26 Gk. τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀποστóλοις αὐτοῦ ϰαὶ πϱοφήταις.
26Gk. τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀποστóλοις αὐτοῦ ϰαὶ πϱοφήταις.
27The use of ἅγιος as an adjective has a different nuance from its use as a substantive in the plural to denote the people of God in general, the “saints.” The few textual witnesses which omit ἀποστóλοις here make the wording conform to Col. 1:26 (but add “prophets” to “saints”). OT prophets are qualified as “holy” in Luke 1:70; Acts 3:21.
28C. H. Dodd, The Johannine Epistles (London, 1946), p. 105.
29Here and in Eph. 2:20 ἀπóστολοι and πϱοφῆται come under the regimen of a common article, but “Granville Sharpe’s first rule” cannot be pressed in this instance to make the apostles and prophets the same persons, since in Eph. 4:11 (cf. 1 Cor. 12:28) they are distinct orders of ministry.
30A free quotation of Gen. 22:18 (12:3; 18:18; 26:4).