Text -- Titus 1:5 (NET)

Titus’ Task on Crete

1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set in order the remaining matters and to appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: Tit 1:5

For this cause ( toutou charin ).

In N.T. only here and Eph 3:1, Eph 3:14. Paul may be supplementing oral instruction as in Timothy’ s case and may even be replying to a letter from Titus (Zahn).

Robertson: Tit 1:5

Left I thee in Crete ( apeleipon se en Krētēi ).

This is the imperfect active of apoleipō , though MSS. give the aorist active also (apelipon ) and some read kateleipon or katelipon . Both are common verbs, though Paul uses kataleipō only in 1Th 3:1 except two quotations (Rom 11:4; Eph 5:31) and apoleipō only here and 2Ti 4:13, 2Ti 4:20. Perhaps apoleipō suggests a more temporary stay than kataleipō . Paul had apparently stopped in Crete on his return from Spain about a.d. 65.

Robertson: Tit 1:5

That thou shouldest set in order ( hina epidiorthōsēi ).

Late and rare double compound (inscriptions, here only in N.T.), first aorist middle subjunctive (final clause with hina ) of epidiorthoō , to set straight (orthoō ) thoroughly (dia ) in addition (epi ), a clean job of it.

Robertson: Tit 1:5

The things that were wanting ( ta leiponta ).

"The things that remain."See note on 2Ti 3:13; Luk 18:22. Either things left undone or things that survive. In both senses the new pastor faces problems after the tornado has passed. Parry takes it "of present defects"in Cretan character.

Robertson: Tit 1:5

And appoint ( kai katastēsēis ).

Final clause still and first aorist active subjunctive of kathistēmi , the word used in Act 6:13 about the deacons. The word does not preclude the choice by the churches (in every city, kata polin , distributive use of kata ). This is a chief point in the epidorthōsis (White).

Robertson: Tit 1:5

Elders ( presbuterous ).

See note on 1Ti 3:2; 1Ti 4:14.

Robertson: Tit 1:5

As I gave thee charge ( hōs egō soi dietaxamēn ).

First aorist (constative) middle imperative of diatassō , clear reference to previous personal details given to Titus on previous occasions.

Vincent: Tit 1:5

In Crete

Crete is one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean. By the mythological writers it was called Aeria, Doliche, Idaea, Telchinia. According to tradition, Minos first gave laws to the Cretans, conquered the Aegean pirates, and established a navy. After the Trojan war the principal cities of the island formed themselves into several republics, mostly independent. The chief cities were Cnossus, Cydonia, Gortyna, and Lyctus. Crete was annexed to the Romans Empire b.c. 67. About Paul's visiting the island we have no information whatever beyond the hints in this Epistle. There is no absolute proof that Paul was ever there before the voyage to Rome. Although on that voyage some time appears to have been spent at Crete, there is no notice of Paul having received any greeting from the members of the Christian churches there. According to this Epistle, Paul and Titus had worked there together. Paul went away, and left Titus to organize the churches founded by himself. He sent this letter by Zenas and Apollos (Tit 3:13), and announced in it the coming of Artemas or of Tychicus. On their arrival Titus was to join Paul at Nicopolis, where Paul was proposing to winter.

Vincent: Tit 1:5

Shouldst set in order ( ἐπιδιορθώσῃ )

N.T.o . Lit. to set straight besides or farther ; that is, should arrange what remained to be set in order after Paul's departure. Used by medical writers of setting broken limbs or straightening crooked ones. Διόρθωσις reformation , Heb 9:10 : διόρθωμα correction , Act 24:3.

Vincent: Tit 1:5

Ordain elders ( καταστήσῃς πρεσβυτέρους )

Καθιστάναι appoint or constitute . In Paul only Rom 5:19. For the sense here comp. Mat 24:45, Mat 24:47; Luk 12:14; Act 6:3. The meaning of the injunction is, that Titus should appoint, out of the number of elderly men of approved Christian reputation, certain ones to be overseers (ἐπίσκοποι ) of the churches in the several cities. The eldership was not a distinct church office. See on 1Ti 5:1.

Vincent: Tit 1:5

I had appointed ( διεταξάμην )

Better, I gave thee charge . Mostly in Luke and Acts.

Wesley: Tit 1:5

Which I had not time to settle myself.

Wesley: Tit 1:5

Appoint the most faithful, zealous men to watch over the rest. Their character follows, Tit 1:6-9. These were the elders, or bishops, that Paul approved of; - men that had living faith, a pure conscience, a blameless life.

JFB: Tit 1:5

"I left thee behind" [ALFORD] when I left the island: not implying permanence of commission (compare 1Ti 1:3).

JFB: Tit 1:5

Now Candia.

JFB: Tit 1:5

Rather as Greek, "that thou mightest follow up (the work begun by me), setting right the things that are wanting," which I was unable to complete by reason of the shortness of my stay in Crete. Christianity, doubtless, had long existed in Crete: there were some Cretans among those who heard Peter's preaching on Pentecost (Act 2:11). The number of Jews in Crete was large (Tit 1:10), and it is likely that those scattered in the persecution of Stephen (Act 11:19) preached to them, as they did to the Jews of Cyprus, &c. Paul also was there on his voyage to Rome (Act 27:7-12). By all these instrumentalities the Gospel was sure to reach Crete. But until Paul's later visit, after his first imprisonment at Rome, the Cretan Christians were without Church organization. This Paul began, and had commissioned (before leaving Crete) Titus to go on with, and now reminds him of that commission.

JFB: Tit 1:5

Rather, "appoint," "constitute."

JFB: Tit 1:5

"from city to city."

JFB: Tit 1:5

That is, as I directed thee; prescribing as well the act of constituting elders, as also the manner of doing so, which latter includes the qualifications required in a presbyter presently stated. Those called "elders" here are called "bishops" in Tit 1:7. Elder is the term of dignity in relation to the college of presbyters; bishop points to the duties of his office in relation to the flock. From the unsound state of the Cretan Christians described here, we see the danger of the want of Church government. The appointment of presbyters was designed to check idle talk and speculation, by setting forth the "faithful word."

Clarke: Tit 1:5

For this cause left I thee in Crete - That St. Paul had been in Crete, though nowhere else intimated, is clear from this passage. That he could not have made such an important visit, and evangelized an island of the first consequence, without its being mentioned by his historian, Luke, had it happened during the period embraced in the Acts of the Apostles, must be evident. That the journey, therefore, must have been performed after the time in which St. Luke ends his history, that is, after St. Paul’ s first imprisonment at Rome, seems almost certain

Clarke: Tit 1:5

Set in order the things that are wanting - It appears from this that the apostle did not spend much time in Crete, and that he was obliged to leave it before he had got the Church properly organized. The supplying of this defect, he tells Titus, he had confided to him as one whose spiritual views coincided entirely with his own

Clarke: Tit 1:5

Ordain elders in every city - That thou mightest appoint, καταστησῃς, elders - persons well instructed in Divine things, who should be able to instruct others, and observe and enforce the discipline of the Church. It appears that those who are called elders in this place are the same as those termed bishops in Tit 1:7. We have many proofs that bishops and elders were of the same order in the apostolic Church, though afterwards they became distinct. Lord Peter King, in his view of the primitive Church, has written well on this subject

In every city. - Κατα πολιν . This seems to intimate that the apostle had gone over the whole of the hecatompolis or hundred cities for which this island was celebrated. Indeed it is not likely that he would leave one in which he had not preached Christ crucified.

Calvin: Tit 1:5

5.For this reason I left thee in Crete This preface clearly proves, that Titus is not so much admonished on his own account as recommended to others, that no one may hinder him. Paul testifies that he has appointed him in his own room; and on that account all should acknowledge and receive him with reverence as the Apostle’s deputy. The apostles had no fixed place assigned to them, but were charged to spread the gospel through the whole world; and for this reason, when they left one city or district to go to another, they were wont to place fit men as their substitutes, to complete the work which they had begun. Thus Paul affirms that he founded the church of the Corinthians, but that there were other workmen, ²¹⁴ who must build on his foundation, that is, carry forward the building.

This, indeed, belongs to all pastors; for the churches will always stand in need of increase and progress, as long as the world shall endure. But in addition to the ordinary office of pastors, the care of organizing the church was committed to Titus. Till the churches have been already organized, and reduced to some order, pastors were not usually appointed over them. But Titus held some additional charge, which consisted in giving a form to churches that had not yet been properly arranged, and in appointing a fixed kind of government accompanied by discipline. Having laid the foundation, Paul departed; and then it became the duty of Titus to carry the work higher, that the building might have fair proportions.

This is what he calls correcting those things which are still wanting. The building of the Church is not a work so easy that it can be brought all at once to perfection. How long Paul was in Crete — is uncertain; but he had spent some time there, and had faithfully devoted his labors to erect the kingdom of Christ. He did not lack the most consummate skill that can be found in man; he was unwearied in toil; and yet he acknowledged that he left the work rough and incomplete. Hence we see the difficulty; and, indeed, we find, by experience, in the present day, that it is not the labor of one or two years to restore fallen. churches to a tolerable condition. Accordingly, those who have made diligent progress for many years — must still be attentive to correct many things. ²¹⁵

Here it is highly proper to observe the modesty of Paul who willingly permits another person to complete the work which he had begun. And, indeed, although Titus is greatly inferior to him, he does not refuse to have him forἐπανορθωτήν a “corrector,” to give the finishing hand to his work. Such ought to be the dispositions of godly teachers; not that every one should labor to make everything bend to his own ambitious views, but that they should strive to assist each other, and that, when any one has labored more successfully, he should be congratulated and not envied by all the rest.

And yet we must not imagine that Paul intended that Titus should correct those things which he had left undone, either through ignorance, or forgetfulness, or carelessness, but those things which he could not finish on account of the shortness of the time. In short, he enjoined Titus to make that correction which he would himself have made, if he had remained longer in Crete; not by varying — not by changing anything, but by adding what was wanting; because the difficulty of such a work does not allow every part of it to be done in a single day.

And appoint presbyters in each city ²¹⁶ In the spiritual building this nearly comes next to doctrine, that pastors be ordained, to take charge of governing the Church; and therefore Paul mentions it here in preference to everything else. It is a point which ought to be carefully observed, that churches cannot safely remain without the ministry of pastors, and that consequently, wherever there is a considerable body of people, a pastor should be appointed over it. And yet he does not say that each town shall have a pastor, so that no place shall have more than one; but he means that no towns shall be destitute of pastors

Presbyters or elders. It is well known, that it was not on account of age, that they received this appellation; for sometimes those who were still young — such as Timothy — were admitted to this rank. But in all languages it has been customary to apply this honorable designation to all rulers. Although we may conclude, from 1Ti 5:17, that there were two classes of presbyters, the context will immediately show, that here none other than teachers are meant, that is, those who were ordained to teach; for immediately afterwards, he will call the same persons “bishops.”

But it may be thought that he gives too much power to Titus, when he bids him appoint ministers for all the churches. That would be almost royal power. Besides, this method takes away from each church the right of choosing, and from the College of Pastors the power of judging; and thus the sacred administration of the Church would be almost wholly profaned. The answer is easy. He does not give permission to Titus, that he alone may do everything in this matter, and may place over the churches those whom he thinks fit to appoint to be bishops; but only bids him preside, as moderator, at the elections, which is quite necessary. This mode of expression is very common. In the same manner, a consul, or regent, or dictator is said to have created consuls, on account of having presided over the public assembly in electing them. Thus also Luke relates that Paul and Barnabas ordained elders in every church. (Act 14:23.) Not that they alone, in an authoritative manner, appointed pastors which the churches had neither approved nor known; but that they ordained fit men, who had been chosen or desired by the people. From this passage we do indeed learn, that there was not at that time such equality among the ministers of Christ but that some one had authority and deliberative voice above others; but this has nothing to do with the tyrannical and profane custom which prevails in Popery as to Collations. The apostles had a widely different mode of procedure.

Defender: Tit 1:5

The "elders" and "bishops" (Tit 1:7) are the same. See 1Ti 3:1-7 for the qualifications of bishops and deacons."

TSK: Tit 1:5

I left, 1Ti 1:3

Crete : Act 2:11, Act 27:7, Act 27:12, Act 27:21

set : 1Ch 6:32; Ecc 12:9; Isa 44:7; 1Co 11:34, 1Co 14:40; Col 2:5

wanting : or, left undone

and : Act 14:23; 2Ti 2:2

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Tit 1:5

For this cause left I thee in Crete - Compare the notes, 1Ti 1:3. On the situation of Crete, see the Introduction, Section 2.

That thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting - Margin, "left undone."The Greek is: "the things that are left;"that is, those which were left unfinished; referring, doubtless, to arrangements which had been commenced, but which for some cause had been left incomplete. Whether this had occurred because he had been driven away by persecution, or called away by important duties demanding his attention elsewhere, cannot now be determined. The word rendered "set in order", ἐπιδιορθώσῃ epidiorthōsē , occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means, properly, "to make straight upon, and then to put further to rights, to arrange further."Robinson, Lexicon - There were things left unfinished which he was to complete. One of these things, and perhaps the principal, was to appoint elders in the various cities where the gospel had been preached.

And ordain - The word "ordain"has now acquired a technical signification which it cannot be shown that it has in the New Testament. It means, in common usage, to "invest with a ministerial function or sacerdotal power; to introduce, and establish, and settle in the pastoral office with the customary forms and solemnities"(Webster); and it may be added, with the idea always connected with it, of the imposition of hands. But the word used here does not necessarily convey this meaning, or imply that Titus was to go through what would now be called an ordination service. It means to set, place, or constitute; then, to set over anything, as a steward or other officer (see Mat 24:45; Luk 12:42; Act 6:3), though without reference to any particular mode of investment with an office; see the word, "ordain,"explained in the notes at Act 1:22; Act 14:23. Titus was to appoint or set them over the churches, though with what ceremony is now unknown. There is no reason to suppose that he did this except as the result of the choice of the people; compare the notes at Act 6:3.

