There have been many opinions on this verse, indeed on this letter. The truth of the matter is that we don't know her name - it's not given anywhere in Scripture, & some even believing that the 'elect lady' actually refers to a Church & 'her children' being the congregation.
Those that have attempted to give her a name, have simply used the Greek definition for "elect" (eklekte) & "lady" (Kuria) & so named her. But there is no certainty of this. We could also see a similar use of naming folk in Mark 3:17: "And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder." Because of their 'thunderous boldness' ( Luke 9:54, Mark 9:38), Jesus referred to them as 'Boanerges' (Ben-regesh).
One could also assume that John referred to the "elect lady" (Eklekte Kuria) as such because it was not common to refer to women directly by name in a personal letter but he did so inferring her piety & kindness shown other believers, particularly to itinerant preachers passing by her way. Thus the warning also goes out to her about false Christs bringing false doctrines & teaching, even as he warned believers in his first epistle. Yet in his third epistle, John openly referred to Gaius (a man) by name with a similar testimony of his service as was shown by the elect lady in 2 John.
Those that have attempted to give her a name, have simply used the Greek definition for "elect" (eklekte) & "lady" (Kuria) & so named her. But there is no certainty of this. We could also see a similar use of naming folk in Mark 3:17: "And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder." Because of their 'thunderous boldness' ( Luke 9:54, Mark 9:38), Jesus referred to them as 'Boanerges' (Ben-regesh).
One could also assume that John referred to the "elect lady" (Eklekte Kuria) as such because it was not common to refer to women directly by name in a personal letter but he did so inferring her piety & kindness shown other believers, particularly to itinerant preachers passing by her way. Thus the warning also goes out to her about false Christs bringing false doctrines & teaching, even as he warned believers in his first epistle. Yet in his third epistle, John openly referred to Gaius (a man) by name with a similar testimony of his service as was shown by the elect lady in 2 John.
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