Titus 1:16

θεὸν ὁμολοῦσιν εἰδέναι. They confess that they know God. There is here no hint of Gnostic pretensions to esoteric knowledge of deity. It was ever the boast and the pride of Judaism that it was the religion of the One True God, in contrast to the religions of τὰ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ εἰδότα τὸν θεόν (1 Thessalonians 4:5; cp. also Galatians 4:8; 2 Thessalonians 1:8). And so far the heretical Judaisers at Crete were right; their confession, so far, was a ‘good confession’ (1 Timothy 6:12).

τοῖς δὲ ἔργοις�, but they deny Him by their works; they acted as if this Supreme Being was a mere metaphysical abstraction, out of all moral relation to human life, as if He were neither Saviour nor Judge. Cp. 2 Timothy 2:12, and see note on 1 Timothy 2:10.

βδελυκτοὶ ὄντες, being abominable.

βδελυκτός is not found again in the N.T.; in Proverbs 17:15 (LXX.) the man who perverts moral distinctions is described as ἀκάθαρτος καὶ βδελυκτὸς παρὰ θεῷ (cp. Sir 41:5; 2Ma 1:27 for other occurrences of the word).

καὶ�. Cp. Romans 11:32; Titus 3:3. The two ideas of disobedience to Jehovah and abominableness in His sight go together in Judaism; these Judaisers, putting in the forefront of their teaching the Unity of God and claiming for themselves a special knowledge of God as His peculiar people, were yet disobedient to His word and so abominable in His sight.

καὶ πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον�, and unto every good work reprobate. For the form of the expression cp. 2 Timothy 3:17; Titus 3:1; for ἀδόκιμος see on 2 Timothy 3:8.