The Apostolic Fathers · AD 70–130
Gaius, Friend of the Elder
fl. c. 90 (death unrecorded) · Host of traveling brethren · Asia
The Apostolic Fathers
Who Gaius, Friend of the Elder was
The addressee of 3 John — “the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth” — praised for keeping his door open to the traveling brethren whom Diotrephes shut out: “thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers.” The shortest book of the New Testament is, in effect, a letter of commendation entrusted to his hospitality. “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” — the Elder’s line to him became every pastor’s.
3 John only; the Constitutions' Gaius of Pergamum is not securely the same man.
Common questions
When was Gaius, Friend active?
Gaius, Friend of the Elder is dated fl. c. 90 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Gaius, Friend in the Apostolic Fathers (AD 70–130). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Gaius, Friend?
Gaius, Friend of the Elder is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from The Elder (John). Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Gaius, Friend from?
The archive associates Gaius, Friend of the Elder with Asia.
Who were Gaius, Friend’s contemporaries?
The archive links Gaius, Friend of the Elder to 5 other figures, including John the Presbyter (“The Elder”), Diotrephes, Demetrius the Commended and John the Apostle. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Scripture record
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
3 John 1:4
c. AD 95I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.The Elder (John) · read ↗
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 30 · Crucifixion, Resurrection and Pentecost, AD 30–33
- AD 44 · Persecution under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44
- AD 49 · The Council of Jerusalem, AD 49
- AD 57 · Paul writes Romans, AD 57
- AD 62 · James the Just stoned, AD 62
- AD 64 · The Great Fire and Nero’s persecution, AD 64
- AD 70 · The fall of Jerusalem, AD 70
- AD 95 · Domitian’s reprisals, AD 95
- AD 96 · Rome writes to Corinth: 1 Clement, AD 96
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Gaius, Friend.
- 1Asiaprovince only