The Chosen Lady

“The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth.”  2 John 1:1

The Greek word for “lady” (kuria) is used only two times in the Bible, and both of these occurrences are here in the one-chapter epistle of
2 John. It is also fascinating to note that kuria is the feminine form of kurios, which is the Greek word for “lord.” Evidently this “chosen lady” was a special woman, very highly esteemed by the Apostle John as a capable and conscientious mother to her children.   

It is uncertain however, whether this distinguished lady was a literal mother in the church with literal children or possibly a metaphor for the church itself, with the “children” its individual members. Good reasons can be given for both interpretations, and it may even be that John wrote his letter with this dual meaning mind under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

In either case, it is significant that this mother is called “lady” instead of the much more frequently used “woman” (Greek: gune), or even “mother” (Greek: meter). The Greek, kuria, was evidently used to stress deep respect and honor to such a mother in the church. She clearly was training her children in “the truth,” much as Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois, had brought him up to have “unfeigned faith” in “the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:5, 3:15).

In addition to faith in God’s truth, of course, there should be genuine love. The second use of kuria is in verse 5: “Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another”
(2 John 5).