The truth is there is not a single verse that would justify teaching that John was the one whom “Jesus loved” and yet just assume that this tradition cannot be wrong and then interpret scripture to fit this idea. But if one heeds Ps. 118:8 then the NON-Bible sources on which this man-made tradition rests will fall before the scriptures which prove that NO MATTER WHO this author was he most certainly was not John.

http://www.TheDiscipleWhomJesusLoved.com has a free Bible-only based study that cites what the Bible says about John and contrasts that with what the Bible says about “the other disciple whom Jesus loved” and thereby proves that whoever this unnamed author was he was not John — because the Bible cannot contradict itself.

But one need not read this study if they will just read the fourth gospel from the beginning with the honest question, “Who would I conclude the author was based on just the facts stated in his own gospel?” Those who do so will never come to the conclusion that this “other disciple” was John because NONE of the evidence points toward John.

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” One can choose to ignore the facts stated in the plain text of scripture if they prefer to quote the words of men who quote other men who quote other men but the one thing that non-Bible sources cannot do is cite even a single verse that would justify this idea (and this includes the “dictionary” you cited that promotes the man-made John tradition.)