2 John 1:5 (LSB)

Passage

Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

Nearby Context

2 John 1:3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

2 John 1:4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we received commandment from the Father.

2 John 1:5 Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

2 John 1:6 And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lady", "though", "writing", "commandment", "beginning", "love", and "another". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lady" and "though", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "I rejoiced greatly to find some of..." into verse 6's "And this is love that we walk...", so "lady" and "though" belong inside that flow. In 2 John context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "lady" and "though" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.