For peace be to you (in the Greek literally “peace to you”) compare comments on “peace will be with us” in 2 John 3. The Greek construction of two nouns not connected by a verb may serve to express a fact or a wish. Here the latter is the case, as brought out by such renderings as ‘I wish you peace,’ ‘I wish/hope that you may have peace.’

The friends greet you: the reference is to disciples and close associates of “the elder” in the congregation from which he is writing. If a possessive pronoun is obligatory, one may say ‘my friends,’ or (since Gaius is one of the writer’s friends also), ‘our (inclusive) friends.’ In some cases it is preferable to add a locative qualification, ‘the/my/our friends here (or at my place).’

Friends indicates a relationship of mutual affection and obligations, here one that is based on the common faith. Renderings sometimes cover also the concept “companion” or “associate,” or are descriptive; for example, ‘people whom I love/like,’ ‘people who love/like me,’ ‘people who are devoted to me.’ For “to greet” in this and the next sentence, see comments on 2 John 13.

Greet the friends, or ‘the/my/our friends,’ namely, those persons in Gaius’s congregation who belonged to the group faithful to the elder, and who consequently were on the side of Gaius and Demetrius, not on that of Diotrephes. This is usually clear from the context. Where this is not so one may say ‘the/my/our friends with you (or at your place).’

Every one of them is in the Greek “name by name.” This expression was commonly used by letter writers in connection with individual greetings. It need not imply that “the friends” were only few. Other renderings used are “each one by name” (Translators’ Translation, similarly Bible de Jérusalem), “personally/individually” (Good News Translation, New English Bible), ‘one by one.’ The verb may have to be repeated; for example, ‘you should greet them (or yes, greet them) one by one.’

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