is provided with a ὅτι-clause as its premise: ὅτι πολλοὶ ψευδοπροφῆται ἐξεληλύθασιν εἰς τὸν κόσμον (“for many false prophets have gone out into the world”). The ψευδοπροφῆται (“false prophets”) are undoubtedly the false teachers, and it is probable that the author has in mind the false prophets prophesied for the endtime (Mk 13:22*; Matt 24:11*, 24*). He therefore historicizes the prophesied eschatological phenomenon in the same way as the prophecy of the antichrist in 2:18* and