Short answer
The name Electa does not appear in the Bible in most English translations. The traditional story of Electa, in which she refuses to renounce her faith and is martyred, comes from the ritual of a fraternal organization, not from Scripture. What the Bible does contain is a short letter, 2 John, addressed to “the elect lady and her children.” Who she was has long been debated, and a recent scholarly proposal suggests that “Electa” could have been her actual name.
What 2 John actually says
Second John opens: “The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth” (2 John 1, KJV). It ends: “The children of thy elect sister greet thee” (2 John 13, KJV). The letter is only thirteen verses. It encourages love and obedience to God’s commands, and warns against teachers who deny that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (verses 5-11). It also mentions that the writer hopes to visit “face to face.”
That is all the text provides. It does not say where she lived, what she did, or what happened to her.
Who was the elect lady?
The Greek words are eklekte kyria. Christians have read them in several ways:
- A particular woman. Many readers think the letter was sent to a real woman who led a household and probably hosted a church in her home. Her children would be her family, or possibly her spiritual children.
- A local church. Others, including many ancient and medieval commentators, take “lady” as a figure for a congregation, and her “sister” as a sister church. In this view, the “children” are the members.
- A woman named Kyria. Because kyria is the Greek word for “lady,” some have thought it was a proper name.
- A woman named Eklekte (Electa). A more recent proposal, below.
Each reading has supporters, and the short letter does not settle the matter.
A recent proposal: her name was Electa
Lincoln Blumell, a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, argues in Lady Eclecte: The Lost Woman of the New Testament (Fortress Press, 2025) that the recipient’s name was Eklekte, the Greek form of the Latin name Electa. His argument is that early manuscripts and other ancient evidence such as papyri and inscriptions show the name was in use, and that copying errors may have hidden it.
This is one scholar’s argument, and as of this writing it has not become the settled view. Critics point out that the same word, eklekte, also appears in verse 13 (“The children of thy elect sister greet thee,” KJV), where it is hard to read as a second personal name, so they take it as the adjective “elect” or “chosen” in both places. Translations have not changed. If you want to weigh it, look for scholars and reviews beyond the author’s own circle. It is a good example of how careful study can still raise fresh questions about familiar texts.
Electa in the Order of the Eastern Star
Many people who search for Electa meet her through the Order of the Eastern Star, an organization associated with Freemasonry that began in the nineteenth century. Its ritual honors five heroines, often listed as Adah (the daughter), Ruth (the widow), Esther (the wife), Martha (the sister) and Electa (the mother), each linked with a point of the star.
In that tradition, Electa is linked to the elect lady of 2 John and is associated with qualities such as charity and endurance. Some retellings add a martyrdom story. Accounts like that are traditional, they are not found in the Bible, and no early source for them has been identified here.
Is the story biblical?
The answer depends on what you mean:
- Is there a biblical letter to an elect lady? Yes, 2 John.
- Does the Bible tell the story of her arrest and martyrdom? No. Such accounts appear in later tradition, and no independent early Christian source for them has been identified here.
- Is the name Electa in Scripture? Not in standard translations, though it may be, if the recent proposal holds up.
So treat the martyrdom story as a devotional tradition, valued by those who share it, but not as Scripture or as established history. Members of the Order of the Eastern Star may well find real meaning in it, and that can be respected while the distinction is kept clear.
“The only female apostle?”
People also ask who the only female apostle in the Bible is. The Bible does not describe any woman as one of the Twelve. Two names often come up:
- Junia. In Romans 16:7 Paul greets Andronicus and Junia, “of note among the apostles.” Many scholars, and many early commentators, take Junia to be a woman and to be counted among the apostles in the broader sense of “sent ones,” though some translators and interpreters read the phrase as “well known to the apostles” instead. Interpreters differ.
- Mary Magdalene. Christian tradition has long called her “apostle to the apostles” because she was first to proclaim the resurrection (John 20:17-18). It is a title from tradition, not Scripture.
Electa is not described as an apostle.
What to take from 2 John
Whoever she was, the letter shows an early Christian household or community holding to truth and love together. The writer commends those who walk in truth (verse 4), reminds them to love one another (verse 5), and cautions about hospitality to those teaching falsehood (verses 10-11). Those themes are worth reflecting on, and they stand without the added story.
Discussion questions
- How do we tell the difference between what Scripture says and what tradition adds?
- Why might early Christians have addressed a letter to a woman who hosted a church?
- What does 2 John say about balancing love and truth? (For the New Testament’s wider warnings about false teachers, see what the wolf means in the Bible.)
- How do you respond to new scholarly proposals about familiar texts?
- For another New Testament figure whose story is partly known and partly debated, see lessons from the Samaritan woman.