Titus 1:5--3:11

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. 1:6 An elder must be blameless, ¹  the husband of one wife, ²  with faithful children ³  who cannot be charged with dissipation or rebellion. 1:7 For the overseer ⁴  must be blameless as one entrusted with God’s work, ⁵  not arrogant, not prone to anger, not a drunkard, not violent, not greedy for gain. 1:8 Instead he must be hospitable, devoted to what is good, sensible, upright, devout, and self-controlled. 1:9 He must hold firmly to the faithful message as it has been taught, ⁶  so that he will be able to give exhortation in such healthy teaching ⁷  and correct those who speak against it.

1:10 For there are many ⁸  rebellious people, idle talkers, and deceivers, especially those with Jewish connections, ⁹  1:11 who must be silenced because they mislead whole families by teaching for dishonest gain what ought not to be taught. 1:12 A certain one of them, in fact, one of their own prophets, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹⁰  1:13 Such testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply that they may be healthy in the faith 1:14 and not pay attention to Jewish myths ¹¹  and commands of people who reject the truth. 1:15 All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 1:16 They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

Conduct Consistent with Sound Teaching

2:1 But as for you, communicate the behavior that goes with ¹²  sound teaching. 2:2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, ¹³  sound in faith, in love, and in endurance. ¹⁴  2:3 Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good. 2:4 In this way ¹⁵  they will train ¹⁶  the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, 2:5 to be self-controlled, ¹⁷  pure, fulfilling their duties at home, ¹⁸  kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the message ¹⁹  of God may not be discredited. ²⁰  2:6 Encourage younger men likewise to be self-controlled, ²¹  2:7 showing yourself to be an example of good works in every way. In your teaching show integrity, dignity, 2:8 and a sound message that cannot be criticized, so that any opponent will be at a loss, ²²  because he has nothing evil to say about us. 2:9 Slaves ²³  are to be subject to their own masters in everything, ²⁴  to do what is wanted and not talk back, 2:10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, ²⁵  in order to bring credit to ²⁶  the teaching of God our Savior in everything.

2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. ²⁷  2:12 It trains us ²⁸  to reject godless ways ²⁹  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 ³⁰  of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ³¹  2:14 He ³²  gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, ³³  who are eager to do good. ³⁴  2:15 So communicate these things with the sort of exhortation or rebuke ³⁵  that carries full authority. ³⁶  Don’t let anyone look down ³⁷  on you.

Conduct Toward Those Outside the Church

3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and ³⁸  authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. 3:2 They must not slander ³⁹  anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people. 3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another. 3:4 ⁴⁰  But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 3:6 whom he poured out on us in full measure ⁴¹  through Jesus Christ our Savior. 3:7 And so, ⁴²  since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.” ⁴³ 

Summary of the Letter

3:8 This saying ⁴⁴  is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on such truths, ⁴⁵  so that those who have placed their faith in God may be intent on engaging in good works. These things are good and beneficial for all people. 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, ⁴⁶  quarrels, and fights about the law, ⁴⁷  because they are useless and empty. 3:10 Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings. 3:11 You know ⁴⁸  that such a person is twisted by sin ⁴⁹  and is conscious of it himself. ⁵⁰ 

[1:6]  ¹ tn Grk “if anyone is blameless…” as a continuation of v. 5b, beginning to describe the elder’s character.

[1:6]  ² tn Or “married only once,” “devoted solely to his wife.” See the note on “wife” in 1 Tim 3:2; also 1 Tim 3:12; 5:9.

[1:6]  ³ tn Or “believing children.” The phrase could be translated “believing children,” but the parallel with 1 Tim 3:4 (“keeping his children in control”) argues for the sense given in the translation.

[1:7]  ⁴ sn The overseer is another term for the same official position of leadership as the “elder.” This is seen in the interchange of the two terms in this passage and in Acts 20:17, 28, as well as in the parallels between these verses and 1 Tim 3:1-7.

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “as God’s steward.”

[1:9]  ⁶ tn Grk “the faithful message in accordance with the teaching” (referring to apostolic teaching).

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “the healthy teaching” (referring to what was just mentioned).

[1:10]  ⁸ tc ‡ The earliest and best mss lack καί (kai) after πολλοί (polloi; so א A C P 088 81 104 365 614 629 630 al sy co), though the conjunction is found in several significant witnesses, chiefly of the Western and Byzantine texts (D F G I Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï lat). Although it is possible that some scribes omitted the word, thinking it was superfluous, it is also possible that others added the conjunction for clarification. Judging by the pedigree of the witnesses and the inconclusiveness of the internal evidence, the shorter reading is considered to be most likely original. NA²⁷ puts the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[1:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” Some translations take this to refer to Jewish converts to Christianity (cf. NAB “Jewish Christians”; TEV “converts from Judaism”; CEV “Jewish followers”) while others are less clear (cf. NLT “those who insist on circumcision for salvation”).

