The letter does not give the name of the author but was probably written by the Apostle John near the end of his life. The content of 2 John is similar to the content in John's Gospel.
John addressed this letter to someone he called "the chosen lady" and to "her children" (1:1). This could refer to a specific friend and her children. Or it could refer to a specific group of believers or to believers in general. John's purpose in writing this letter was to warn his audience about false teachers. John did not want believers helping or giving money to false teachers.