Elders - Greek: Presbyters; see the word explained in the notes at Act 14:23. These "elders,"or "Presbyters,"were also called "bishops"(compare the notes at 1Ti 3:1), for Paul immediately, in describing their qualifications, calls them bishops: - "ordain elders in every city - if any be blameless - for a bishop must be blameless,"etc. If the elders and bishops in the times of the apostles were of different ranks, this direction would be wholly unmeaningful. It would be the same as if the following direction were given to one who was authorized to appoint officers over an army: "Appoint captains over each company, who shall be of good character, and acquainted with military tactics, for a Brigadier General must be of good character, and acquainted with the rules of war."- That the same rank is denoted also by the terms Presbyter and Bishop here, is further apparent because the qualifications which Paul states as requisite for the "bishop"are not those which pertain to a prelate or a diocesan bishop, but to one who was a pastor of a church, or an evangelist. It is clear, from Tit 1:7, that those whom Titus was to appoint were "bishops,"and yet it is absurd to suppose that the apostle meant prelatical bishops, for no one can believe that such bishops were to be appointed in "every city"of the island. According to all modern notions of Episcopacy, one such bishop would have been enough for such an island as Crete, and indeed it has been not infrequently maintained that Titus himself was in fact the Bishop of that Diocese. But if these were not prelates who were to be ordained by Titus, then it is clear that the term "bishop"in the New Testament is given to the Presbyters or elders; that is, to all ministers of the gospel. That usage should never have been departed from.

In every city - Crete was anciently celebrated for the number of its cities. In one passage Homer ascribes to the island 100 cities ( Iliad ii. 649), in another, 90 cities ( Odyssey xix. 174). It may be presumed that many of these cities were towns of not very considerable size, and yet it would seem probable that each one was large enough to have a church, and to maintain the gospel. Paul, doubtless, expected that Titus would travel over the whole island, and endeavor to introduce the gospel in every important place.

As I had appointed thee - As I commanded thee, or gave thee direction - διεταξάμην dietaxamēn - This is a different word from the one used in the former part of the verse - and rendered "ordain"- καθίστημι kathistēmi . It does not mean that Titus was to ordain elders in the same manner as Paul had ordained him, but that he was to set them over the cities as he had directed him to do. He had, doubtless, given him oral instructions, when he left him, as to the way in which it was to be done.

Poole: Tit 1:5

In Crete in Candia, as it is now called: see the Argument to this Epistle.

Set in order the things that are wanting set to rights things which I left undone, being hastened away to other places.

And ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: in this island we are told there were a hundred cities, in how many of them the gospel had taken place we are not told. Paul left Titus in this place for this end, to regulate the churches, and constitute officers for the holy ministry, to execute the office of an evangelist; doing what the apostle should have done there could he have stayed.

Haydock: Tit 1:5

That thou shouldst, [4] &c. The sense cannot be, that he was to change any thing St. Paul had ordered, but to settle things which St. Paul had not time to do; for example, to establish priests [5] in the cities, that is to say, bishops, as the same are called bishops ver. 7; and, as St. John Chrysostom and others observe, it is evident from this very place, that the word presbyter was then used to signify either priests or bishops. If St. Jerome here meant that bishops were only placed over priests by ecclesiastical and not by divine institution, as some have expounded his words, his singular opinion against so many others is not to be followed. (Witham) ---

That the ordaining of priests belongs only to bishops, is evident from the Acts and from St. Paul's epistles to Timothy and Titus. It is true, St. Jerome seems to express himself as if in the primitive Church there was no great difference between priests and bishops, yet he constantly excepts giving holy orders, (ep. 85) as also confirming the baptized, by giving them the Holy Ghost by imposition of hands and holy chrism; (dial. cont. Lucif. chap. iv.) which pre-eminence he attributes to bishops only. To assert that there is no distinction between a priest and bishop is an old heresy, condemned as such by the Church. See St. Epiphanius, hזr. 75.; St Augustine, hזr 53.

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Ut corrigas, Greek: epidiorthose, ut supercorrigas.

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Per civitates presbyteros, Greek: presbuterous. St. John Chrysostom, (p. 387) Greek: tous episkopous.

Gill: Tit 1:5

For this cause left I thee in Crete,.... Not in his voyage to Rome, Act 27:7 but rather when he came from Macedonia into Greece, Act 20:2. Crete is an island in the Mediterranean sea, now called Candy; See Gill on Act 2:11. Here Paul preached the Gospel to the conversion of many; but not having time to finish what he begun, left Titus here for that purpose:

that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting; that is, form the young converts into Gospel order, into a regular Gospel church state; settle a proper discipline among them; instruct them more largely into the doctrines of the Gospel; and correct their manners, and direct them in everything, both with respect to faith and practice:

and ordain elders in every city: for this island, though it was not above fifty miles in breadth, and two hundred and seventy in length, yet had an hundred cities in it ^d; and it seems as if the Gospel had been preached in most, if not all of them, and churches were formed: however, in as many of them as there were churches, the apostle would have Titus see to it, and take care that they had proper officers fixed in them, particularly elders, pastors, or overseers, to preach the Gospel, and administer the ordinances to them, to watch over them in the Lord, and put the laws of Christ's house in execution, and keep up a strict discipline in it, according to the will of God. What Titus was to do in this affair, was to put the churches upon looking out, and choosing from among themselves proper persons for such service, and to direct, assist, and preside at the elections and ordinations of them: for we are not to suppose, that the ordination of elders was the sole act of Titus, or alone resided in him; but in like manner as Paul and Barnabas ordained elders in every church, by the suffrages of the people, signified by the stretching out of their hands; in which they directed, presided, and also assisted in prayer, with fasting, Act 14:23

as I had appointed thee; when he left him at Crete; when he gave him orders and instructions, both with respect to the persons, and their qualifications, whom he would have ordained, and with respect to the manner in which it should be done: the former of these he repeats in the following verses. From all which it clearly appears, that there were churches in Crete, and pastors placed over those churches; very probably the Cretes, who were at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, Act 2:11, and heard Peter's sermon, and were converted by him, some of them returning to their own country, might first bring the Gospel to this island, and lay the foundation of a Gospel church state here. It seems by what is said in this text, that the Apostle Paul was in this island himself, and preached the Gospel, and after him Titus, whom he left behind; and if any credit is to be given to the subscription of this epistle, he was the first bishop of the church in it: and it is certain, that in the "second" century there were churches in this island, particularly at Gortyna, and other places, to whom Dionysius ^e, bishop of Corinth, wrote letters, in which he greatly extols Philip their bishop; and in another letter of his to the Gnossians, or to the church at Gnossus, another city in Crete, he makes mention of Pinytus as their bishop, and whom he commends for his orthodox faith, great knowledge of divine things, and care of his flock; and both these lived in the times of the Emperors Antoninus Verus and Commodus ^f; which churches, no doubt, continued in the "third" century, since in the "fourth" we read of bishops sent from Crete to the synod at Sardica: and in the "fifth" century, a bishop of Gortyna in Crete is reckoned among the bishops in the council of Chalcedon: and in the "sixth" century, Theodorus, bishop of the same place, subscribed in the fifth synod at Constantinople: and in the "seventh" century, Paul archbishop of Crete, Basil bishop of Gortyna, with several other bishops of churches in the island, were present at the sixth synod at Constantinople: and in the "eighth" century, as appears from the acts of the Nicene synod, Helias was bishop of Crete, Anastasius bishop of Gnossus, a city in it, and Melito, Leontins, and Galatas, bishops of other places in the same island: and in the "ninth" century, a bishop of Gortyna, in defence of the cause of Christ, became a martyr ^g; so far churches, and bishops, bearing the Christian name, are to be traced in this island.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

Geneva Bible: Tit 1:5

^{( 6 )} For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

^{( 6 )} The first admonition: to ordain elders in every church.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Tit 1:1-16

1 For what end Titus was left in Crete.

6 How they that are to be chosen ministers ought to be qualified.

11 The mouths of evil teachers to be stopped;

12 and what manner of men they be.

Combined Bible: Tit 1:5

For this cause left I thee in Crete,

MHCC: Tit 1:5-9

The character and qualification of pastors, here called elders and bishops, agree with what the apostle wrote to Timothy. Being such bishops and overseers of the flock, to be examples to them, and God's stewards to take care of the affairs of his household, there is great reason that they should be blameless. What they are not to be, is plainly shown, as well as what they are to be, as servants of Christ, and able ministers of the letter and practice of the gospel. And here are described the spirit and practice becoming such as should be examples of good works.

Matthew Henry: Tit 1:5

Here is the end expressed,

I. More generally: For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting. This was the business of evangelists (in which office Titus was), to water where the apostles had planted (1Co 3:6), furthering and finishing what they had begun; so much epidiorthoun imports, to order after another. Titus was to go on in settling what the apostle himself had not time for, in his short stay there. Observe, 1. The apostle's great diligence in the gospel; when he had set things on foot in one place, he hastened away to another. He was debtor to the Greeks and to the barbarians, and laboured to spread the gospel as far as he could among them all. And, 2. His faithfulness and prudence. He neglected not the places that he went from; but left some to cultivate the young plantation, and carry on what was begun. 3. His humility; he disdained not to be helped in his work, and that by such as were not of so high a rank in the ministry, nor of so great gifts and furniture, as himself; so that the gospel might be furthered and the good of souls promoted, he willingly used the hands of others in it: a fit example for exciting zeal and industry, and engaging to faithfulness and care of the flock, and present or absent, living and dying, for ministers, as much as in them lies, to provide for the spiritual edification and comfort of their people. We may here also observe, 4. That Titus, though inferior to an apostle, was yet above the ordinary fixed pastors or bishops, who were to tend particular churches as their peculiar stated charge; but Titus was in a higher sphere, to ordain such ordinary pastors where wanting, and settle things in their first state and form, and then to pass to other places for like service as there might be need. Titus was not only a minister of the catholic church (as all others also are), but a catholic minister. Others had power habitual, and in actu primo , to minister any where, upon call and opportunity; but evangelists, such as Titus was, had power in actu secundo et exercito , and could exercise their ministry wherever they came, and claim maintenance of the churches. They were every where actually in their diocese or province, and had a right to direct and preside among the ordinary pastors and ministers. Where an apostle could act as an apostle an evangelist could act as an evangelist; for they worked the work of the Lord as they did (1Co 16:10), in a like unfixed and itinerant manner. Here at Crete Titus was but occasionally, and for a short time; Paul willed him to despatch the business he was left for, and come to him at Nicopolis, where he purposed to winter; after this he was sent to Corinth, was with the apostle at Rome, and was sent thence into Dalmatia, which is the last we read of him in scripture, so that from scripture no fixed episcopacy in him does appear; he left Crete, and we find not that he returned thither any more. But what power had either Paul or Titus here? Was not what they did an encroachment on the rights of civil rulers? In no sort; they came not to meddle with the civil rights of any. Luk 12:14, Who made me a judge or a divider over you? Their work was spiritual, to be carried on by conviction and persuasion, no way interfering with, or prejudicing, or weakening, the power of magistrates, but rather securing and strengthening it; the things wanting were not such as civil magistrates are the fountains or authors of, but divine and spiritual ordinances, and appointments for spiritual ends, derived from Christ the king and head of the church: for settling these was Titus left. And observe, No easy thing is it to raise churches, and bring them to perfection. Paul had himself been here labouring, and yet were there things wanting; materials are out of square, need much hewing and fitting, to bring them into right form, and, when they are set therein, to hold and keep them so. The best are apt to decay and to go out of order. Ministers are to help against this, to get what is amiss rectified, and what is wanting supplied. This in general was Titus's work in Crete: and,

II. In special: To ordain elders in every city, that is, ministers, who were mostly out of the elder and most understanding and experienced Christians; or, if younger in years, yet such as were grave and solid in their deportment and manners. These were to be set where there was any fit number of Christians, as in larger towns and cities was usually the case; though villages, too, might have them where there were Christians enough for it. These presbyters or elders were to have the ordinary and stated care and charge of the churches; to feed and govern them, and perform all pastoral work and duty in and towards them. The word is used sometimes more largely for any who bear ecclesiastical function in the church, and so the apostles were presbyters or elders (1Pe 5:1); but here it is meant of ordinary fixed pastors, who laboured in the word and doctrine, and were over the churches in the Lord; such as are described here throughout the chapter. This word presbyter some use in the same sense as sacerdos , and translate it priest, a term not given to gospel ministers, unless in a figurative or allusive way, as all God's people are said to be made kings and priests unto God ( hiereis , not presbuterous ), to offer up spiritual sacrifices of prayers, praises, and alms. But properly we have no priest under the gospel, except Christ alone, the high priest of our profession (Heb 3:1), who offered up himself a sacrifice to God for us, and ever lives, in virtue thereof, to make intercession in our behalf. Presbyters here therefore are not proper priests, to offer sacrifices, either typical or real; but only gospel ministers, to dispense Christ's ordinances, and to feed the church of God, over which the Holy Ghost has made them overseers. Observe, 1. A church without a fixed and standing ministry in it is imperfect and wanting. 2. Where a fit number of believers is, presbyters or elders must be set; their continuance in churches is as necessary as their first appointment, for perfecting the saints, and edifying the body of Christ, till all come to a perfect man in Christ, till the whole number of God's chosen be called and united to Christ in one body, and brought to their full stature and strength, and that measure of grace that is proper and designed for them, Eph 4:12, Eph 4:13. This is work that must and will be doing to the world's end, to which therefore the necessary and appointed means for it must last. What praise is due to God for such an institution! What thankfulness from those that enjoy the benefits of it! What pity and prayer for such as want it! Pray the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. Faith comes by hearing, and is preserved, maintained, and made fruitful, through it also. Ignorance and corruption, decays of good and increase of all evil, come by want of a teaching and quickening ministry. On such accounts therefore was Titus left in Crete, to set in order the things that were wanting, and to ordain elders in every city; but this he was to do, not ad libitum , or according to his own will or fancy, but according to apostolic direction.

III. The rule of his proceeding: As I had appointed thee, probably when he was going from him, and in the presence and hearing of others, to which he may now refer, not so much for Titus's own sake as for the people's, that they might the more readily yield obedience to Titus, knowing and observing that in what he did he was warranted and supported by apostolic injunction and authority. As under the law all things were to be made according to the pattern shown to Moses in the mount; so under the gospel all must be ordered and managed according to the direction of Christ, and of his chief ministers, who were infallibly guided by him. Human traditions and inventions may not be brought into the church of God. Prudent disposals for carrying on the ends of Christ's appointments, according to the general rules of the word, there may, yea, must be; but none may alter any thing in the substance of the faith or worship, or order and discipline, of the churches. If an evangelist might not do any thing but by appointment, much less may others. The church is the house of God, and to him it belongs to appoint the officers and orders of it, as he pleases: the as here refers to the qualifications and character of the elders that he was to ordain: " Ordain elders in every city, as I appointed thee, such as I then described and shall now again more particularly point out to thee,"which he does from the sixth verse to the ninth inclusive.

Barclay: Tit 1:5-7

We have already studied in detail the qualifications of the elder as set out by Paul in 1Ti 3:1-7. It is therefore not necessary to examine them in detail again.

It was always Paul's custom to ordain elders as soon as a Church had been founded (Act 14:23). Crete was an island of many cities. "Crete of the hundred cities." Homer called it. It was Paul's principle that his little Churches should be encouraged to stand on their own feet as soon as possible.

