214 Luca Marulli necessity imposed by nature, reason, or duty: e.g., John 13,14; 19,7; Luke 17,10; Acts 17,29; Rom 15,1.27; 1 Cor 5,10; 9,10 (47). Read in this way, this section (vv. 5-8) starts off with an implicit suggestion (“you do faithfully whatever you work for the brothers”, v. 5), goes through a cautious request (“you will do well to send them…” v. 6), and reaches its own climax in the explicit commission of v. 8a: “we have to receive them”. As Watson rightly argued, vv. 7-8 form an incomplete syllogism (enthymeme), where the unstated premise of v. 7 seems to be “[a]nyone who sets out for the sake of the name is worthy of support from fellow Christians” (48). The Elder confronts Gaius with the non-supportive attitude of the heathens, and then commends the required Christian attitude. It is clear at this point that Gaius is invited to act upon an appeal to an ethic of honor. Though Gaius might have been convinced that he himself was an honorable man because of his status or his embodiment of actions and qualities commonly considered honorable, the Elder asks him to achieve further honor by meeting the expectations of those whom Gaius regards as significant others (the Elder and the Elder’s congregation), who in fact have already born witness of Gaius commitment (“…some of the brethren…bore witness of your truth”, v. 3). The attitude expected from Gaius is also based on theological premises: the Elder concludes this section by affirming the necessity of receiving the brothers “so that we might be co-workers of the truth” (i{na sunergoi; ginwvmeqa th/' ajlhqeiva/, v. 8b) (49). The word alhqeia (50) here is obviously connected to v. 1, where the Elder make a jv connection between Gaius and himself, and with vv. 3-4, which praise Gaius for the truth that is in him and for walking in the truth. The Elder makes it clear that it is a natural and reasonable expectation for Gaius to be (or become) a co-worker with the truth itself. d) Condemnation of Diotrephes (vv. 9-10) What follows next is perhaps the most interesting section of the letter. The Elder introduces a new character in his attempt to convince (47) ojfeivlw, in J.H. THAYER, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (New York – Cincinnati – Chicago 1889) 469. (48) WATSON, “Rhetorical Analysis”, 494-495, quoting Aristotle, Rhet. 1,2,1357a.13-14; 2,22-26; Quintilian, Inst. 5,10,1-3; 5,14,1-4.24-26. (49) Cf. Rom 16,3.9; Phil 4,3; Phlm 24. For the use of the cognate verb sunergew see 1 Cor 16,16 and PSI 376, 969. v (50) th'/ ajlhqeiva/ seems here to be best translated as a simple dative, not as a dative of advantage (for the sake of the truth). See WATSON, “Rhetorical Analysis”, 495 and BROWN, John, 714.