And now I beg you, lady: the words now I beg you are a common formula in letter writing, used when the writer comes to the subject matter of his letter. For And now see comments on 1 John 2.28.

I beg you implies an exhortation. This exhortative force may be expressed in the dependent clause instead of in the verb; for example, ‘And now I say to you, lady, … that we ought to love one another,’ or ‘And now, lady, … let us (or please, let us) love each other.’

The rest of verse 5 is composed of two parts, (a) not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning, and (b) that we love one another. Part (a) qualifies the preceding exhortation. Except for a few minor differences it repeats 1 John 2.7, which see. Part (b) gives the contents of the exhortation.

Since (b) is directly dependent on “I beg you,” (a) has the character of a parenthetical statement, and a rather long one at that. If this is stylistically undesirable, clause (a) may be transposed to the head of the verse (as in New English Bible and Translators’ Translation) or to its end; compare Good News Translation‘s “and so I ask you, dear Lady: let us love one another. This is no new command I write you; it is a command which we have from the beginning.” Or again, one may divide the verse into two sentences; for example, ‘Lady, I have to make a request of you. No, it is not a new commandment I am writing you, but I point to a commandment we have had from the beginning: let us love one another.’

For that we love one another, compare comments on 1 John 3.11.

Quoted with permission from Haas, C., de Jonge, M. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on The Second Letter of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .