BIBLE NAMES REVEALED | ELECT LADY

1. Bible Names Revealed

a) The Bible is an historic record of real people and places. Learn who's who, their relationships, and the meaning of their names.

2. Elect Lady

a) The person to whom the Second Epistle of John is addressed (2 John 1:1). 

2 John 1:1 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Elder,

To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth.

b) Some think that the word rendered “lady” is a proper name, and thus that the expression should be “elect Kyria.”  

i) Kuria is the feminine equivalent of kurios. The definitions for kurios: 

@1. “who is in charge by virtue of possession”, and 

@2. “one who is in position of authority.” Kurios is a very common New Testament word, occasionally translated into English as “master” or “sir”, but usually translated as “lord”.

ii) In the New Testament, the word kuria occurs only in 2 John 1:1 & 5. The kuria of 2 John was literally a “lady”, meaning, she was probably of aristocratic birth and / or elevated socio-economic standing.  Or perhaps the word kuria was already being used simply as a title of respect, as it was in later centuries. We believe that kuria was this woman’s title, but others believe it may have been her name.
 
iii) Athanasius was possibly among the first to propose that Kyria (a common transliteration of kuria) was actually the woman’s name. John Wesley also believed that Kyria was the woman’s name. In his explanatory notes on John’s second letter, Wesley claims that “Kyria is undoubtedly a proper name, both here in 2 John 1:1 and in 2 John 1:5; for it was not then usual to apply the title of lady to any but the Roman empress.”  Claims that it was rare for kuria to be used as a proper name and that its (rare) use as a proper name was late; (i.e. at a later time than the time of the writing of the New Testament).  Yet, it is grammatically plausible that the recipient of 2 John was a woman named Kyria. 

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