In this repeated list of the qualifications of the elder, one thing is specially stressed. He must be a man who has taught his own family in the faith. The Council of Carthage later laid it down: "Bishops, elders and deacons shall not be ordained to office before they have made all in their own households members of the Catholic Church." Christianity begins at home. It is no virtue for any man to be so engaged in public work that he neglects his own home. All the Church service in the world will not atone for neglect of a man's own family.

Paul uses one very vivid word. The family of the elder must be such that they cannot be accused of profligacy. The Greek word is asotia (810). It is the word used in Luk 15:13for the riotous living of the prodigal son. The man who is asotos (811) is incapable of saving; he is wasteful and extravagant and pours out his substance on personal pleasure; he destroys his substance and in the end ruins himself. One who is asotos (811) is the old English scatterling, the Scots ne'er-do-well, the modern waster. Aristotle who always described a virtue as the mean between two extremes, declares that on the one hand there is stinginess, on the other there is asotia (810), reckless and selfish extravagance, and the relevant virtue is liberality. The household of the elder must never be guilty of the bad example of reckless spending on personal pleasure.

Further, the family of the elder must not be undisciplined. Nothing can make up for the lack of parental control. Falconer quotes a saying about the household of Sir Thomas More: "He controls his family with the same easy hand: no tragedies, no quarrels. If a dispute begins, it is promptly settled. His whole house breathes happiness, and no one enters it who is not the better for the visit." The true training ground for the eldership is at least as much in the home as it is in the Church.

Constable: Tit 1:5--3:12

II. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SETTING THE CHURCH IN ORDER 1:5--3:11

As in 1 Timothy, Paul plunged into the business of his letter immediately since he was writing a trusted colleague. This partially explains the absence of a thanksgiving section in these two epistles. The serious threat of false teaching may be another reason. By contrast, 2 Timothy is more personal, and it contains a thanksgiving.

Constable: Tit 1:5-9

A. The appointment of elders 1:5-9

Paul began his instructions with these directions to emphasize the priority of setting qualified leaders over the affairs of the local churches (cf. Acts 6:3).

1:5 Titus, like Timothy, served as the agent of an apostle with apostolic authority. He was in a position of authority over the other local Christians.

"Timothy was not the pastor of the church at Ephesus in the modern sense of that term; nor was Titus the bishop of the Cretan churches, as is sometimes thought. Both men are addressed as the personal representatives of the apostle Paul and had been left at their stations to carry out the work assigned to them by the apostle."¹⁶

The public reading of this epistle would have helped the Christians recognize Titus' authority and submit to Paul's instructions.

The churches in Crete needed organization.¹⁷ Paul prescribed an organizational structure but left it flexible. He did not dictate the details but left these open for local leaders to determine. Consequently the quality of the church's leaders was very important.

"It is . . . impossible to determine how many elders would have been selected in every town (meaning in the house church of each town'); but the general rule would probably have been a plurality of leaders."¹⁸

We do not know how many churches there were on Crete, but Homer, who lived in the ninth century B.C., referred to the island as "Crete of the hundred cities."¹⁹ It was heavily populated.

1:6-9 Paul listed 17 qualifications for an elder here. First Timothy 3 contains 15, but they are very similar and in some cases identical, though some here are new.

"Since the office of bishop is one of authority and power, the vices named are those to which persons in such positions are tempted."²⁰

Social and domestic qualifications

1. "Above reproach" (v. 6), blameless, is the translation of the Greek word used in 1 Timothy 3:10 (anegkletos) to describe deacons, there translated "beyond reproach." Paul used a synonym as the first qualification of elders in 1 Timothy 3:2 (anepilempton) translated there "above reproach." The words are virtually the same and mean that the elder must have no obvious flaw in his character or conduct that would bring justifiable criticism on himself or the church. Paul gave the reason for this qualification in verse 7a.

". . . the purpose of this code is identical to that of 1 Timothy 3 in that it is meant to test the candidate's blamelessness.' The broad standard appears twice at the head of the list (vv. 6, 7; compare 1 Tim 3:2). Then the remainder of the verses place blamelessness' into a concrete framework, treating the domestic, personal and ecclesiastical aspects of the candidate's life."²¹

2. "Husband of one wife" (Gr. mias gunaikos aner; v. 6; 1 Tim. 3:2) means he must presently be a moral husband at least.²²

3. "Having children who believe" (Gr. tekna echon pista, v. 6; 1 Tim. 3:4) adds a factor not present in 1 Timothy. The elder must have his children under control.²³ The context seems to limit the children to those who are still living at home and are not yet adults, assuming he had children.²⁴

"One view understands Paul to be limiting membership in the office to those whose family members all believe; pista can certainly bear this meaning. Another view is that the term means, more generally, faithful' or trustworthy' (1:9; 3:8; 1 Tim. 3:11; compare 1 Tim 1:15; 3:1), which quality is then delineated in the phrase that follows. While the first view is possible, it seems to place more stringent requirements on the elder than does 1 Timothy 3:4. Moreover, in view of this parallel, Paul probably means that the elder's children are to be faithful in obeying the head of the house. In fact, the rest of the verse contrasts faithful' with the charge of being wild and disobedient, which suggests a more general kind of faithfulness."²⁵

This second view also seems correct since the decision to believe in Christ is the child's, and even the best Christian parent cannot guarantee it.

"Too often, new Christians feel a call to the ministry and want to be ordained before they have had a chance to establish their families in the faith. If the children are small, the problem is not too great; but mature children go through a tremendous shock when all of a sudden their household becomes religious'! A wise father first wins his own family to Christ and gives them a chance to grow before he pulls up stakes and moves to Bible school. We would have fewer casualties in the ministry if this policy were followed more often."²⁶

Personal qualifications

Paul next listed five vices (v. 7) and then ("but," Gr. alla) seven virtues (vv. 8-9).

4. "Not self-willed" (me authade; v. 7), self-pleasing, means he is not arrogant or overbearing. He does not insist on having his own way. Such a person will usually take other people's criticisms and suggestions.

"God's household manager must be a servant, not stubbornly self-willed, since it is God's household, not his own (cf. Mark 10:41-45; 1 Cor. 3:5-9; 4:1-2)."²⁷

5. "Not quick-tempered" (Gr. me orgilon; v. 7), soon angry, is also a negative trait described elsewhere as being uncontentious (1 Tim. 3:3).

6. "Not addicted to wine" (Gr. me paroinon; v. 7) also appears in 1 Timothy 3:3.

7. "Not pugnacious" (Gr. me plekten; v. 7) or violent, a striker, is also in 1 Timothy 3:3.

8. "Not fond of sordid gain" (Gr. me aischrokerde; v. 7) restates "free from the love of money" (1 Tim. 3:3) with emphasis on "making profit out of Christian service, rather than dishonest gain . . ."²⁸

"Complete honesty in financial matters and an attitude of detachment toward wealth (compare 1 Tim 6:7-8, 17-19) that leads to generosity are the signs of a leader who will be able to model faithfulness in these things before the congregation."²⁹

9. "Hospitable" (Gr. philoxenon; v. 8) also occurs in 1 Timothy 3:2.

10. "Loving what is good" (Gr. philagathon; v. 8) is obvious in meaning. Paul did not mention it in 1 Timothy.

11. "Sensible" (Gr. sophrona; v. 8) means sober, soberminded, self-controlled. The NASB translators rendered the same Greek word "prudent" in 1 Timothy 3:2.

12. "Just" (Gr. dikaion; v. 8) means upright, fair, equitable.

13. "Devout" (Gr. hosion; v. 8) means holy, set apart to God.

14. "Self-controlled" (Gr. egkrate; v. 8) means disciplined and temperate.

Doctrinal qualifications

15. "Holding fast the faithful word" (v. 9; 1 Tim. 3:2) means he remains committed to God's truth. He conserves it and preserves it from dilution, deletion, and distortion.

16. "Able . . . to exhort in sound doctrine" (v. 9; 1 Tim. 3:2) means he can encourage others with the Scriptures.

17. "Able . . . to refute those who contradict" (v. 9; 1 Tim. 3:2) means he can point out the error of false teaching and explain why it is wrong.

"In admitting a man to the ministry [of an elder] the primary consideration must ever be the integrity of his character rather than his spectacular gifts."³⁰

Modern elder boards would do well to study these qualifications and those of deacons (1 Tim. 3:8-13) to construct a list on which all members of the board agree. I suggest that they should also agree on an "official" interpretation of the qualifications. This will preclude others in the church from causing division by pitting one elder's personal interpretation against that of another elder.

In contrast to 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 contains no mention of deacons. This may reflect a less advanced stage of church organization in Crete than what existed in Ephesus since deacons were the assistants of the elders.³¹ Another possibility is that the churches in Crete were smaller and so did not need formally recognized deacons.

College: Tit 1:1-16

TITUS 1

I. SALUTATION (1:1-4)

¹ Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness - ² a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, ³ and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,

⁴ To Titus, my true son in our common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

The salutation to Titus differs from the salutations in 1 and 2 Timothy at some significant points. In Titus, Paul offers an elaborate discourse on his apostleship (vv. 1-3). Only Romans has a similar elaboration. These verses are comprised of one long, complex sentence emphasizing the purpose of Paul's apostleship. The reason for this elaboration does not seem to be that people are questioning his authority (cf. 2 Cor). Rather the concern is to encourage relatively new Christians in their faith as a safeguard against false teaching. This elaboration may, therefore, be no more than a verification of the message they have accepted.

1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ

Paul begins by describing himself as a servant (dou'lo" , doulos , literally "a slave") of God. Usually Paul describes himself as "a slave of Christ Jesus." The variation here simply indicates the high christology of Paul. Here, as in most of his letters, Paul indicates that he is "an apostle of Jesus Christ" to signify his apostolic authority.

for the faith of God's elect

While Paul normally identifies his apostleship by giving its source (e.g., "by the will of God"), here he moves to its purpose. His apostleship is first "for the faith of God's elect." Although the word translated "for" (katav , kata ) frequently means "according to," when the KJV translates it thus in this verse, it has probably missed Paul's intended sense. The basic meaning in this context is "with a view to"; thus the NIV rendering is correct. Paul's apostleship was given him by God so that the "elect" of God might be brought to faith (here to be understood as "trust"). The phrase "God's elect" is used in the NT only by Paul (cf. Rom 8:33; Col 3:12; 2 Tim 2:10). As Lea and Griffin have noted the concept of the elect "produces a certain intellectual tension, particularly with regard to 'free will' or personal activity in one's salvation." The term "elect" is always used by Paul of those who have accepted the gospel message and emphasizes their security before God.

and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness -

Paul's apostleship is also concerned with the "knowledge of the truth" (cf. 1 Tim 2:4; 2 Tim 2:25; 3:7). Paul's discussion later in the book of false teachers indicates that some have a defective grasp of "the truth," i.e., the gospel message. The truth is concerned with "godliness" (eujsevbeia , eusebeia , see discussion on 1 Tim 2:2 and 3:16). The visible manifestation of the truth in the lives of the elect is godly, reverential behavior.

1:2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life,

The NIV translators have seen the next phrase "on the hope of eternal life" as modifying both "faith" and "knowledge" and have thus repeated them in v. 2. Kelly, however, has argued that the phrase should be translated " in the hope of eternal life" and be seen as modifying Paul's claim as an apostle of Jesus Christ in v. 1. It is probably most reasonable to follow Hendriksen's suggestion (a kind of both/and approach) and to understand that Paul intends for Titus to see " all that has been said so far - his service and apostleship in the interest of the faith of God's elect and their acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness - rests on the hope of life everlasting. . . ." In a somewhat similar fashion, Knight suggests that this phrase speaks of a hope which Paul as apostle shares with the elect as he carries out his ministry.

which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,

The word "hope" (ejlpiv" , elpis ) is used in the normal NT sense of "earnest expectation" or "anxious awaiting." That hope is sure because "God does not lie." He promised that life "before the beginning of time" (literally "before the time of the ages").

1:3 and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,

At his own just-the-right time, "his appointed season," he made clear "his word" (used in the Pastoral Epistles as a synonym for "the gospel message"; Titus 1:9; 2:5; 2 Tim 2:9, 15; 4:2). That message was delivered through Paul's preaching. Paul emphasizes that his preaching was not a matter of his choosing, but a sacred trust given by God's command. The phrase "by the command of God our Savior" is exactly paralleled in 1 Tim 1:1.

1:4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:

Paul addresses Titus as his "true" or "legitimate" son, a phrase that also finds an exact parallel in 1 Tim 1:2. That legitimacy is still Paul's focus with the added descriptive phrase "in our common faith."

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Paul concludes the salutation with his normal greeting, "grace and peace."

The grace and peace which he desires for Titus come "from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior." Paul's use of "God our Savior" in v. 3 indicates that God is the originator of salvation. With the phrase "Christ Jesus our Savior" in v. 4 he identifies the same function for Jesus, again reflecting his high christology.

II. APPOINTING ELDERS (1:5-16)

In v. 5 Paul moves immediately to the subject at hand without his typical thanksgiving. "This letter, like 1 Timothy, is all 'business,' not a personal communication to Titus (cf. the very different 2 Timothy)." Unlike 1 Timothy the "business" is not primarily false teachers and their heretical teachings, rather it is a threat from a "circumcision group" (1:10) and Paul's concern that elders be appointed who will be able to resist and refute the false teachers.

Paul begins with the matter of setting the church in order by getting elders appointed (vv. 5-9) and then moves to discuss their response to the false teachers (vv. 10-16). The first paragraph, on the surface, looks very much like 1 Tim 3:1-7. In both texts Paul lists fifteen characteristics or qualifications for overseers or elders; in fact five of the qualifications are identical and five or six others correspond rather closely in the two lists. See the chart below which details some of these similarities. There are, however, some striking differences. (1) Titus is to appoint elders in new works. (2) Although overseers are to be able teachers in 1 Timothy, in Titus 1:9 Paul spells out even clearer the duty of these men: they are to "encourage others by sound doctrine and refute" false teachers who oppose the truth. (3) Fee has noted that the whole list in Titus has a more orderly arrangement.

