“I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.”
King James Version (KJV)
1:9 I wrote to the church - Probably that to which they came. But Diotrephes - Perhaps the pastor of it. Who loveth to have the preeminence among them - To govern all things according to his own will. Receiveth us not - Neither them nor me. So did the mystery of iniquity already work!
3Jo 1:9 I wrote unto the church. Of which Gaius was a member. The letter referred to is not extant. But Diotrephes. This man is not elsewhere named. He was evidently an ambitious and unscrupulous church official, who Receiveth us not, that is, rebelled against the apostle's authority, and who refused to heed the letter. The letter may have been sent by those whom Gaius entertained.