references to special moments of joy felt. This is not at all unusual. Thus John shared how he felt as he learned about the good behaviour of the children of the elect lady.

“I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children
walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.”
2 John 4

1. “I rejoiced greatly”

a) This statement was John’s way of sharing the joy that he felt.

b) There was great joy felt in the heart.

c) This was openly and candidly shared.

2. “That I have found”

a) The source of this joy was directly linked with what John found.

b) It was natural for John to keep a lookout for the children of the elect lady, his good friend.

c) What he had found about the behaviour of children brought a great sense of joy in his heart.

3. “Some of your children”

a) This may not be the best translation.

b) John was not saying: –

i) Some of her children were walking in the truth.

ii) Some of her other children were not walking in the truth.

c) Thus the word “some” was written in italics.

i) This means that this word was not part of the original sentence.

ii) It was added by the NKJV translators.

d) The sentence was written using the Genitive construction.

i) But this does not mean that we need to add the word “some”.

ii) The sentence may be translated in another way.

iii) “I have found your children walking in truth”.

iv) The additional word “some” is not necessary and makes the sentence awkward.

v) How could John speak of great joy when only some of the children were walking in truth and some were not?