A. QUALIFICATIONS OF ELDERS (1:5-9)

⁵ The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint ^a elders in every town, as I directed you. ⁶ An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. ⁷ Since an overseer ^b is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless - not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. ⁸ Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. ⁹ He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

^a 5 Or ordain ^b 7 Traditionally bishop

1:5 The reason I left you in Crete

Paul had "left" Titus (the implication is that Paul had been with Titus on Crete) to "straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town," as Paul had "directed" him. The events mentioned here do not fit the context of Paul's first visit to Crete on his way to Rome (Acts 27:8). A visit after Paul's release from the Roman imprisonment at the end of Acts should be assumed (see the Introduction).

was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

The phrase "straighten out" need not imply that major problems existed. Rather the primary task was to do some things that had not yet been accomplished. The things "left unfinished" are clarified by Paul's instructions to "appoint elders in every town." The fact that Titus had already been directed by Paul to do so may well indicate that the message was as much for the church as for Titus. The word appoint (katasthvsh/" , katastçsçs ) need not mean that Titus was to do all the picking. It may rather indicate a task more like that of the apostles in Acts 6:7 after the congregation has selected men bearing the required qualities. Paul has given the qualifications for elders both for the benefit of Titus, who may well lead the process, and also for the churches on Crete.

1:6 An elder must be blameless,

In Titus Paul begins the qualification list differently than in 1 Timothy. Instead of beginning "an elder must be" as he did with the overseer in 1 Tim 3:2 and as the NIV renders Titus 1:6, the sentence actually begins "if any man is." Paul does move to "an overseer must be" in v. 7. This difference is really of little consequence in terms of Paul's intent. Paul begins by saying that an elder is to be "blameless" (ajnevgklhto" , anenklçtos ), a synonym to the word used in 1 Tim 3:2, "above reproach" (ajnepivlhmpton , anepilçmpton ). "Blameless," like "above reproach" in 1 Timothy, serves as the primary qualification by which other qualifications must be understood.

The qualification lists for overseers/bishops in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3 have much in common. The chart opposite provides a means of comparing those qualifications.

the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe

In Titus Paul begins by giving two items regarding the elders' home life which are necessary if he is to be "blameless." First, he must be "the husband of but one wife" (see the discussion of the phrase at 1 Tim 3:2). Second he must have "children who believe" and who "are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient." There has been much debate as to the meaning of "whose children believe" (tevkna e[cwn pistav , tekna echôn pista ).

(1) Is Paul simply using the term "believe" to indicate that the children are Christians (cf. 1 Tim 6:2 where the word is used in this way of masters)? In favor of such a choice are the renderings of many English translations. Spain argues in favor of such an interpretation: "It seems safe to conclude that children who are old enough to conduct themselves in [the] . . . manner [described in the immediate context] are also old enough to obey the gospel and embrace the Christian faith, with its moral demands."

(2) Or is he using the word to indicate the children's "loyalty" to their father? In favor of this option is the fact that Paul continues by saying that these children are not to be "open to the charge of being wild and disobedient." For this reason, Knight has argued for "submissive" or "obedient."

(3) Or is he demanding that they be "faithful" Christians? While there is nothing in the immediate context that rules out the other interpretations, there is much to be said for this final option. It encompasses the qualities required by the first two options, and it is consistent with usage elsewhere in the Pastoral Epistles (e.g., 1 Tim 1:12). In all likelihood, few in the first century would have made distinctions between options (1) and (3). "They should . . . share their father's faith in Christ." "If [the children] remained pagans, it would throw into question the father's ability to lead others to faith." The issue goes beyond children being "faithful" as long as they are under their father's roof. It is, however, not designed by Paul to be so firm that congregations cannot make decisions regarding men who have some faithful children and some who are not.

and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

The children are not to be "open to the charge of being wild" (ajswtiva" , asôtias , literally "unable to save" and therefore "loose living") and "disobedient" (ajnupovtakta , anypotakta , literally "out of step or order"). The father of rebellious children will not be "blameless" within or without the church.

The point of the first two qualifications is rather clear. Elders are expected to have Christian households. They are expected to be faithful husbands, whose faithfulness to their wives is never questioned. They are expected to have served as good fathers. Guthrie is correct: "As in 1 Timothy, the home is regarded as the training ground for Christian leaders."

1:7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless -

In this verse Paul repeats the call for an elder to be blameless. There are, however, two significant developments. First, Paul changes from elder (presbuvtero" , presbyteros ) in v. 5 to overseer (ejpivskopo" , episkopos ) in v. 7. The terms are simply synonymous designations for the same work of spiritual leadership within the church. Second, in this verse Paul gives the reason that an elder or overseer "must be blameless" (in the sense of v. 6, a man whose marital life is above reproach and a good father): "Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work" (qeou' oijkonovmon , theou oikonomon , literally "entrusted as God's steward" or "entrusted as the caretaker of God's house").

Having repeated the call for this leader to be blameless, Paul gives a list of adjectives much as he did in 1 Tim 3:2-3. This time he uses five adjectives to describe the vices which should not characterize the elder followed by six virtues which should characterize his life.

not overbearing, not quick-tempered,

The first two vices - "not overbearing" (mhΙ aujqavdh , mç authadç , literally "not self-willed") and "not quick-tempered" (mhΙ ojrgivlon , mç orgilon ) - should be taken as a pair. Fee says that it is appropriate for "not overbearing" to head the list because "God's household manager must be a servant, not stubbornly self-willed, since it is God's household, not his own." Likewise, an ill temper will render him ineffective, since he must patiently deal with brothers and sisters in the church.

not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

The next two vices which must be avoided also make up a pair - "not given to drunkenness" and "not violent" (see discussion of 1 Tim 3:3 for these two terms). The final vice prohibited is "pursuing dishonest gain" (mhΙ aijscrokedh' , mç aischrokedç ). The same prohibition is used in the qualifications of deacons (1 Tim 3:8). False teachers are said to exhibit this characteristic (v. 11). A parallel phrase, "not a lover of money," is used of overseers in 1 Tim 3:3.

1:8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

In v. 8 Paul moves to the positive attributes required of those who are to be appointed as elders. An overseer "must be hospitable" (see discussion of this word in 1 Tim 3:2), "one who loves what is good" (filavgaqon , philagathon , a characteristic which frequently appears in inscriptions to people of noble character), "self-controlled" (see discussion of this word, a favorite in the Pastoral Epistles, in 1 Tim 3:2; cf. Titus 2:2, 5), "upright" and "holy" (divkaion , dikaion ; and o{sion , hosion ; words frequently linked in Scripture to indicate one who fulfills duty to others and duty to God respectively), and finally "disciplined" (ejgkrath' , enkratç , a term very much like "self-controlled" earlier in the list; cf. Gal 5:23 where this quality is listed as a "fruit of the Spirit").

1:9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

This verse provides an element of the qualifications that is distinctive to Titus. Although Timothy was told that overseers were to be "able teachers" (1 Tim 3:2) and that deacons were to be "devoted to the gospel" (1 Tim 3:9), only in Titus is the reason for being a good teacher and for being devoted to the gospel spelled out in terms of the function of the elder. "He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught" for two reasons: first, "so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine" and second, so that he can "refute those who oppose it" (ajntilevgonta" , antilegontas , literally, "objectors"). The word translated "encourage" (parakalei'n , parakalein ) could perhaps better be translated "exhort" in this context (cf. 1 Tim 4:1; 5:1; 6:2). For a discussion of sound ("healthy") doctrine ("teaching") see the discussion of the phrase in 1 Tim 1:10. Paul also uses the term "refute" or "convict" in 1 Tim 5:20 and will use it again in 2 Tim 3:16; 4:2. This final sentence serves as the perfect transition to the next section which deals with the response of Titus and the elders to false teachers.

B. ELDERS' RESPONSIBILITIES TOWARD

FALSE TEACHERS (1:10-16)

¹⁰ For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. ¹¹ They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach - and that for the sake of dishonest gain. ¹² Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." ¹³ This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith ¹⁴ and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. ¹⁵ To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. ¹⁶ They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

Worthy elders must be appointed because "there are many rebellious people." Someone must silence these false teachers. Paul argues that part of the difficulty these men will face is the cultural background of the Cretan converts.

1:10 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers,

The word "rebellious" was used in v. 6 when Paul explained the characteristics that were necessary of a prospective elder's children. There the word was translated "disobedient." It carries with it a sense of insubordination which results in their rejection of "the truth" (v. 14). They are described as "mere talkers," a word used in 1 Tim 1:6 of the false teachers at Ephesus; there it is rendered "meaningless talk." These false teachers, like those at Ephesus, are deceiving and misleading other believers (cf. 1 Tim 4:2; 2 Tim 3:13).

especially those of the circumcision group.

Unlike the description of the false teachers at Ephesus, Paul identifies these people as "those of the circumcision group," this time representing a Jewish threat that is different from the one Paul encountered earlier at Galatia (Gal 2:7-9, 12). The word "especially" can either indicate that most but not all of the false teachers Paul is discussing are from this group, or it can function as a "that is" or as an "in particular." Whichever rendering one chooses, Paul's point is that Jewishness is a dominant characteristic of these false teachers. Paul's references to "Jewish myths" (v. 14) and to quarrels "about the law" (3:9) make this clear. It would seem that the threat is no longer requiring circumcision of Gentile believers, but rather other issues that grow out of a Jewish syncretistic interpretation.

Although there may have been significant differences between the situations at Ephesus and Crete, the false teaching here has much in common with the one seen in 1 Tim 1:3-11. See the chart below for some of the more striking similarities.

1:11 They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households

These false teachers "must be silenced" (ejpistomivzein , epistomizein , literally, "it is necessary to stop their mouths," a word which means to put a muzzle on an animal's mouth). Their teaching is dangerous "because they are ruining [literally 'overturning'] whole households" (cf. 1 Tim 3:5, 15; 2 Tim 3:6-9). Knight has suggested that the heresy in Crete, like the one at Ephesus, was prohibiting marriage and demanding the practice of certain other purity rules which would have devastating effects on families. Fee, however, is likely correct when he argues that the language does not suggest the dividing of families, but rather that the church is facing the defection of certain whole families.

by teaching things they ought not to teach - and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

These false teachers are "teaching things they ought not to teach" (cf. 1 Tim 1:6-7; 6:3-4). They are motivated by greed or "dishonest gain" (cf. the false teachers at Ephesus, 1 Tim 6:5-10; and Paul's instructions that elders not be of this disposition, 1 Tim 3:3; Titus 1:7).

1:12 Even one of their own prophets has said,

Paul cites the well-known reputation of the Cretans as an explanation of the direction of the false teachers. Epimenides (ca. 600 B.C.) had provided an epigram that illustrated Paul's point. It should be noted that Epimenides was himself from Crete making the statement a self-contradiction - all Cretans are liars; Epimenides is a Cretan; he must, therefore, be a liar; which means that all Cretans are not liars; which means that he might be telling the truth; and so on. In addressing Epimenides as "one of their own prophets," Paul was doing no more than recognizing the Cretan claim that he was a prophet. Plato recognized the tradition that Epimenides had predicted the Persian War ten years before it occurred. According to Diogenes Laertius, he advised the Athenians to sacrifice "to the appropriate god," leading to the construction of "the altar to the unknown god" which Paul saw in Athens (Acts 17:23).

"Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons."

The reputation of the Cretans is clear from Epimenides' quote: "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." Their reputation as liars is seen in their claim to have the tomb of Zeus, who as a god could not die. To "behave like a Cretan" came to be synonymous with "being a liar." In addition to lying, they were characterized as "evil brutes" (i.e., they would do anything to get ahead) and as lazy gluttons (i.e., greedy hedonists).

1:13 This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith

Paul concludes that the "testimony is true" and that Titus must "rebuke them sharply" ("correct them rigorously"). His concern is that these recent converts might "be sound in the faith" (see discussion at 1 Tim 1:10).

1:14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.

In contrast to the soundness in the faith which Paul desires for the church on Crete, he moves in vv. 14-16 to describe the unsound teaching of the false teachers. They "pay attention to Jewish myths" (cf. 1 Tim 1:4; 4:7). The Christians at Crete are to "pay no attention to the commands" of these men. Fee notes the similarity of the language here to the "commands" or Pharisaic regulations which Jesus opposed (Mark 7:7; Matt 15:9) and the ascetic rules at Colosse which Paul opposed (Col 2:22). As elsewhere in the Pastoral Epistles those making these commands are described as "those who reject the truth," i.e., the gospel and salvation by grace.

1:15 To the pure, all things are pure,

Apparently the commands to which Paul objects are related to food laws and issues of ritual purity. Paul begins with a positive statement - "to the pure, all things are pure" - which is very much like what he says in Rom 14:20 when addressing a different topic (cf. Luke 11:38-41). The things which some deem unclean are pure; nothing is unclean of itself (cf. 1 Tim 4:4, "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving").

but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.

"To those who are corrupted" (i.e., they buy into the false teaching and misunderstand the nature of the gospel) "and do not believe" (i.e., do not put their trust in the saving work of Christ but rather in ritual) "nothing is pure." Such a stance means that "both their minds and consciences are corrupted." They have lost the capacity to think for themselves and to distinguish between good and evil (cf. 1 Tim 4:2; 6:5; 2 Tim 3:8).

1:16 They claim to know God,

Some see the "claim" of the false teachers at Crete to "know God" as a clear indication of "a higher, more esoteric knowledge of God" and, therefore, of Gnosticism at the time the epistle was written. Fee is correct in assessing that the data could simply be seen as supporting "the special boast of Jews . . . putting themselves forward as those who can lead others to God."

but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

The very "actions" of those who "claim to know God" indicate that they do not know him. In fact with their "actions they deny him." The exact nature of the actions Paul has in mind is uncertain. It likely refers to all of the characteristics Paul has indicated: their ascetic practices and rules, their divisiveness, their greed, and their rebellion and insubordination. Paul describes them as "detestable" (or "abominable"), "disobedient" (note that they demand obedience to "commands" but are "disobedient" to God) and "unfit for doing anything good" (what God wants by way of good works they will never do).

