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3Jn_1:7. Confirmation of the exhortation that has been uttered: the brethren deserve such help, for, etc. ὑπὲρ γὰρ τοῦ ὀνόματος ἐξῆλθαν ] With the Rec. reading: ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ , αὐτοῦ refers back to τοῦ Θεοῦ ; but this αὐτοῦ is to be regarded as an interpolation; τὸ ὄνομα (without αὐτοῦ ) is neither “the Christian doctrine or religion,” nor “the name of the brethren” (Paulus: “because they were called missionaries”), but “the name of Christ” (Lücke, de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius, Sander, Braune, etc.), as in Act_5:41 (according to the correct reading); comp. also Jam_2:7, and Ignatii ep. ad Ephes. cap. 3 and 7.
ὑπέρ is here used in the same sense as in Rom_1:6, and ἐξέρχεσθαι as in Act_15:40 (Lücke, de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius, Sander, Braune, etc.); so that the sense is: for the sake of the name of Christ, i.e. for the spread of it, they went forth (as missionaries). Several commentators (Beza, Schmidius, Bengel, Carpzovius, Wolf) connect ἐξῆλθαν with ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνικῶν [ ἔθνων ] in the sense: expulsi sunt a paganis; but this idea is arbitrarily imported into ἐξῆλθαν ;[20] besides, the connection with ἀπὸ τ . ἐθν . is unsuitable, because then the words ΜΗΔῈΝ ΛΑΜΒΆΝΟΝΤΕς remain too indefinite. The assertion of Wolf, that ΛΑΜΒΆΝΕΙΝ is not construed with ἈΠΌ , is refuted by Mat_17:25. By the addition: ΜΗΔῈΝ ΛΑΜΒΆΝΟΝΤΕς ἈΠῸ ΤῶΝ ἘΘΝΙΚῶΝ , the necessity of assisting these brethren is brought out. The present participle is either used in the imperfect sense (3Jn_1:3), or—as is more probable—it is used in order to indicate the μηδὲν λαμβάνειν ἀπὸ τ . ἐθν . as the maxim of these missionaries (so also Düsterdieck and Braune). It is very usual to regard this maxim as the same as that which Paul took for his, and of which he speaks in passages like 1Co_9:18; 2Co_11:7 ff; 2Co_12:16 ff.; 1Th_2:9 ff.; but ἈΠῸ ΤῶΝ ἘΘΝΙΚῶΝ (= ἜΘΝΩΝ , comp. Mat_6:7; Mat_18:17) does not suit this; the maxim of Paul was not to make the care for his support an obligation on the Churches among which he laboured, but here it is heathen that are spoken of. It was by these that these missionary brethren would not allow themselves to be assisted, because they did not want to build up Christ’s work by the wealth of the heathen, but trusted to Christians that in Christian love they would provide for them what was needful.[21]
[20] Grotius, indeed, correctly connects ἀπὸ τ . ἐθν . with λαμβάνοντες , but interprets ἐξῆλθον : a Judaea ejecti sunt per Judaeos incredulos; the erroneous idea that the apostle considered the Jews as the antithesis of the Gentiles has clearly led him to this arbitrary interpretation.
[21] Ewald unsuitably deduces this maxim from the command of Christ, Mat_10:8-10.