Abstract
This article challenges the interpretive decision made by many scholars
to group 3 John with the rest of the Johannine Epistles (and sometimes
John’s Gospel). This interpretative method fails to treat 3 John, as
well as the rest of the Epistles, on their own terms. It also often
places these texts within a hypothetical ‘Johannine Community’ and its
various phases of development. However, if 3 John is read on its own,
the text itself points us to interpret it within a Jewish framework. The
seemingly lack of interest in Jews and Judaism, rather than being a sign
of a later date when this group was no longer rooted in any Jewish
community and no longer cared about such issues, is a sign that the
epistle dates from a period before this community of Christ-believers
began to markedly differentiate themselves from other Jews. These
points, as well as the author’s use of τὸν ἐθνικός when describing the
missionary work by some of those within the community, may also suggest
that the conflict between the Elder and Diotrephes was related to
disagreements over the nature of missionary work within the early Jesus
movement.