English Word or Phrase in Titus 1

blameless

the husband of but one wife

a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient

not overbearing

not quick-tempered

not given to drunkenness

not violent

not pursuing dishonest gain

hospitable

one who loves what is good

self-controlled

upright

holy

disciplined

hold firmly to the trustworthy message

Greek Word or Phrase in Titus 1

anenklçtos

mias gunaikos ançr

tekna echôn pista, mç en katçgopia asôtias ç anupotaka

mç authadç

mç orgilon

mç paroinon

mç plçktçn

mç aischrokerdç

philoxenon

philagathon

sôphrona

dikaion

hosion

enkratç

antechomenon tou kata tçn didachçn pistou logou

Literal Translation

"beyond reproach, blameless"

"one woman's man"

"having believing (faithful) children, not under accusation of living recklessly or being out of step

not self-willed

"not furious, quick tempered"

not remaining long beside his wine

"not a striker"

"not greedy for shameful gain"

"lover of strangers"

"lover of good"

"showing good sense"

"righteous, just"

"devout, pious"

"under control, self-controlled"

"holding firm the teaching of the faithful (reliable) word"

English Word or Phrase in 1 Timothy 3

above reproach v. 2

the husband of but one wife v. 2

manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect v. 4

not given to drunkenness v. 3

not violent but gentle v. 3

not a lover of money v. 3

hospitable v. 2

self-controlled v. 2

able to teach v. 2

temperate v. 2

respectable v. 2

not quarrelsome v. 3

not be a recent convert v. 6

good reputation with outsiders

v. 7

Greek Word or Phrase in 1 Timothy 3

anepilçmpton

mias gunaikos andra

tou idiou oikou kalôs proistamenon, tekna echonta en hupotagç, meta pasçs semnotçtos

mç paroinon

mç plçktçn, alla epieikç

aphilarguron

philoxenon

sôphrona

didaktikon

nçphalion

kosmion

amachon

mç neophuton

marturian kalçn echein apo tôn exôthen

Description of False Teachers in Titus

mere talkers (v. 10)

teaching things they ought not (v. 11)

always liars (v. 12)

sound in faith (v. 13)

Jewish myths (v. 14)

to the pure, all things are pure (v. 15)

consciences (v. 15)

Greek Words Used in Titus 1:10-16

mataiologoi

didaskontes ha mç dei

aei pseustai

hugiainôsin en tç pistei

Ioudaikois muthois

kathara tois katharois

suneidçsis

Description of False Teachers in 1 Timothy

meaningless talk (v. 6)

to teach false doctrines (v. 4)

liars (v. 10)

contrary to the sound doctrine (v. 10)

myths (v. 4)

a pure heart (v. 5)

conscience (v. 5)

Greek Words Used in 1 Tim 1:3-11

mataiologian

heterodidaskalein

pseustais

heteron tç hugainousç didaskalia

muthois

katharas kardias

suneidçseôs

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: Titus (Book Introduction)

The Epistle to Titus

Probably 66 or 67 Apparently From Nicopolis

JFB: Titus (Book Introduction)

GENUINENESS.--CLEMENT OF ROME quotes it [Epistle to the Corinthians, 2]; IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 3.3.4] refers to it as Paul's; THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH [To Autolychus, 3.14], quotes it as Scripture. Compare CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [Miscellanies, 1, p. 299]; TERTULLIAN [The Prescription against Heretics, 6].

TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING.--This Epistle seems to have been written from Corinth [BIRKS], subsequently to his first imprisonment, when Paul was on his way to Nicopolis (Tit 3:12) in Epirus, where he purposed passing the winter, shortly before his martyrdom, A.D. 67. BIRKS thinks, from the similarity of the Epistle to Titus and First Timothy, that both were written from the same place, Corinth, and at dates not widely apart; First Timothy shortly after coming to Corinth, before he had planned a journey to Epirus, the Epistle to Titus afterwards. The journey to Crete and Ephesus for the bearers of his letters would be easy from Corinth, and he could himself thence easily pass into Epirus. He had shortly before visited Crete, wherein a Church existed (though without due organization), the first foundation of which he may have partly laid at his former visit (Act 27:7, &c.), when on his way to his first imprisonment at Rome. That he returned to the East after his first imprisonment appears most probable from Phi 2:24; Phm 1:22. However, there may have been seeds of Christianity sown in Crete, even before his first visit, by the Cretans who heard Peter's preaching on Pentecost (Act 2:11).

OCCASION OF WRITING.--Corrupt elements soon showed themselves in the Cretan Church, similar to those noticed in the Epistles to Timothy, as existing in the Ephesian Church, Judaism, false pretensions to science, and practical ungodliness. Paul, on his late visit, had left Titus in Crete to establish Church government, and ordain presbyters (deacons are not mentioned). Titus had been several times employed by Paul on a mission to the Corinthian Churches, and had probably thence visited Crete, which was within easy reach of Corinth. Hence the suitableness of his selection by the apostle for the superintendence of the Cretan Church. Paul now follows up with instructions by letter those he had already given to Titus in person on the qualifications of elders, and the graces becoming the old, the young, and females, and warns him against the unprofitable speculations so rife in Crete. The national character of the Cretans was low in the extreme, as EPIMENIDES, quoted in Tit 1:12, paints it. LIVY [History, 44.45], stigmatizes their avarice; POLYBIUS [Histories, 6.46.9], their ferocity and fraud; and [Histories, 6.47.5], their mendacity, so much so, that "to Cretanize" is another name for to lie: they were included in the proverbial three infamous initials "K" or "C," "Cappadocia, Crete, Cilicia."

NOTICES OF TITUS.--It is strange that he is never mentioned by this name in Acts, and there seems none of those mentioned in that book who exactly answers to him. He was a Greek, and therefore a Gentile (Gal 2:1, Gal 2:3), and converted by Paul (Tit 1:4). He accompanied the apostle on the deputation sent from the Church of Antioch to Jerusalem, to consult the apostles respecting the circumcision of Gentile converts (Act 15:2); and, agreeably to the decree of the council there, was not circumcised. He was in company with Paul at Ephesus, whence he was sent to Corinth to commence the collection for the Jerusalem saints, and to ascertain the effect of the First Epistle on the Corinthians (2Co 7:6-9; 2Co 8:6; 2Co 12:18), and there showed an unmercenary spirit. He next proceeded to Macedon, where he joined Paul, who had been already eagerly expecting him at Troas (2Co 2:12-13, "Titus my brother," 2Co 7:6). He was then employed by the apostle in preparing the collection for the poor saints in Judea, and became the bearer of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (2Co 8:16-17, 2Co 8:23). Paul in it calls him "my partner and fellow helper concerning you." His being located in Crete (Tit 1:5) was subsequent to Paul's first imprisonment, and shortly before the second, about A.D. 67, ten years subsequent to the last notice of him in Second Corinthians (2Co 12:18), A.D. 57. He probably met Paul, as the apostle desired, at Nicopolis; for his subsequent journey into Dalmatia, thence (or else from Rome, whither he may have accompanied Paul) would be more likely, than from the distant Crete (2Ti 4:10, written subsequently to the Epistle to Titus). In the unsettled state of things then, Titus' episcopal commission in Crete was to be but temporary, Paul requiring the presence of Titus with himself, whenever Artemas or Tychicus should arrive in Crete and set him free from his duties there.

Tradition represents him to have died peaceably in Crete, as archbishop of Gortyna, at an advanced age.

JFB: Titus (Outline)

• ADDRESS: FOR WHAT END TITUS WAS LEFT IN CRETE. QUALIFICATIONS FOR ELDERS: GAINSAYERS IN CRETE NEEDING REPROOF. (Tit. 1:1-16)
• DIRECTIONS TO TITUS: HOW TO EXHORT VARIOUS CLASSES OF BELIEVERS: THE GRACE OF GOD IN CHRIST OUR GRAND INCENTIVE TO LIVE GODLY. (Tit 2:1-15)
• WHAT TITUS IS TO TEACH CONCERNING CHRISTIANS' BEHAVIOR TOWARDS THE WORLD: HOW HE IS TO TREAT HERETICS: WHEN AND WHERE HE IS TO MEET PAUL. SALUTATION. CONCLUSION. (Tit 3:1-15)

TSK: Titus 1 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Tit 1:1, For what end Titus was left in Crete; Tit 1:6, How they that are to be chosen ministers ought to be qualified; Tit 1:11, The mouths of evil teachers to be stopped; Tit 1:12, and what manner of men they be.

Poole: Titus 1 (Chapter Introduction)

ARGUMENT

As a general of an army, who hath a large country to conquer, cannot himself stay long in a conquered city, but leaving it with a garrison, under commanders, himself still goes forward in his conquests, and by his letters directs those whom he hath left governors in his conquered places how to behave themselves; so the apostle of the Gentiles, having a large field to run over, before he could finish his course, Act 26:17,18 , could not himself stay long in places where he had brought people into a subjection to the gospel, but after a time, leaving them as a garrison to keep Christ’ s possession in the place, left them under the conduct of some eminent disciple and minister, to whom he afterwards wrote letters directly, of such minister, to settle the church in such a place, what and how to preach, and behave himself; thus he left Timothy at Ephesus, Titus at Crete. Crete is a great island belonging to Grecia, which on the north hath the Aegean Sea, the African Sea on the south. It was anciently called Cures; the inhabitants of it were called Cretes, Act 2:11 . We read of the island, Act 28:1 , as Paul sailed by it to Rome. It had formerly in it one hundred cities, being in length two hundred and seventy miles, in breadth fifty, in compass eight hundred and nine miles; Cortina, Cydon, Gnossus, Minois, (the country of the famous geographer Strabo), were some of the cities famous in it. It is now called Candia. It was lately taken from the Venetians, and is now in the possession of the Turks. It was a very rich place, famous for wines, and the place where brass was first found out. When the first plantation of the gospel was made there, the Scripture doth not say: it was made by Paul, as appears by his leaving Titus there. Titus was a Greek, Gal 2:3 ; converted by Paul, as appears by Tit 1:4 ; afterwards made a minister, for he was Paul’ s partner and fellow helper, 2Co 8:23 , and called his brother, 2Co 2:13 , used as his messenger, 2Co 8:6 . He was left by Paul in Candia, or Crete, to settle the church there, and to ordain elders in every city, Tit 1:5 . He writes this Epistle to him from Nicopolis, Tit 3:12 . There were four cities of that name. The scope of it appears, to any that read it, to be, to direct him, what persons he should ordain as ministers, how to deal with false teachers, and how to behave himself, both as to preaching and living, towards all sorts of persons.

TITUS CHAPTER 2

Tit 1:1-4 The salutation.

Tit 1:5 For what end Titus was left in Crete.

Tit 1:6-9 How they should be qualified who are ordained

to the ministry.

Tit 1:10,11 The mouths of evil teachers must be stopped.

Tit 1:12-16 The bad character of the Cretians.

Paul, a servant of God that is, in the work of the ministry.

And an apostle of Jesus Christ who glory in this as my greatest honour and dignity, that I was one immediately sent by Jesus Christ to preach the gospel.

According to the faith of God’ s electkata pistin according to what the elect, or chosen of God from the beginning of the world, have believed; so as it is no new doctrine which I bring: or else kata here should be translated for, denoting the final cause, as some judge it signifieth, 2Ti 1:1 , and in Tit 1:9 of this chapter; then the sense is, that he was sent to be an instrument to beget faith in such as God had chosen unto life. Act 26:18 , for those only ordained to eternal life believe, Act 13:48 , and Paul was sent to be a helper of their faith. Some think the apostle by this phrase only distinguisheth himself from the ministers of the law.

And the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness to which faith men are brought by the knowledge of the truth, and it worketh by the owning, profession, and acknowledgment of the truth; not all propositions of truth, but that which is productive of a godly life, lying in the true worship of God, and a universal obedience to the Divine will.

MHCC: Titus (Book Introduction)

This epistle chiefly contains directions to Titus concerning the elders of the Church, and the manner in which he should give instruction; and the latter part tells him to urge obedience to magistrates, to enforce good works, avoid foolish questions, and shun heresies. The instructions the apostle gave are all plain and simple. The Christian religion was not formed to answer worldly or selfish views, but it is the wisdom of God and the power of God.

MHCC: Titus 1 (Chapter Introduction)

(Tit 1:1-4) The apostle salutes Titus.

(Tit 1:5-9) The qualifications of a faithful pastor.

(Tit 1:10-16) The evil temper and practices of false teachers.

Matthew Henry: Titus (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Epistle of St. Paul to Titus

This Epistle of Paul to Titus is much of the same nature with those to Timothy; both were converts of Paul, and his companions in labours and sufferings; both were in the office of evangelists, whose work was to water the churches planted by the apostles, and to set in order the things that were wanting in them: they were vice-apostles, as it were, working the work of the Lord, as they did, and mostly under their direction, though not despotic and arbitrary, but with the concurring exercise of their own prudence and judgment, 1Co 16:10, 1Co 16:12. We read much of this Titus, his titles, character, and active usefulness, in many places - he was a Greek, Gal 2:3. Paul called him his son (Tit 1:4), his brother (2Co 2:13), his partner and fellow-helper (2Co 8:23), one that walked in the same spirit and in the same steps with himself. He went up with the apostles to the church at Jerusalem (Gal 2:1), was much conversant at Corinth, for which church he had an earnest care, 2Co 8:16. Paul's second epistle to them, and probably his first also, was sent by his hand, 2Co 8:16-18, 2Co 8:23; 2Co 9:2-4; 2Co 12:18. He was with the apostle at Rome, and thence went into Dalmatia (2Ti 4:10), after which no more occurs of him in the scriptures. So that by them he appears not to have been a fixed bishop; if such he were, and in those times, the church of Corinth, where he most laboured, had the best title to him. In Crete (now called Candia, formerly Hecatompolis, from the hundred cities that were in it), a large island at the mouth of the Aegean Sea, the gospel had got some footing; and here were Paul and Titus in one of their travels, cultivating this plantation; but the apostle of the Gentiles, having on him the care of all the churches, could not himself tarry long at this place. He therefore left Titus some time there, to carry on the work which had been begun, wherein, probably, meeting with more difficulty than ordinary, Paul wrote this epistle to him; and yet perhaps not so much for his own sake as for the people's, that the endeavours of Titus, strengthened with apostolic advice and authority, might be more significant and effectual among them. He was to see all the cities furnished with good pastors, to reject and keep out the unmeet and unworthy, to teach sound doctrine, and instruct all sorts in their duties, to set forth the free grace of God in man's salvation by Christ, and withal to show the necessity of maintaining good works by those who have believed in God and hope for eternal life from him.

Matthew Henry: Titus 1 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter we have, I. The preface or introduction to the epistle, showing from and to whom it was written, with the apostle's salutation and prayer for Titus, wishing all blessings to him (Tit 1:1-4). II. Entrance into the matter, by signifying the end of Titus's being left at Crete (v. 5). III. And how the same should be pursued in reference both to good and bad ministers (v. 6 to the end).

Barclay: Titus (Book Introduction)

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS OF PAUL

The Letters Of Paul

There is no more interesting body of documents in the New Testament than the letters of Paul. That is because of all forms of literature a letter is most personal. Demetrius, one of the old Greek literary critics, once wrote, "Every one reveals his own soul in his letters. In every other form of composition it is possible to discern the writercharacter, but in none so clearly as the epistolary." (Demetrius, On Style, 227). It is just because he left us so many letters that we feel we know Paul so well. In them he opened his mind and heart to the folk he loved so much; and in them, to this day, we can see that great mind grappling with the problems of the early church, and feel that great heart throbbing with love for men, even when they were misguided and mistaken.

