Texts in Conversation
The Testament of Judah promises that those who receive the spirit will be sons of God in truth and walk in his commandments. 2 John echoes this language, rejoicing that the children are walking in truth.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Testament of Judah 24:2
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
Pseudepigrapha
And after these things shall a star arise to you from Jacob in peace, And a man shall arise [from my seed], like the sun of righteousness, walking with the sons of men in meekness and righteousness; And no sin shall be found in him. and the heavens shall be open unto him, To pour out the spirit, (even) the blessing of the Holy Father; And He shall pour out the spirit of grace upon you; And ye shall be unto Him sons in truth, And ye shall walk in His commandments first and last. [This Branch of God Most High, And this Fountain giving life unto all.] Then shall the sceptre of my kingdom shine forth; And from your root shall arise a stem; And from it shall grow a rod of righteousness to the Gentiles, To judge and to save all that call upon the Lord.
2 John 1:4
New Testament
3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4 I rejoiced greatly because I have found some of your children living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 But now I ask you, lady (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the beginning), that we love one another.
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Notes and References
“... The verb ‘walk’ (peripatein), describing an ethical behavior, is widely used in the New Testament: compare Mark 7:5: ‘walking according to the tradition of the elders’; Acts 21:21: ‘walking according to the customs [of the Jews]’; Romans 14:15 and Ephesians 5:2: ‘Walking according to [or in] love’; Colossians 4:5: ‘Walk in wisdom’; and Ephesians 5:8: ‘Walk as children of the light.’ However, the idiom is quite Johannine; in the Epistles we find ‘to walk in truth’ 3 times (Second John 4; Third John 3, 4); ‘to walk in/according to commandments’ 2 times (Second John 6); and ‘to walk as Jesus walked’ once (First John 2:6). ... In the Qumran writings the life pattern is described as ‘the ways of truth’ (1QS 4:17) with a warning against behaving treacherously ‘in departing from the truth’ (1QS 7:18). Synonymous expressions include: ‘to live one’s life in truth’ (Letter of Aristeas 260); and ‘You shall be God’s sons in truth and go in His commandments first and last’ (Testament of Judah 24:3). ...
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