3 John 1:5

Gaius Commended for Hospitality

5 Beloved, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, and especially since they are strangers to you.

3 John 1:5 Meaning and Commentary

3 John 1:5

Beloved, thou doest faithfully
Or a faithful thing, and as became a faithful man, a believer in Christ; in all his beneficence and charity he acted the upright part; he did not do it in an hypocritical way, to be seen of men, and gain applause from them, but from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory of God:

whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;
which may design either different persons; and by "brethren" may be meant the poor brethren of the church that. Gaius belonged to, and others that were well known to him; and by "the strangers", not unconverted persons, but such of the saints as came from foreign parts, and travelled about to spread the Gospel, and enlarge the interest of Christ: or else the same persons may be intended, for the words may be read, as they are in the Alexandrian copy, and some others, and in the Vulgate Latin version, "what thou doest to the brethren, and this to strangers"; that is, as the Arabic version renders it, "to strange brethren"; or, as the Syriac version, "to the brethren, [and] especially [them] that are strangers"; so that Gaius was a very hospitable man, one that entertained and lodged strangers, and used them very civilly and courteously, with great liberality, and with much integrity and sincerity.

3 John 1:5 In-Context

3 For I was overjoyed when the brothers came and testified about your devotion to the truth, in which you continue to walk.

4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

5 Beloved, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, and especially since they are strangers to you.

6 They have testified to the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

7 For they went out on behalf of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.