The Difficulty Of Letters

At the same time, there is often nothing so difficult to understand as a letter. Demetrius (On Style, 223) quotes a saying of Artemon, who edited the letters of Aristotle. Artemon said that a letter ought to be written in the same manner as a dialogue, because it was one of the two sides of a dialogue. In other words, to read a letter is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. So when we read the letters of Paul we are often in a difficulty. We do not possess the letter which he was answering; we do not fully know the circumstances with which he was dealing; it is only from the letter itself that we can deduce the situation which prompted it. Before we can hope to understand fully any letter Paul wrote, we must try to reconstruct the situation which produced it.

The Ancient Letters

It is a great pity that Paulletters were ever called epistles. They are in the most literal sense letters. One of the great lights shed on the interpretation of the New Testament has been the discovery and the publication of the papyri. In the ancient world, papyrus was the substance on which most documents were written. It was composed of strips of the pith of a certain bulrush that grew on the banks of the Nile. These strips were laid one on top of the other to form a substance very like brown paper. The sands of the Egyptian desert were ideal for preservation, for papyrus, although very brittle, will last forever so long as moisture does not get at it. As a result, from the Egyptian rubbish heaps, archaeologists have rescued hundreds of documents, marriage contracts, legal agreements, government forms, and, most interesting of all, private letters. When we read these private letters we find that there was a pattern to which nearly all conformed; and we find that Paulletters reproduce exactly that pattern. Here is one of these ancient letters. It is from a soldier, called Apion, to his father Epimachus. He is writing from Misenum to tell his father that he has arrived safely after a stormy passage.

"Apion sends heartiest greetings to his father and lord Epimachus.

I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are

going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.

I thank my Lord Serapis [his god] that he kept me safe when I was

in peril on the sea. As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey

money from Caesar--three gold pieces. And things are going fine

with me. So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to let

me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly, that

I may kiss your hand, because you brought me up well, and because

of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted. Give Capito my

heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and my friends.

I sent you a little picture of myself painted by Euctemon. My

military name is Antonius Maximus. I pray for your good health.

Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimonboy, and Turbo,

Galloniuson." (G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri,

36).

Little did Apion think that we would be reading his letter to his father 1800 years after he had written it. It shows how little human nature changes. The lad is hoping for promotion quickly. Who will Serenilla be but the girl he left behind him? He sends the ancient equivalent of a photograph to the folk at home. Now that letter falls into certain sections. (i) There is a greeting. (ii) There is a prayer for the health of the recipients. (iii) There is a thanksgiving to the gods. (iv) There are the special contents. (v) Finally, there are the special salutations and the personal greetings. Practically every one of Paulletters shows exactly the same sections, as we now demonstrate.

(i) The Greeting: Rom_1:1 ; 1Co_1:1 ; 2Co_1:1 ; Gal_1:1 ; Eph_1:1 ; Phi_1:1 ; Col_1:1-2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:1 .

(ii) The Prayer: in every case Paul prays for the grace of God on the people to whom he writes: Rom_1:7 ; 1Co_1:3 ; 2Co_1:2 ; Gal_1:3 ; Eph_1:2 ; Phi_1:3 ; Col_1:2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:2 .

(iii) The Thanksgiving: Rom_1:8 ; 1Co_1:4 ; 2Co_1:3 ; Eph_1:3 ; Phi_1:3 ; 1Th_1:3 ; 2Th_1:3 .

(iv) The Special Contents: the main body of the letters.

(v) Special Salutations and Personal Greetings: Rom 16 ; 1Co_16:19 ; 2Co_13:13 ; Phi_4:21-22 ; Col_4:12-15 ; 1Th_5:26 .

When Paul wrote letters, he wrote them on the pattern which everyone used. Deissmann says of them, "They differ from the messages of the homely papyrus leaves of Egypt, not as letters but only as the letters of Paul." When we read Paulletters we are not reading things which were meant to be academic exercises and theological treatises, but human documents written by a friend to his friends.

The Immediate Situation

With a very few exceptions, all Paulletters were written to meet an immediate situation and not treatises which he sat down to write in the peace and silence of his study. There was some threatening situation in Corinth, or Galatia, or Philippi, or Thessalonica, and he wrote a letter to meet it. He was not in the least thinking of us when he wrote, but solely of the people to whom he was writing. Deissmann writes, "Paul had no thought of adding a few fresh compositions to the already extant Jewish epistles; still less of enriching the sacred literature of his nation. He had no presentiment of the place his words would occupy in universal history; not so much that they would be in existence in the next generation, far less that one day people would look at them as Holy Scripture." We must always remember that a thing need not be transient because it was written to meet an immediate situation. All the great love songs of the world were written for one person, but they live on for the whole of mankind. It is just because Paulletters were written to meet a threatening danger or a clamant need that they still throb with life. And it is because human need and the human situation do not change that God speaks to us through them today.

The Spoken Word

One other thing we must note about these letters. Paul did what most people did in his day. He did not normally pen his own letters but dictated them to a secretary, and then added his own authenticating signature. (We actually know the name of one of the people who did the writing for him. In Rom_16:22 Tertius, the secretary, slips in his own greeting before the letter draws to an end). In 1Co_16:21 Paul says, "This is my own signature, my autograph, so that you can be sure this letter comes from me." (compare Col_4:18 ; 2Th_3:17 .)

This explains a great deal. Sometimes Paul is hard to understand, because his sentences begin and never finish; his grammar breaks down and the construction becomes involved. We must not think of him sitting quietly at a desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he writes. We must think of him striding up and down some little room, pouring out a torrent Paul composed his letters, he had in his mindeye a vision of words, while his secretary races to get them down. When of the folk to whom he was writing, and he was pouring out his heart to them in words that fell over each other in his eagerness to help.

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY AND TITUS

Personal Letters

1 and 2 Timothy and Titus have always been regarded as forming a separate group of letters, different from the other letters of Paul. The most obvious difference is that they, along with the little letter to Philemon, are written to persons, whereas all other Pauline letters are written to Churches. The Muratorian Canon, which was the earliest official list of New Testament books, says that they were written "from personal feeling and affection." They are private rather than public letters.

Ecclesiastical Letters

But it very soon began to be seen that, though these are personal and private letters, they have a significance and a relevance far beyond the immediate. In 1Ti_3:15 their aim is set down. They are written to Timothy "that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God." So, then, it came to be seen that these letters have not only a personal significance, but also what one might call an ecclesiastical significance. The Muratorian Canon says of them that, though they are personal letters written out of personal affection, "they are still hallowed in the respect of the Catholic Church, and in the arrangement of ecclesiastical discipline." Tertullian said that Paul wrote "two letters to Timothy and one to Titus, which were composed concerning the state of the Church (de ecclesiastico statu)." It is not then surprising that the first name given to them was Pontifical Letters, that is, written by the pontifex, the priest, the controller of the Church.

Pastoral Letters

Bit by bit they came to acquire the name by which they are still known--The Pastoral Epistles. In writing of I Timothy Thomas Aquinas, as long ago as 1274, said, "This letter is as it were a pastoral rule which the Apostle delivered to Timothy." In his introduction to the second letter, he writes, "In the first letter he gives Timothy instructions concerning ecclesiastical order; in this second letter he deals with a pastoral care which should be so great that it will even accept martyrdom for the sake of the care of the flock." But this title, The Pastoral Epistles, really became affixed to these letters in 1726 when a great scholar, Paul Anton by name, gave a series of famous lectures on them under that title.

These letters then deal with the care and organization of the flock of God; they tell men how to behave within the household of God; they give instructions as to how Godhouse should be administered, as to what kind of people the leaders and pastors of the Church should be, and as to how the threats which endanger the purity of Christian faith and life should be dealt with.

The Growing Church

The supreme interest of these letters is that we get in them a picture of the infant Church. In those early days it was an island in a sea of paganism. The people in it were only one remove from their heathen origin. It would have been so easy for them to relapse into the pagan standards from which they had come; the tarnishing atmosphere was all around. It is most significant that missionaries tell us that of all letters the Pastoral Epistles speak most directly to the situation of the younger Churches. The situation with which they deal is being re-enacted in India, in Africa, in China every day. They can never lose their interest because in them we see, as nowhere else, the problems which continually beset the growing Church.

The Ecclesiastical Background Of The Pastorals

From the beginning these letters have presented problems to New Testament scholars. There are many who have felt that, as they stand, they cannot have come directly from the hand and pen of Paul. That this is no new feeling may be seen from the fact that Marcion, who, although he was a heretic, was the first man to draw up a list of New Testament books, did not include them among Paulletters. Let us then see what makes people doubt their direct Pauline authorship.

In them we are confronted with the picture of a Church with a fairly highly developed ecclesiastical organization. There are elders (1Ti_5:17-19 ; Tit_1:5-6 ); there are bishops, superintendents or overseers (1Ti_3:1-7 ; Tit_1:7-16 ); there are deacons (1Ti_3:8-13 ). From 1Ti_5:17-18 we learn that by that time elders were even salaried officials. The elders that rule well are to be counted worthy of a double pay and the Church is urged to remember that the labourer is worthy of his hire. There is at least the beginning of the order of widows who became so prominent later on in the early Church (1Ti_5:3-16 ). There is clearly here a quite elaborate structure within the Church, too elaborate some would claim for the early days in which Paul lived and worked.

The Days Of Creeds

It is even claimed that in these letters we can see the days of creeds emerging. The word faith changed its meaning. In the earliest days it is always faith in a person; it is the most intimate possible personal connection of love and trust and obedience with Jesus Christ. In later days it became faith in a creed; it became the acceptance of certain doctrines. It is said that in the Pastoral Epistles we can see this change emerging.

In the later days men will come who will depart from the faith and give heed to doctrines of devils (1Ti_4:1 ). A good servant of Jesus Christ must be nourished in the words of faith and good doctrine (1Ti_4:6 ). The heretics are men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith (2Ti_3:8 ). The duty of Titus is to rebuke men that they may be sound in the faith (Tit_1:13 ).

This comes out very particularly in an expression peculiar to the Pastorals. Timothy is urged to keep hold of "the truth that has been entrusted to you" (2Ti_1:14 ). The word for that has been entrusted is paratheke (G3866). Paratheke means a deposit which has been entrusted to a banker or someone else for safe-keeping. It is essentially something which must be handed back or handed on absolutely unchanged. That is to say the stress is on orthodoxy. Instead of being a close, personal relationship to Jesus Christ, as it was in the thrilling and throbbing days of the early Church, faith has become the acceptance of a creed. It is even held that in the Pastorals we have echoes of the earliest creeds.

"God was manifested in the flesh;

Vindicated in the Spirit;

Seen by angels;

Preached among the nations;

Believed on in the world;

Taken up in glory" (1Ti_3:16 ).

That indeed sounds like the fragment of a creed to be recited.

"Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from

David, as preached in my gospel" (2Ti_2:8 ).

That sounds like a reminder of a sentence from an accepted creed.

Within the Pastorals there undoubtedly are indications that the day of insistence on acceptance of a creed has begun, and that the days of the first thrilling personal discovery of Christ are beginning to fade.

A Dangerous Heresy

It is clear that in the forefront of the situation against which the Pastoral Epistles were written there was a dangerous heresy which was threatening the welfare of the Christian Church. If we can distinguish the various characteristic features of that heresy, we may be able to go on to identify it.

It was characterized by speculative intellectualism. It produced questions (1Ti_1:4 ); those involved in it doted about questions (1Ti_6:4 ); it dealt in foolish and unlearned questions (2Ti_2:23 ); its foolish questions are to be avoided (Tit_3:9 ). The word used in each case for questions is ekzetesis (compare G1567 and G2214), which means speculative discussion. This heresy was obviously one which was a play-ground of the intellectuals, or rather the pseudo-intellectuals of the Church.

It was characterized by pride. The heretic is proud, although in reality he knows nothing (1Ti_6:4 ). There are indications that these intellectuals set themselves on a plane above the ordinary Christian; in fact they may well have said that complete salvation was outside the grasp of the ordinary man and open only to them. At times the Pastoral Epistles stress the word all in a most significant way. The grace of God, which brings salvation, has appeared to all men (Tit_2:11 ). It is Godwill that all men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1Ti_2:4 ). The intellectuals tried to make the greatest blessings of Christianity the exclusive possession of a chosen few; and in contradistinction the true faith stresses the all-embracing love of God.

There were within that heresy two opposite tendencies. There was a tendency to asceticism. The heretics tried to lay down special food laws, forgetting that everything God has made is good (1Ti_4:4-5 ). They listed many things as impure, forgetting that to the pure all things are pure (Tit_1:15 ). It is not impossible that they regarded sex as something unclean and belittled marriage, and even tried to persuade those who were married to renounce it, for in Tit_2:4 the simple duties of the married life are stressed as being binding on the Christian.

But this heresy also issued in immorality. The heretics even invaded private houses and led away weak and foolish women in evil desires (2Ti_3:6 ). They professed to know God, but denied him by their deeds (Tit_1:16 ). They were out to impose upon people and to make money out of their false teaching. To them gain was godliness (1Ti_6:5 ); they taught and deceived for base gain (Tit_1:11 ).

On the one hand this heresy issued in an unchristian asceticism, and on the other it produced an equally unchristian immorality.

It was characterized, too, by words and tales and genealogies. It was full of godless chatter and useless controversies (1Ti_6:20 ). It produced endless genealogies (1Ti_1:4 ; Tit_3:9 ). It produced myths and fables (1Ti_1:4 ; Tit_1:14 ).

It was at least in some way and to some extent tied up with Jewish legalism. Amongst its devotees were those of the circumcision (Tit_1:10 ). The aim of the heretics was to be teachers of the law (1Ti_1:7 ). It pressed on men Jewish fables and the commandments of men (Tit_1:14 ).

Finally, these heretics denied the resurrection of the body. They said that any resurrection that a man was going to experience had been experienced already (2Ti_2:18 ). This is probably a reference to those who held that the only resurrection the Christian experienced was a spiritual one when he died with Christ and rose again with him in the experience of baptism (Rom_6:4 ).

The Beginnings Of Gnosticism

Is there any heresy which fits all this material? There is, and its name is Gnosticism. The basic thought of Gnosticism was that all matter is essentially evil and spirit alone is good. That basic belief had certain consequences.

The Gnostic believed that matter is as eternal as God; and that when God created the world he had to use this essentially evil matter. That meant that to them God could not be the direct creator of the world. In order to touch this flawed matter he had to send out a series of emanations--they called them aeons--each one more and more distant from himself until at last there came an emanation or aeon so distant that it could deal with matter and create the world. Between man and God there stretched a series of these emanations, each with his name and genealogy. So Gnosticism literally had endless fables and endless genealogies. If a man was ever to get to God, he must, as it were, ascend this ladder of emanations; and to do that he needed a very special kind of knowledge including all kinds of passwords to get him past each stage. Only a person of the highest intellectual calibre could hope to acquire this knowledge and know these passwords and so get to God.

