independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
The elder to Gaius: prayer and joy 1:1–4
1
The elder to the beloved Gaius,independent — the superscription — Ὁ πρεσβύτερος, the same self-designation as 2 John; no verb, no grace-formula: the barest letter opening in the NT
whom I love in truth.relative — ἐγώ emphatic; ἐν ἀληθείᾳ — the keyword sounds at once: six times in the first four verses
2
Beloved, in all things I prayindependent — the first Ἀγαπητέ (again vv. 5, 11) — περὶ πάντων read with the wish: 'in all respects'
that you may prosper and be in health,content — the wish — the conventional health-wish of the Hellenistic papyrus letter, about to be christianized
even as your soul prospers.comparative — the measure — Gaius's prospering soul is the benchmark his body is prayed up to
3
For I rejoiced greatlycause — γάρ — how the elder knows the soul prospers: the ground of the confident prayer
when brothers cameparticipial — genitive absolute — present participle: brothers kept arriving, visit after visit
and testified to your truth,participial — the coordinate genitive absolute — σου τῇ ἀληθείᾳ: the truth that is Gaius's own
even as you walk in the truth.comparative — the fact matching the report — σύ emphatic: you really do so walk
4
I have no greater joy than this,independent — μειζοτέραν — a double comparative ('more greater'): the elder's emphasis outruns his grammar
that I hear of my children walking in the truth.content — epexegetic ἵνα — the content of the joy, not its aim; τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα: Gaius counted among them
Commendation of Gaius's hospitality 1:5–8
5
Beloved, you act faithfullyindependent — the second Ἀγαπητέ — πιστὸν ποιεῖς: fidelity shown in deeds, the letter turned to its business
in whatever you do for the brothersrelative — indefinite relative (ὃ ἐάν) — whatever the labor, it counts as faithful work
— and that, for strangers —phrase modifier — ascensive καὶ τοῦτο — 'and that, strangers': brothers Gaius had never met
6
who have testified to your love before the church;relative — the travelers' report — testimony to Gaius's ἀγάπη, delivered before the elder's assembled church
them you will do well to send on their way worthily of God,relative — the relative sliding into request — καλῶς ποιήσεις + participle, the papyri's polite-imperative idiom ('please send them on'); ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ sets the standard of provision
7
for they went out for the sake of the Name,cause — γάρ — why God-worthy provision is owed: ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος, the Name absolute
accepting nothing from the Gentiles.participial — the missionaries' policy — nothing from the pagans they evangelize; support must come from the churches
8
Therefore we ought to support such men,independent — οὖν — the inference; ἡμεῖς emphatic: we, not the ἐθνικοί, are the ones obliged; ὑπολαμβάνειν answers λαμβάνοντες
that we may become fellow workers with the truth.purpose — the aim — συνεργοὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ: the host becomes co-worker of the truth itself
Diotrephes, who loves preeminence 1:9–10
9
I wrote something to the church;independent — the lost letter — ἔγραψά τι: something written to the church, evidently suppressed on arrival
but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not receive us.independent — the adversative — φιλοπρωτεύων, 'who loves to be first' (a NT hapax): the ambition named before the man; οὐκ ἐπιδέχεται ἡμᾶς — the elder's emissaries, and his authority, refused
10
For this reason, if I come,conditional — protasis — leans on ὑπομνήσω below; διὰ τοῦτο points back at the refusal of v. 9; ἐὰν ἔλθω anticipates the visit hoped for at v. 14
I will call to remembrance the worksindependent — the apodosis — ὑπομνήσω: not vengeance but public exposure, deeds recited before the church
that he does,relative — the deeds specified — present tense: ongoing conduct
prating against us with evil words;participial — φλυαρῶν — 'prating': bubbling malicious nonsense against us
and not content with that,participial — the escalation — words were not enough; leans on the three indictments below
