Titus 1:13

ἐν τῇ πίστει. א* omits ἐν, but the authority for its insertion is overwhelming.

13. ἡμαρτυρία αὕτη ἐστὶν�. This witness is true. St Paul deliberately assents to the truth of the proverbial judgement upon the Cretan character. It was a serious thing to say, and especially significant in a letter which became part of the Canonical Scriptures received at a later date by the Cretan Church.

διʼ ἥν αἰτίαν ἔλεγχε αὐτοὺς�. For which cause, sc. on account of these evil traits of character, rebuke them sharply, sc. not, to be sure, the Cretans generally, but the heretical teachers described in Titus 1:9 as οἱ�.

ἀποτόμως only occurs again in the Greek Bible 2 Corinthians 13:10; Wis 5:22 (cp. Romans 11:22).

ἵνα ὑγιαίνωσιν ἐν τῇ πίστει, in order that they may be sound in the faith. ἡ πίστις is here, plainly, used objectively, as equivalent to ‘the Christian faith’ (see on 1 Timothy 1:19); for the metaphor of ‘soundness,’ ‘wholesomeness,’ as applied to doctrine, see on 1 Timothy 1:10.