Titus 2:12-15

2:12 It trains us ¹  to reject godless ways ²  and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 2:13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing ³  of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ⁴  2:14 He ⁵  gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, ⁶  who are eager to do good. ⁷  2:15 So communicate these things with the sort of exhortation or rebuke ⁸  that carries full authority. ⁹  Don’t let anyone look down ¹⁰  on you.

¹ tn Grk “training us” (as a continuation of the previous clause). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 by translating the participle παιδεύουσα (paideuousa) as a finite verb and supplying the pronoun “it” as subject.

² tn Grk “ungodliness.”

³ tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”

⁴ tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.

⁵ tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).

⁶ tn Or “a people who are his very own.”

⁷ tn Grk “for good works.”

⁸ tn Or “reproof,” “censure.” The Greek word ἐλέγχω (elencw) implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.

⁹ tn Grk “speak these things and exhort and rebuke with all authority.”

¹⁰ tn Or “let anyone despise you”; or “let anyone disregard you.”