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2Jn_1:5-6. καὶ νῦν ἐρωτῶ σε ] νῦν is used here, not temporally, but logically. Düsterdieck refers it to the immediately preceding subordinate clause: καθὼς κ . τ . λ .; Ebrard, on the other hand, to the idea εὕρηκα κ . τ . λ .; but it is more correctly referred to ἐχάρην κ . τ . λ .; the joy which the apostle felt is the cause of his present request (so also Brückner and Braune). John says ἐρωτῶ instead of the usual παρακαλῶ , as the request is suitable to the Church, as a κυρία .
οὐχ ὡς ἐντολὴν γράφων σοι καινὴν κ . τ . λ .] Comp. 1Jn_2:7.
ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους ] dependent on ἐρωτῶ , comp. Joh_17:15, not on ἐντολὴν ἔχομεν (Baumgarten-Crusius), “for this is used in a subordinate clause merely, and ἐρωτῶ would be without connection and without object” (Brückner). ἵνα states here also not merely the purpose, but the substance of the request (contrary to Braune).—2Jn_1:6. καὶ αὕτη … ἵνα ] The same construction, 1Jn_5:3. The apostle is not distinguishing the commandment of love from the other commandments (de Wette), but is describing the walking according to the commandments of God as the substance and essence of love; with justice, for, in the first place, only that love is moral—or more particularly, Christian—in its character which is founded on obedience toward God, and therefore “consists in the fulfilment of the commandments of God that regulate our relationship to our neighbour” (Ebrard); and, in the second place, the aim of all the divine commandments is nothing else than love. Brückner, Braune, and others here interpret ἡ ἀγάπη incorrectly of “Christian love simply,” including also the love of God and Christ; the close connection of this sentence with the preceding one ( ἡ ἀγάπη clearly refers back to ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους ) compels us to understand ἡ ἀγαπή of Christian brotherly love. The thought last expressed is specially emphasized by the following words. According to the reading: αὕτη ἡ ἐντολή ἐστι , we must translate: “This commandment is (consists in this), as ye have heard from the beginning (no other than this), that ye should walk ἐν αὐτῇ .”
ἡ ἐντολή resumes the preceding τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ . the transition from the plural to the singular is not difficult; comp. 1Jn_3:22-23.
ἵνα states the substance of the commandment, and ἐν αὐτῇ refers to ἀγάπῃ (de Wette-Brückner, Lücke, Düsterdieck, Ebrard, Braune), and not to ἐντολή (Sander); for this would not only give an inadmissible tautology, but would also be contrary to John’s mode of expression, in which the phrase: περιπατεῖν ἐν τῇ ἐντολῇ , does not appear.
By the intervening clause καθὼς ἠκούσατε , “a subordinate definition of the ἐντολή ” (Lücke, de Wette) is not given, but it is observed that the readers have heard from the beginning what is the substance of the divine commandment; the apostle thereby refers back to what was said in 2Jn_1:5 (so also Düsterdieck, Ebrard, Brückner, Braune). The circle that results from this interpretation only serves to bring clearly out the identity of brotherly love and obedience toward God.[9]
[9] Köstlin incorrectly interprets (p. 218): “the old commandment, that we should love one another, means nothing else than that we should abide in what He has commanded us to believe.” That ἐντολή here denotes the command to believe (1Jn_3:23), finds no confirmation in the context.—Ebrard unjustifiably asserts that the obscurity of the expression in this verse is to be explained by the fact that the apostle intentionally alludes to some passages of the First Epistle, with which he assumes the Kyria to be familiar.