Diotrephes
Diot'rephes (Διοτρεφής, Jove-nourished), a person who seems to have been one of the false teachers condemned by the apostle John in his third epistle. A.D. cir. 90. He appears to have been a presbyter or dean con, probably the former. He refused to receive a former letter sent by John, thereby declining to submit to his directions or acknowledge his authority, moreover circulating malicious slanders against the apostle, and exercising an undue, arbitrary, and pernicious influence (φιλοπρωτεύων) in the church (3Jo 1:9-10). SEE GAIUS. Neander suggests (Planting and Training, 2:73) that he may have been of an ultra-Pauline party, the forerunner of Marcion (q.v.).
