As mentioned in the general note on 1.5–2.11, the first sentence of chapter 2 (ending with a semicolon in Revised Standard Version, but with a period in the Greek texts of the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament and Nestle) interrupts the discourse structure. To mark the interruption one may begin a new paragraph, or one may place the sentence between dashes or brackets. John probably felt that 1.10 might be misunderstood as meaning that sin is inescapable, or even that it is the presupposition of forgiveness. Therefore he now interrupts himself in order to warn his readers that nothing he is about to say must be understood as giving freedom to sin.

My little children, preferably ‘my dear children,’ since the Greek diminutive form expresses intimacy rather than age. The vocative is sometimes to be explicitly marked, for example, by inserting ‘you’ or an exclamatory particle at the beginning of the phrase. The Greek noun occurs in John 13.33, where Jesus is the speaker, and 1 John 2.1, 12, 28; 3.7, 18; 4.4; 5.21. In the present verse and 3.18 the Greek has the possessive pronoun. In the other occurrences this is not the case, but a relationship with the speaker is implied nevertheless, and often it is better made explicit in the receptor language.

The word children is applied here metaphorically to a person’s spiritual children. Accordingly the whole phrase serves as a friendly and intimate form of address used by a teacher towards his disciples or, more generally, by a leading person towards people, not necessarily of a younger generation, who are in need of his advice. In many receptor languages children can be used in such a metaphorical sense. If not, one may have to shift from metaphor to simile, and usually also from address to statement; for example, ‘you are as if you were my own children, therefore I am writing this to you.’

I am writing this to you: here (and in 2.7, 12-14, 21, 26; 5.13, 16) John refers to himself in the singular to give his exhortation a personal effect. In these cases he does not view himself as representative of the eyewitnesses, as he does when using “we” (with exclusive force) in 1.1-4, nor does he include himself with his readers, as he does when using “we” (inclusive) in 1.5-10, and again in the last clause of the present verse, and in 2.2-3, 5. In some receptor languages the use of the pronoun ‘I’ is undesirable under certain circumstances and must be replaced by the speaker’s title, such as ‘teacher.’

Am writing: for this verb form, and for the meaning the verb has here, see comments on 1.4.

By using the pronoun this, that is, ‘this message,’ ‘these things,’ John refers back especially to 1.10, but in a more general way to what he has said in 1.5-10 about sins still existing in the congregation.

So that you may not sin, or “my purpose is that you should not commit sin” (New English Bible), ‘to help you to avoid sin.’ The aorist tense probably indicates that the verb refers to the actual doing of evil (compare 1.10) rather than to an existing or expected inclination to do evil. The same holds true of “does sin” in the next sentence.

But if any one does sin is in strong contrast to the preceding clause. It means to say: in the case that, nevertheless, any one is going to act in a way that is contrary to the way he should act. According to the punctuation of Greek New Testament, this is a new sentence that introduces the reference to the demands and promises of the gospel. As such it contrasts to 1.10 in a way similar to that of 1.7 or 1.9, where each contrasts to the directly preceding verse (see again the general note on 1.5–2.11).

In this clause the writer does not use “we,” including all Christians together, but any one, focussing on individual cases that may exist. The difference should not be pressed, however, as shown by the fact that the next clauses, which continue the line of thought, use “we” again.

We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: the closing phrase, which is in apposition to advocate, serves to explain who the advocate is. To bring this out, an explanatory connective may have to be inserted; for example, ‘that is, Jesus Christ the righteous.’ The adjective righteous is best taken as a predicate, adding a new trait to the argument. It serves to make the reader aware of the fact that Jesus, since he does what is right before God, is man’s most effective advocate with God. His prayers for man are not hindered by sin and therefore will certainly be heard by God (compare John 9.31; James 5.16).

If the clause has to be restructured, one may say, for example, ‘we have an advocate (or, there is someone who pleads for us) with the Father. It is Jesus Christ, who is righteous,’ or ‘Jesus Christ pleads for us with his Father. He does what is right before him.’ The last mentioned rendering is only possible, of course, if the pronoun ‘him’ clearly refers to ‘his Father.’

In the clause we have an advocate with the Father, the verb is in the present tense to indicate that the reference is to what is a fact now and will continue to be so. The preposition with may be interpreted as referring to the place where the advocate is, and so it can be rendered ‘near to,’ ‘before,’ ‘at the side of.’ Or it may refer to the person whom the advocate is to address, namely, the Father. The first interpretation is preferable in view of the syntactic position of the phrase. Ultimately, however, the two interpretations amount much to the same thing, since the fact that Jesus is at the Father’s side implies that he is in the position to address himself to the Father on behalf of his followers. Therefore the second interpretation may be followed, if it suits the context better in the receptor language; for example, ‘Jesus Christ is the one who speaks on our behalf to his Father.’ For the Father see 1.2.

Advocate, literally “who-is-called-to-one’s-side,” is used here in an active meaning, “who comes to a person’s side,” then “who comes to help a person,” either as a counselor who teaches and admonishes (as in John 14.16; 15.26), or as an advocate who pleads one’s case with another person (this is the meaning used here). The latter meaning has been rendered by such expressions as ‘one who speaks on behalf of,’ ‘a beside-us speaker,’ ‘one going between,’ namely, in order to establish or restore friendly relations, ‘one who defends (literally saves by speaking).’

“To be an advocate” and “to intercede” (compare Rom 8.34; Heb 7.25) are two aspects of the function of Christ. Renderings may closely resemble each other, or in some languages they may even need to be combined in one expression.

For righteous see “just” in 1.9. In the Greek the word is without the article here. Some versions take it as a title of Jesus Christ. This is less probable than the interpretation given above, for a title would be in an appositional construction, and that construction normally requires the article in the Greek.

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