Diotrephes appears only in 3 John 9 as a church leader who opposed the apostle John's authority and refused to welcome traveling missionaries. His name means 'nourished/cherished by Zeus,' a common Greek theophoric name. John criticizes him for loving to have the preeminence, spreading malicious gossip about the apostles, and excommunicating those who showed hospitality to John's messengers. He represents early church power struggles and the danger of authoritarianism divorced from apostolic teaching.