DIOTREPHES dī ŏt’ rə fez (Διοτρέφης, G1485, nourished by Zeus or foster-child of Zeus). The lone Biblical reference to Diotrephes is 3 John 9 where he is reprimanded for his failure to receive the representatives sent by the author, John. Evidently he had resisted the receiving of a former letter from John (v. 9), had maligned John, refused to grant hospitality to the brethren, and urged that all others of the congregation do likewise (v. 10). John characterizes him as loving “to have the preeminence.”