Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 John 1:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The letter ends with a greeting from the elect sister's children, linking the sender-side and recipient-side families or communities.
Read It With
- 2 John 1:1, 1:12–13
Read verse 13 with the closing in verse 12 and the mirrored lady-and-children address in verse 1. The family language frames the entire letter.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The greeting closes the relationship opened in verse 1 and shows the recipients connected to another elect sister's children.
Read 2 John 1:12–13 together
Why these verses belong together: The hoped-for visit, full joy, and final family greeting form the letter close.
Verse 12. 12 Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.
Verse 13. 13 The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.
What Remains True
The letter's correction occurs within a network of belonging and greeting, not as an isolated attack.
How It Can Shape Life
- Keep necessary correction connected to real people, mutual belonging, and truthful greeting rather than reducing others to a controversy.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 John 1:12–13 — The Elder Hopes to Speak Face to FaceSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
Where care is needed
The elect sister may be a real sister, a sister congregation, or layered family-community language; the KJV's Amen reflects a later-supported textual variant.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: The pinned KJV wording, paragraph boundaries, and supplied-word markup for 2 John 1:12–13.
Exact location: eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, 2JN.usfm, 2 John 1:12–13; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the shared library policy.
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording and sentence relationships for 2 John 1:12–13.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/2John.txt, 2 John 1:12–13.
Open the 2 John Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible: 2 John 1 — translator, study, and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press / Bible.org, NET Second Edition web notes
Supports: Translation choices, textual variants, grammatical relationships, and identified interpretive alternatives used in this unit.
Exact location: NET Bible, 2 John 1, translator, study, and textual notes 34–38 attached to 2 John 1:12–13.
Open source ↗