[1:12]  ¹⁰ sn A saying attributed to the poet Epimenides of Crete (6th century b.c.).

[1:14]  ¹¹ sn Jewish myths were legendary tales characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus and Crete. See parallels in 1 Tim 1:4; 4:7; and 2 Tim 4:4.

[2:1]  ¹² tn Grk “say what is fitting for sound teaching” (introducing the behavior called for in this chapter.).

[2:2]  ¹³ tn Or “sensible.”

[2:2]  ¹⁴ sn Temperate…in endurance. See the same cluster of virtues in 1 Thess 1:3 and 1 Cor 13:13.

[2:4]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “that they may train” (continuing the sentence of 2:3).

[2:4]  ¹⁶ tn This verb, σωφρονίζω (swfronizw), denotes teaching in the sense of bringing people to their senses, showing what sound thinking is.

[2:5]  ¹⁷ tn Or “sensible.”

[2:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “domestic,” “keeping house.”

[2:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “word.”

[2:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “slandered.”

[2:6]  ²¹ tn Or “sensible.”

[2:8]  ²² tn Or “put to shame.”

[2:9]  ²³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.

[2:9]  ²⁴ tn Or “to be subject to their own masters, to do what is wanted in everything.”

[2:10]  ²⁵ tn Or “showing that genuine faith is productive.” At issue between these two translations is the force of ἀγαθήν (agaqhn): Is it attributive (as the text has it) or predicate (as in this note)? A number of considerations point in the direction of a predicate ἀγαθήν (e.g., separation from the noun πίστιν (pistin) by the verb, the possibility that the construction is an object-complement, etc.), though is not usually seen as an option in either translations or commentaries. Cf. ExSyn 188-89, 312-13, for a discussion. Contextually, it makes an intriguing statement, for it suggests a synthetic or synonymous parallel: “‘Slaves should be wholly subject to their masters…demonstrating that all [genuine] faith is productive, with the result [ecbatic ἵνα] that they will completely adorn the doctrine of God.’ The point of the text, then, if this understanding is correct, is an exhortation to slaves to demonstrate that their faith is sincere and results in holy behavior. If taken this way, the text seems to support the idea that saving faith does not fail, but even results in good works” (ExSyn 312-13). The translation of ἀγαθήν as an attributive adjective, however, also makes good sense.

[2:10]  ²⁶ tn Or “adorn,” “show the beauty of.”

[2:11]  ²⁷ tn Grk “all men”; but ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpois) is generic here, referring to both men and women.

[2:12]  ²⁸ 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.

[2:12]  ²⁹ tn Grk “ungodliness.”

[2:13]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”

[2:13]  ³¹ 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.

[2:14]  ³² tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).

[2:14]  ³³ tn Or “a people who are his very own.”

[2:14]  ³⁴ tn Grk “for good works.”

[2:15]  ³⁵ tn Or “reproof,” “censure.” The Greek word ἐλέγχω (elencw) implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.

[2:15]  ³⁶ tn Grk “speak these things and exhort and rebuke with all authority.”

[2:15]  ³⁷ tn Or “let anyone despise you”; or “let anyone disregard you.”

[3:1]  ³⁸ tc Most later witnesses (D² 0278 Ï lat sy) have καί (kai, “and”) after ἀρχαῖς (arcai", “rulers”), though the earliest and best witnesses (א A C D* F G Ψ 33 104 1739 1881) lack the conjunction. Although the καί is most likely not authentic, it has been added in translation due to the requirements of English style. For more discussion, see TCGNT 586.

[3:2]  ³⁹ tn Or “discredit,” “damage the reputation of.”

[3:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Verses 4-7 are set as poetry in NA²⁶/NA²⁷. These verses probably constitute the referent of the expression “this saying” in v. 8.

[3:6]  ⁴¹ tn Or “on us richly.”

[3:7]  ⁴² tn This is the conclusion of a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek encompassing Titus 3:4-7. Showing the goal of God’s merciful salvation, v. 7 begins literally, “in order that, being justified…we might become heirs…”

[3:7]  ⁴³ tn Grk “heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

[3:8]  ⁴⁴ sn This saying (Grk “the saying”) refers to the preceding citation (Titus 3:4-7). See 1 Tim 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11 for other occurrences of this phrase.

[3:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “concerning these things.”

[3:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Cf. 1 Tim 1:4.

[3:9]  ⁴⁷ sn Fights about the law were characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus as well as in Crete (cf. 1 Tim 1:3-7; Titus 1:10, 14).

[3:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “knowing” (as a continuation of the previous clause).

[3:11]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “is perverted and is sinning.”

[3:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “is sinning, being self-condemned.”