Further, if matter was altogether evil, the body was altogether evil. From that, two opposite possible consequences sprang. Either the body must be held down so that a rigorous asceticism resulted, in which the needs of the body were as far as possible eliminated and its instincts, especially the sex instinct, as far as possible destroyed; or it could be held that, since it was evil, it did not matter what was done with the body and its instincts and desires could be given full rein. The Gnostic therefore became either an ascetic or a man to whom morality had ceased to have any relevance at all.

Still further, if the body was evil, clearly there could be no such thing as its resurrection. It was not the resurrection of the body but its destruction to which the Gnostic looked forward.

All this fits accurately the situation of the Pastoral Epistles. In Gnosticism we see the intellectualism, the intellectual arrogance, the fables and the genealogies, the asceticism and the immorality, the refusal to contemplate the possibility of a bodily resurrection, which were part and parcel of the heresy against which the Pastoral Epistles were written.

One element in the heresy has not yet been fitted into place--the Judaism and the legalism of which the Pastoral Epistles speak. That too finds its place. Sometimes Gnosticism and Judaism joined hands. We have already said that the Gnostics insisted that to climb the ladder to God a very special knowledge was necessary; and that some of them insisted that for the good life a strict asceticism was essential. It was the claim of certain of the Jews that it was precisely the Jewish law and the Jewish food regulations which provided that special knowledge and necessary asceticism; and so there were times when Judaism and Gnosticism went hand in hand.

It is quite clear that the heresy at the back of the Pastoral Epistles was Gnosticism. Some have used that fact to try to prove that Paul could have had nothing to do with the writing of them, because, they say, Gnosticism did not emerge until much later than Paul. It is quite true that the great formal systems of Gnosticism, connected with such names as Valentinus and Basilides, did not arise until the second century; but these great figures only systematized what was already there. The basic ideas of Gnosticism were there in the atmosphere which surrounded the early Church, even in the days of Paul. It is easy to see their attraction, and also to see that, if they had been allowed to flourish unchecked, they could have turned Christianity into a speculative philosophy and wrecked it. In facing Gnosticism, the Church was facing one of the gravest dangers which ever threatened the Christian faith.

The Language Of The Pastorals

The most impressive argument against the direct Pauline origin of the Pastorals is a fact which is quite clear in the Greek but not so clear in any English translation. The total number of words in the Pastoral Epistles is 902, of which 54 are proper names; and of these 902 words, no fewer than 306 never occur in any other of Paulletters. That is to say more than a third of the words in the Pastoral Epistles are totally absent from Paulother letters. In fact 175 words in the Pastoral Epistles occur nowhere else in the New Testament at all; although it is only fair to say that there are 50 words in the Pastoral Epistles which occur in Paulother letters and nowhere else in the New Testament.

Further, when the other letters of Paul and the Pastorals say the same thing they say it in different ways, using different words and different turns of speech to express the same idea.

Again, many of Paulfavourite words are absent entirely from the Pastoral Epistles. The words for the cross (stauros, G4716) and to crucify (stauroun, G4717) occur 27 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals. Eleutheria (G1657) and the kindred words which have to do with freedom occur 29 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals. Huios (G5207), "son," and huiothesia (G5206), "adoption," occur 46 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals.

Moreover, Greek has many more of those little words called particles and enclitics than English has. Sometimes they indicate little more than a tone of voice; every Greek sentence is joined to its predecessor by one of them; and they are often virtually untranslatable. Of these particles and enclitics there are 112 which Paul uses altogether 932 times in his other letters that never occur in the Pastorals.

There is clearly something which has to be explained here. The vocabulary and the style make it hard to believe that Paul wrote the Pastoral Epistles in the same sense as he wrote his other letters.

PaulActivities In The Pastorals

But perhaps the most obvious difficulty of the Pastorals is that they show Paul engaged in activities for which there is no room in his life as we know it from the book of Acts. He has clearly conducted a mission in Crete (Tit_1:5 ). And he proposes to spend a winter in Nicopolis, which is in Epirus (Tit_3:12 ). In Paullife as we know it that particular mission and that particular winter just cannot be fitted in. But it may well be that just here we have stumbled on the solution to the problem.

Was Paul Released From His Roman Imprisonment?

Let us sum up. We have seen that the Church organization of the Pastorals is more elaborate than in any other Pauline letter. We have seen that the stress on orthodoxy sounds like second or third generation Christianity, when the thrill of the new discovery is wearing off and the Church is on the way to becoming an institution. We have seen that Paul is depicted as carrying out a mission or missions which cannot be fitted into the scheme of his life as we have it in Acts. But Acts leaves it quite uncertain what happened to Paul in Rome. It ends by telling us that he lived for two whole years in a kind of semi-captivity, preaching the gospel without hindrance (Act_28:30-31 ). But it does not tell us how that captivity ended, whether in Paulrelease or his execution. It is true that the general assumption is that it ended in his condemnation and death; but there is a by no means negligible stream of tradition which tells that it ended in his release, his liberty for two or three further years, his reimprisonment and his final execution about the year A.D. 67.

Let us look at this question, for it is of the greatest interest.

First, it is clear that when Paul was in prison in Rome, he did not regard release as impossible; in fact, it looks as if he expected it. When he wrote to the Philippians, he said that he was sending Timothy to them, and goes on, "And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself shall come also" (Phi_2:24 ). When he wrote to Philemon, sending back the runaway Onesimus, he says, "At the same time prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be granted to you" (Phm_1:22 ). Clearly he was prepared for release, whether or not it ever came.

Second, let us remember a plan that was very dear to Paulheart. Before he went to Jerusalem on that journey on which he was arrested, he wrote to the Church at Rome, and in that letter he is planning a visit to Spain. "I hope to see you in passing," he writes, "as I go to Spain." "I shall go on by way of you," he writes, "to Spain" (Rom_15:24 , Rom_15:28 ). Was that visit ever paid?

Clement of Rome, when he wrote to the Church at Corinth about A.D. 90, said of Paul that he preached the gospel in the East and in the West; that he instructed the whole world (that is, the Roman Empire) in righteousness; and that he went to the extremity (terma, the terminus) of the West, before his martyrdom. What did Clement mean by the extremity of the West? There are many who argue that he meant nothing more than Rome. Now it is true that someone writing away in the East in Asia Minor would probably think of Rome as the extremity, of the West. But Clement was writing from Rome; and it is difficult to see that for anyone in Rome the extremity of the West could be anything else but Spain. It certainly seems that Clement believed that Paul reached Spain.

The greatest of all the early Church historians was Eusebius. In his account of Paullife he writes: "Luke who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, brought his history to a close at this point, after stating that Paul had spent two whole years at Rome as a prisoner at large, and preached the word of God without constraint. Thus, after he had made his defence, it is said that the Apostle was sent again on the ministry of preaching, and that on coming to the same city a second time he suffered martyrdom" (Eusebius: Ecclesiastical History, 2.22.2). Eusebius has nothing to say about Spain, but he did know the story that Paul had been released from his first Roman imprisonment.

The Muratorian Canon, that first list of New Testament books, describes Lukescheme in writing Acts: "Luke related to Theophilus events of which he was an eye-witness, as also, in a separate place, he evidently declares the martyrdom of Peter (he probably refers to Luk_22:31-32 ); but omits the journey of Paul from Rome to Spain."

In the fifth century, two of the great Christian fathers are definite about this journey. Chrysostom in his sermon on 2Ti_4:20 says: "Saint Paul after his residence in Rome departed to Spain." Jerome in his Catalogue of Writers says that Paul "was dismissed by Nero that he might preach Christgospel in the West."

Beyond doubt a stream of tradition held that Paul journeyed to Spain.

This is a matter on which we will have to come to our own decision. The one thing which makes us doubt the historicity of that tradition is that in Spain itself there is not and never was any tradition that Paul had worked and preached there, no stories about him, no places connected with his name. It would be indeed strange if the memory of such a visit had become totally obliterated. It could well be that the whole story of Paulrelease and journey to the west arose simply as a deduction from his expressed intention to visit Spain (Rom 15 ). Most New Testament scholars do not think that Paul was released from his imprisonment; the general consensus of opinion is that his only release was by death.

Paul And The Pastoral Epistles

What then shall we say of Paulconnection with these letters? If we can accept the tradition of his release, and of his return to preaching and teaching, and of his death as late as A.D. 67, we might well believe that as they stand they came from his hand. But, if we cannot believe that--and the evidence is on the whole against it--are we to say that they have no connection with Paul at all?

We must remember that the ancient world did not think of these things as we do. It would see nothing wrong in issuing a letter under the name of a great teacher, if it was sure that the letter said the things which that teacher would say under the same circumstances. To the ancient world it was natural and seemly that a disciple should write in his mastername. No one would have seen anything wrong in one of Pauldisciples meeting a new and threatening situation with a letter under Paulname. To regard that as forgery is to misunderstand the mind of the ancient world. Are we then to swing completely to the other extreme and say that some disciple of his issued these letters in Paulname years after he was dead, and at a time when the Church was much more highly organized than ever it was during his lifetime?

As we see it, the answer is no. It is incredible that any disciple would put into Paulmouth a claim to be the chief of sinners (1Ti_1:15 ); his tendency would be to stress Paulholiness, not to talk about his sin. It is incredible that anyone writing in the name of Paul would give Timothy the homely advice to drink a little wine for the sake of his health (1Ti_5:23 ). The whole of 2Tim 4 is so personal and so full of intimate, loving details that no one but Paul could have written it.

Wherein lies the solution? It may well be that something like this happened. It is quite obvious that many letters of Paul went lost. Apart from his great public letters, he must have had a continuous private correspondence; and of that we possess only the little letter to Philemon. It may well be that in the later days there were some fragments of Paulcorrespondence in the possession of some Christian teacher. This teacher saw the Church of his day and his locality in Ephesus threatened on every side. It was threatened with heresy from without and from within. It was threatened with a fall away from its own high standards of purity and truth. The quality of its members and the standard of its office-bearers were degenerating. He had in his possession little letters of Paul which said exactly the things that should be said, but, as they stood, they were too short and too fragmentary to publish. So he amplified them and made them supremely relevant to the contemporary situation and sent them out to the Church.

In the Pastoral Epistles we are still hearing the voice of Paul, and often hearing it speak with a unique personal intimacy; but we think that the form of the letters is due to a Christian teacher who summoned the help of Paul when the Church of the day needed the guidance which only he could give.

FURTHER READING

Titus

D. Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles (TC; E)

W. Lock, The Pastoral Epistles (ICC; G)

E. F. Scott, The Pastoral Epistles (MC; E)

E. K. Simpson, The Pastoral Epistles

Abbreviations

CGT: Cambridge Greek Testament

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: Titus 1 (Chapter Introduction)

The Mainsprings Of Apostleship (Tit_1:1-4)

An Apostle's Gospel (Tit_1:1-4 Continued)

God's Purpose And God's Good Time (Tit_1:1-4 Continued)

A Faithful Henchman (Tit_1:1-4 Continued)

The Elder Of The Church (Tit_1:5-7)

What The Elder Must Not Be (Tit_1:7)

What The Elder Must Be (Tit_1:8-9)

The False Teachers Of Crete (Tit_1:10-11)

A Bad Reputation (Tit_1:12)

The Pure In Heart (Tit_1:13-16)

The Ugly And The Useless Life (Tit_1:13-16 Continued)

Constable: Titus (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical background

Paul may have visited Crete more than once. It seems unlikely that he would have had time to plant a church in Crete on his way to Rome as a prisoner (Acts 27:7-13, 21). One may have already been in existence then (cf. Acts 2:11). Perhaps Paul returned to Crete following his release from his first Roman imprisonment. In any case, he had been there and had instructed Titus to remain there when he departed (Titus 1:5).

Evidently Paul wrote Titus after he wrote 1 Timothy. Titus 3:12 seems to indicate that his plans were more settled than when he wrote 1 Timothy 3:14.¹

Titus was a Greek Gentile (Gal. 2:3). He had probably become a Christian under the influence of Paul and had become one of the apostle's protégés (Titus 1:4). Titus had been with Paul since the apostle's early ministry. He accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their mission of mercy to the Jerusalem church when Paul was laboring in Antioch of Syria, Titus' home. This happened before Paul's first missionary journey (Gal. 2:1; Acts 11:27-30). Titus was also Paul's special representative to the Corinthian church during Paul's third missionary journey. He carried the "severe letter" from Ephesus (2 Cor. 12:18; cf. 2 Cor. 2:3-4; 7:8-12) and returning to Ephesus through Macedonia met Paul in Macedonia (2 Cor. 7:6-16). He was, in addition, the leader of the group of men Paul sent to the churches in Macedonia and Achaia to pick up the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:6, 16, 23).

"Tradition has it that Titus, having become first bishop of Crete, died there in advanced years. His successor, Andreas Cretensis, eulogized him in the following terms: The first foundation-stone of the Cretan church; the pillar of the truth; the stay of the faith; the never silent trumpet of the evangelical message; the exalted echo of Paul's own voice'."²

Paul left Titus in Crete to set the church there in order (Titus 1:5).³ However, he planned to send Artemas or Tychicus to relieve Titus so Titus could join Paul in Nicapolis for the winter (3:12). There were several towns with the name "Nicapolis" in Paul's arena of ministry. This one was probably the one in Illyricum (parts of modern Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and northern Albania) that lay east of northern Italy across the Adriatic Sea. When Paul wrote 2 Timothy, Titus was with him (2 Tim. 4:10, Dalmatia being another name for Illyricum). Perhaps Paul also wrote this letter from Nicapolis or maybe from Macedonia (1 Tim. 1:3) or some other place. A date between 62 and 66 A.D. seems a safe estimate for the time of its composition. Zenas and Apollos may have delivered this letter to Titus on Crete (Titus 3:13).

The churches on the island of Crete were unorganized, though there appear to have been Christians in many of its cities (1:5). Titus' task of setting the churches in order included dealing with false teachers (1:10-11). The Cretans had a reputation for being idle and somewhat corrupt (1:12). These traits apparently characterized some of the faithful as well as the false teachers (3:14). Part of Titus' task consisted of motivating them to change.

