12a

Demetrius: (New Participant) This is not the same Demetrius as in Acts 19:24. He is someone who John is introducing to Gaius.

everyone: (Figure of Speech) This is an exaggeration. John means everyone in the church, or everyone who knew Demetrius, not everyone everywhere.

12b

from the truth itself: (Figure of Speech) Here John personifies God’s truth as a person who speaks well about Demetrius. He means that Demetrius puts God’s truth into practice in his life and this shows that he is a good person.

12c–d

We…our: (Pronoun Reference) John is again referring to himself. See New English Bible, Revised Standard Version, Living Bible. See also the note on verse 9.

12d

our testimony: (Meaning) This means whatever John says about anyone, including what he says about Demetrius.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.