he himself does not receive the brothers,independent — first indictment — αὐτός: he refuses the traveling brothers in his own person
and those who would, he forbidsindependent — second — τοὺς βουλομένους: members willing to host are prevented
and casts them out of the church.independent — third — ἐκβάλλει: excommunication wielded by the man who loves to be first
Imitate good, not evil: the witness to Demetrius 1:11–12
11
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.independent — the third Ἀγαπητέ — the letter's one command to Gaius: a choice between the example just shown and the one about to be named
The one who does good is of God;independent — the positive maxim — asyndeton: doing good is the family mark of being ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ
the one who does evil has not seen God.independent — the antithesis — Johannine idiom (cf. 1 Jn 3:6, 10): the evildoer has never seen God
12
Demetrius has testimony borne to him by allindependent — Demetrius — likely the letter's bearer, commended sight unseen; μεμαρτύρηται perfect: testimony on standing record
and by the truth itself;phrase modifier — the second witness — αὐτῆς τῆς ἀληθείας: the letter's keyword now personified as a character witness
and we also testify,independent — the third witness — καὶ ἡμεῖς δέ: the elder adds his own attestation
and you knowindependent — the appeal to Gaius's own knowledge
that our testimony is true.content — echo of Jn 21:24 / 19:35 — 'and you know that our testimony is true'
Closing: hope to see you, peace, greetings 1:13–15
13
I had many things to write to you,independent — the close begins — nearly verbatim with 2 Jn 12; εἶχον imperfect: much was there to say
but I do not wish to write to you with ink and pen;independent — the adversative — διὰ μέλανος καὶ καλάμου: ink and reed pen, the epistolary tools declined
14
but I hope to see you soon,independent — the hope — the visit threatened toward Diotrephes (v. 10) is desire toward Gaius
and we will speak face to face.independent — στόμα πρὸς στόμα — 'mouth to mouth', as in 2 Jn 12: presence preferred over paper
15
Peace to you.independent — the shalom-greeting — verbless, in place of the usual grace-benediction
The friends greet you.independent — οἱ φίλοι — 'the friends', a rare NT name for believers (cf. Jn 15:14–15)
Greet the friends by name.independent — κατ' ὄνομα — by name, one by one (cf. Jn 10:3: the shepherd calls his own sheep by name)
Analysis. The shortest book of the New Testament reads here as a study in flush-left plainness interrupted by exactly one deep sentence. The letter's spine is its three vocatives — Ἀγαπητέ at vv. 2, 5, and 11 — each opening a movement (prayer, commendation, command), while the keyword ἀλήθεια threads every section: loved in truth, walking in the truth, co-workers with the truth, the truth itself called as witness. The one chaining period is the hospitality sentence of vv. 5–7, where πιστὸν ποιεῖς steps down through the indefinite relative, the ascensive καὶ τοῦτο ξένους, the paired relatives οἳ/οὕς, and a γάρ-ground to the letter's greatest depth (four columns) at μηδὲν λαμβάνοντες — the whole case for supporting the missionaries built as one descent. Interpretive choices the layout takes a side on: the ἵνα of v. 4 is epexegetic (the content of the joy, not its purpose) and hangs under χαράν; the genitive absolutes of v. 3 attach to ἐχάρην as its occasion, with the καθώς-clause tied to the testifying, not the rejoicing; οὓς καλῶς ποιήσεις (v. 6) is kept one line and read as the papyri's polite-request idiom, with v. 7's γάρ grounding that request rather than the whole paragraph; in v. 10 the finite verbs after μὴ ἀρκούμενος ἐπὶ τούτοις are set flush-left as three coordinate indictments, with the participle leaning forward on them (like a protasis) rather than anchored back; and the antithetical maxims of v. 11 stand as asyndetic main clauses — implicit grounds for μὴ μιμοῦ but not subordinated to it. Diotrephes and Demetrius thus sit at the same depth, all main verbs: the layout's point is that the letter judges the two men side by side and asks Gaius only to choose whom to imitate.