"Nowhere else does Paul more forcefully urge the essential connection between evangelical truth and the purest morality than in this brief letter."⁴

"The dominant theme in Titus, therefore, is good works (1:8, 16; 2:7, 14; 3:1, 8, 14), that is, exemplary Christian behavior and that for the sake of outsiders (2:5, 7, 8, 10, 11; 3:1, 8)."⁵

Message⁶

By way of review, in 1 Timothy we saw that the purpose of the local church is to be the supporting pedestal of God's truth. To fulfill this function each church needs proper organization. In Titus, Paul emphasized the importance of church organization. In 2 Timothy he emphasized the importance of church leadership.

It is significant that this letter deals with a church in a very difficult place, Crete (1:12-13a). It is also noteworthy that in this letter Paul revealed that Christians in this difficult place could adorn the doctrine of God (2:9-10). Even those Christians in the most trying of circumstances in that difficult place (i.e., slaves) can adorn the doctrine of God. To show the true spiritual power of the church God selected the most difficult soil. In this way the Holy Spirit teaches us that the church can fulfill its purpose in the most dark, desolate, difficult places on earth. He can do so even through people whose situations in life are the most trying.

The subject of revelation in the epistle is the true church of Jesus Christ. What Paul said about the church is that it must be orderly. We could write, "Let everything be done decently and in order," (1 Cor. 14:40) over this book.

First, Paul revealed the motive of church order, why the church must be orderly. It must be orderly because people must come to the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness (1:1; 1 Tim. 3:16). Godliness is the end product of the gospel. The mystery of godliness is what the church supports and displays to the world. The business of the church is to correct and convict those who speak against godliness (1:9). It does this by revealing God's truth. Its business is to counteract the influence of evil people (2:12).

The Cretans were liars (1:12). Christians are to live sensibly (2:12). Cretans were evil beasts. Christians are to live righteously. Cretans were lazy gluttons. Christians are to be godly. Negatively Christians do this by denying ungodliness and worldly lusts (2:12).

Second, Paul revealed the method of church order, how the church can be orderly. It is by the oversight of overseers (1:7). An overseer (elder) is by definition one who sees clearly what is going on. An overseer in the church needs to see three things clearly.

He must see God's truth clearly (1:9). He must know the Word of God.

He must also see the conditions in which the people under his care live. An elder who does not know what is going on in the lives of the Christians in his church cannot exercise oversight (1:9).

He must also see clearly the method of oversight God has prescribed. His duties include enunciating the truth (teaching), applying the truth (exhorting), and urging obedience to the truth (reproving; 2:15).

Third, Paul revealed the might of church order, what the church has that enables it to be orderly (2:11-14). The power of an ordered church lies in two "appearings." The first is the appearing of grace at the first advent. The second is the appearing of glory at the second advent. The revelation of the grace of God in the Cross should motivate the church. The revelation of the glory of God when Christ returns for us at the Rapture should also motivate the church. We gain motivation as we look backward and forward at our Lord's two appearings.

The appeal of Paul in this epistle is that the church be true to Jesus Christ. The church as a whole, individual Christians, and the church overseers each have a responsibility to this end.

First, the responsibility of the church as a whole (all Christians in a local church) is to adorn the doctrine (2:10). Paul commanded this of slaves. If they could do it, all others can. "Adorn" is a translation of the Greek word kosmeo from kosmos meaning order and beauty. The verb also occurs in Matthew 25:7 where it reads "trimmed." When we remove the burned off part of a wick, the flame burns brighter. Just so when we trim a life or a church of sin and encumbrances, it bears a brighter witness to Christ. This process of trimming is what it means to adorn the doctrine. To adorn means to set forth attractively, as a musician does who plays a piece of music beautifully. This is a corporate as well as an individual responsibility.

Second, the responsibility of the individual Christian is to maintain good works (3:8). This does not refer just to charity or philanthropy. It refers to doing truly noble and beautiful works from the best of motives (cf. Eph. 2:10).

Third, the duty of the overseer is to affirm the essentials of the faith confidently (3:8). G. Campbell Morgan wrote, "We do not help men and women to adorn the doctrine when we debate our doubts in their presence."⁷ We should preach our convictions, not our questions.

By way of application this epistle teaches several things.

First, the church will be powerful in the world to the extent that it reveals God's truth. Its influence does not lie primarily in its ability to lobby for political change. Its influence lies mainly in its ability to proclaim and demonstrate God's truth to the world.

Second, it teaches that church leaders must be people who are under the rule of God's truth. We should not select them because of their business experience, social influence, or wealth. It is the spiritual life of a man mastered by the truth of God that qualifies him for church leadership.

Third, this epistle teaches that the power of an overseer is that of God's truth, not that of his office. No real power comes because a person fills an office. Real power comes as a result of a person's example and words. A church's elders should be her most spiritually influential men.

Fourth, Titus teaches that the measure of the success of a church's overseers is the extent to which the church members fulfill their function in the world. The measure of success is not the number of people attending services. It is the number and effectiveness of people proclaiming God's truth in the world by their godly lives and verbal witness. How much ministry are the saints carrying on during the week?

The church then must be orderly so that it can fulfill its function, namely to proclaim God's truth in the world. This is a statement of the message of the book.

Constable: Titus (Outline)

Outline

I. Salutation 1:1-4

II. Instructions for setting the church in order 1:5-3:11

A. The appointment of elders 1:5-9

B. The correction of false teachers 1:10-16

C. The conduct of the saints 2:1-3:11

1. The behavior of various groups in the church 2:1-15

2. The behavior of all in the church 3:1-11

III. Conclusion 3:12-15

Constable: Titus

Titus

Bibliography

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_____. The Pastoral Epistles. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries series. London: Tyndale Press, 1964.

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Titus (Book Introduction)

THE

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO TITUS.

INTRODUCTION.

The design of this epistle is much the same as in the two former to Timothy. He had made this his beloved son Titus, chief bishop of Crete; in which island were formerly a hundred cities, on which account it was called Hecatompolis. It is now called Candy. We have a commentary of St. Jerome on this epistle, tom. iv, p. 409. E. B. (Witham) --- Titus was an uncircumcised Gentile: we know not on what occasion he attached himself to St. Paul. It is however certain that he was a great utility to St. Paul in the government of the Church. --- St. Paul having preached the faith in the island of Crete, left his beloved Titus there to finish the work which he had begun. Afterwards the apostle, on a journey to Nicopolis, a city of Macedonia, wrote this epistle to Titus; in which he directs him to ordain bishops and priests for the different cities, shewing him the principal qualities necessary for the bishop, also gives him particular advice for his own conduct to his flock, exhorting him to hold to strictness of discipline, but seasoned with lenity. It was written about thirty-three years after our Lord's ascension. (Challoner)

====================

Gill: Titus (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO TITUS

Titus, to whom this epistle is inscribed, was a Greek, an uncircumcised Gentile, and so remained; nor did the apostle circumcise him, as he did Timothy, when he became his companion; nor did the apostles at Jerusalem oblige him to be circumcised, when Paul took him with Barnabas along with him thither, Gal 2:1. He was a man of great grace, and large gifts, and very dear to the apostle: he calls him his brother, his partner, and fellow helper, and says he walked in the same spirit, and in the same steps, 2Co 2:13. He was employed by the apostle much, and sent into various parts, on different occasions: he sent him to Corinth, to finish there the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, 2Co 8:6 and to Dalmatia, to know the state of the saints there, and to confirm them in the faith, 2Ti 4:10. As he was a Greek, so his name is a Greek name, yet used among the Romans, as Titus Vespasian, and others ^a; and among the Jews, so we read of R. Chijah bar ojyj, "Titas" ^b, and of R. Judah ben Titas ^c: when and where this epistle was written, is not very easy to determine; some think it was written between the first and second time the apostle was in bonds at Rome; and certain it is, that he was not in bonds when he wrote it, for he desires Titus to meet him at Nicopolis, Tit 3:19 from whence some have supposed it to be written, as the subscription shows; but others think it was wrote much earlier, and when the apostle was at Ephesus, towards the close of his three years stay there, before he went into Macedonia; but it seems rather that it was written when he returned from Macedonia into Greece: he left Titus at Crete, and staying in Greece three months, he intended to have sailed to Syria, but was prevented by the Jews lying in wait for him, upon which he steered his course to Macedonia again; and as he was going there, or when there, writes this letter to Titus, to come to him at Nicopolis. The occasion of it was partly the judaizing preachers, and false teachers, that got into that island, and were corrupting the principles of the people; and partly the unbecoming conversation and practices of some professors of religion: and whereas the apostle had left Titus in Crete, to finish what he had begun, and to put the churches in order, and see that they had proper officers, particularly pastors over them, that they might be taken care of, both with respect to doctrine and practice; the design of this epistle is to lay before Titus the several qualifications of a pastor, which might be instruction to him, and to the churches, in the choice and ordination of them; and to stir him up to zeal and diligence in refuting false teachers, and dealing with heretics; and to put him upon exhorting the saints to the discharge of their duty, in every branch of it, from the best principles, by arguments taken from the grace of God, and the doctrines of it. This epistle is supposed to be written about the year 55.

Gill: Titus 1 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO TITUS 1

This chapter contains the inscription of the epistle, the apostle's salutation and preface to it; an account of the qualifications of an eider, or pastor of a church; a description of these teachers; and a charge to Titus to rebuke the Cretians for their errors and immoralities. The inscription and salutation are in Tit 1:1, in which the writer of the epistle is described by his name and office; by the faith and hope he had; and by the ministration of the Gospel, committed to him by the order of Christ: and the person to whom it is written is mentioned by name; and is described by the spiritual relation he stood in to the apostle, and to whom he wishes grace, mercy, and peace: the preface to the epistle is in Tit 1:5 which gives the reason of the apostle's leaving Titus in Crete, which was to set things in order there, and to ordain elders in all the churches; which leads him to point at the necessary qualifications of them for his direction; some of which respect their moral life and conversation, and others their doctrine, and are in Tit 1:6 and on occasion of the latter, and which is a reason why the elders should be sound in the faith, and hold it fast, the apostle takes notice of the false teachers that were in Crete, whom he describes by their noisy, vain, and deceitful talk; by their being pernicious and hurtful to whole families; and by their covetousness and sensuality, which is confirmed by a testimony out of one of the Cretian poets, Tit 1:10 wherefore he charges Titus sharply to rebuke either these false teachers, or those they had corrupted, that they regard sound doctrine, and not Jewish fables, and the commandments of erroneous men, Tit 1:13 and instances in things forbidden in the law of Moses as unclean, which were not now to be attended to by those who were pure in heart, and sound in faith, to whom all things were pure and lawful; and as for others that were impure, whose minds and consciences were defiled, and were unbelieving, nothing was pure to them, Tit 1:15 and who are further described as professors in words of the true knowledge of God, and yet practically were deniers of him; and as abominable in their nature and actions, disobedient to law and Gospel, and unfit for any good work whatever, Tit 1:16.

College: Titus (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

PLACE OF ORIGIN AND DATE

At the time of writing Titus, Paul was in or on his way to Nicopolis where he planned to spend the winter (3:12). Titus had been left at Crete to complete the work which he and Paul had begun (1:5). The only other reference to Crete in the New Testament occurs when Paul spent time at the harbor of Fair Havens (Acts 27:8). Because of the brevity of that stay, it is unlikely that Paul engaged in evangelistic work at that time. While it is possible that Paul completed evangelistic work in Crete during some of the gaps in Acts (cf. the details in 2 Cor 11:23-29 which are not narrated in Acts), it seems probable that Titus - like 1 Timothy - occurred after Paul's release from the "house arrest" of Acts 28:30 but before the later arrest assumed by 2 Timothy.

While Robinson argues for a date of A.D. 57 for Titus with Paul writing the work on his way to Jerusalem, thus finding a place for the book within the chronology of Acts, few scholars find this suggestion plausible. Those who hold that Titus is pseudonymous date the book in the second century (see on The Place of Origin and Date of 1 Timothy). Those who hold to Pauline authorship date the book before 2 Timothy and in the same time period as 1 Timothy, the mid 60s.

DESTINATION AND AUDIENCE

In contrast to the work at Ephesus where Timothy was working with an established church, Titus' task was to grow a church in a climate that was less than desirable. Timothy's task was to maintain a healthy eldership, but Titus was called upon to appoint elders for a young church.

Titus himself is not mentioned in the book of Acts. He was a Gentile and became Paul's test case for circumcision, securing for Gentiles a gospel separate from the law (Gal 2:1, 3). In all likelihood he was one of Paul's converts (Titus 1:4). He was probably a co-worker with Paul from the early years of Paul's ministry and, as such, was trusted with some very difficult situations (2 Cor 2:3-4, 13; 7:6-16; 8:16-24). After Titus and Paul had evangelized the island of Crete, Titus had been left to set things in order in the churches. He was soon to be replaced by Artemas and to join Paul in Nicopolis (Titus 3:12).

As Titus ministered to the church in Crete, he confronted hostile environs. This small island in the Mediterranean Sea was, at best, an outpost. Its inhabitants were known for their lying, gluttony, and laziness (Titus 1:12, 13).

THE CONTRIBUTION OF TITUS

Titus is very much like 1 Timothy. Only two passages (2:11-14; 3:3-7) have no corresponding material in 1 Timothy. Fee has noted that "Titus has often been viewed as a miniature 1 Timothy and, except for 2:11-14 and 3:3-7, has been treated with benign neglect." There are, however, some striking differences between Titus and 1 Timothy. First the church at Crete had only recently been established while the church at Ephesus had been in existence for some time. As Fee has noted, even the lack of urgency in terms of Paul's instructions to the young evangelist and in terms of the false teachers may indicate that he is preparing the evangelist and the church for what they may face rather than what they are already facing.

The dominant theme in Titus is good works (1:8, 16; 2:7, 14; 3:1, 8, 14). These good works will provide this young church and its minister with a means of affecting outsiders (2:5, 7, 8, 10, 11; 3:1, 8).

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: Titus (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. SALUTATION - 1:1-4

II. APPOINTING ELDERS - 1:5-16

A. Qualification of Elders - 1:5-9

B. Elders' Duty to False Teachers - 1:10-16

III. INSTRUCTIONS FOR VARIOUS GROUPS - 2:1-15

A. Behavior and Sound Doctrine - 2:1

B. Instructions for Older Men - 2:2

C. Instructions for Older Women - 2:3

D. Instructions for Younger Women - 2:4-5

E. Instructions for Younger Men - 2:6-8

F. Instructions for Slaves - 2:9-10

G. The Theological Basis for the Christian Life - 2:11-15

IV. STANDARDS FOR CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR - 3:1-11

A. Respect for Government Authorities - 3:1

B. Respect for All - 3:2

C. The Theological Basis for Living with Non-Christians - 3:3-8

D. Final Warnings Concerning False Teachers and the Divisive - 3:9-11

V. PERSONAL DIRECTIONS AND CLOSING SALUTATIONS - 3:12-15

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV