Titus 1 - Introduction
ΠΡΟΣ ΤΙΤΟΝ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡΟΣ ΤΙΤΟΝ... [ Continue Reading ]
δοῦλος θεοῦ : The only parallel to this phrase in the opening formula of any other epistle in the N.T. is James 1:1; but there it is, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” It is no less obvious than necessary to note that this variation from St. Paul's formula δοῦλος Ἰησ. Χρ. (Roma... [ Continue Reading ]
Salutation, in which the place of the Gospel in eternity and in time is largely expressed.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι κ. τ. λ.: This is best taken in connexion with the preceding clause, κατὰ πίστιν … κηρύγματι. The faith and the knowledge there spoken of have as their basis of action, or energy, the hope of eternal life. _Cf._ 1 Timothy 1:16. Compare the use of ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι in Acts 26:6; Romans 4:18; Roma... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐφανέρωσεν τόν λόγον : For φανερόω see note on 1 Timothy 3:16. We must observe that no N.T. writer speaks of a manifestation of the _gift_ of eternal life (1 John 1:2 refers to the _personal_ Incarnate Life). God's message concerning it, which is the revelation of a divine secret purpose, is manifes... [ Continue Reading ]
γνησίῳ τέκνῳ : See note on 1 Timothy 1:2. κατὰ κοινὴν πίστιν, like ἐν πίστει in 1 Timothy 1:2, qualifies τέκνῳ, but is less ambiguous than ἐν πίστει. It must not be restricted to a faith shared only by St. Paul and Titus; but, like the κοινὴ σωτηρία (Jude 1:3), it is common to all Christians who “h... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀπέλιπον : The force of ἀπολείπω here will be apparent if we compare 2Ti 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:20. It means _to leave behind temporarily_ something or someone; καταλείπω is often used of a permanent leaving behind. St. Paul's language favours the supposition that the commission given to Titus was that o... [ Continue Reading ]
As I left you in Crete to carry out completely the arrangements for the organisation of the Church there, which I set before you in detail, let me remind you of the necessary qualifications of presbyters [since the presbyter is the basal element in the Church Society].... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀνέγκλητος : See notes on 1 Timothy 3:2; 1 Timothy 3:10. μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἀνήρ : See on 1 Timothy 3:2. τέκνα πιστά : It must be supposed that a Christian father who has unbelieving children is himself a recent convert, or a very careless Christian. The fact that St. Paul did not think it necessary to... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸν ἐυίσκοπον : On the use of the singular as a generic term See on 1 Timothy 3:2. Here, where the thought is of the various official functions of the minister, the official title is appropriate. ἀνέγκλητον : See notes on 1Ti 3:2; 1 Timothy 3:10. θεοῦ οἰκονόμον : a steward appointed by God (Luke 12... [ Continue Reading ]
φιλόξενον : See on 1 Timothy 3:2. φιλάγαθον : In Wis 7:22, the πνεῦμα which is in σοφία is φιλάγαθον, _loving what is good_. The epithets which immediately precede and follow φιλάγαθον in Wisd. have no reference to persons, with the exception of φιλάνθρωπον. It seems best, with the R.V., to give th... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀντεχόμενον : _holding firmly to_. ἀντέχομαι is stronger than ἔχειν, as used in a similar connexion, 1 Timothy 1:19, etc., etc. The R.V. _holding to_ correctly suggests the notion of withstanding opposition, which is not so clearly felt in the A.V. _holding fast_. “Having care of it, making it his b... [ Continue Reading ]
The persons spoken of here were Christian Jews. οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς (without τῆς, see crit. note) has this meaning in reff. (in Acts 10:45 it is qualified by the addition of πιστοί). Romans 4:12, is not really an instance of the phrase. That they were at least nominally Christians is also implied by the... [ Continue Reading ]
I have just mentioned rebuke as a necessary element in a presbyter's teaching. This is especially needful in dealing with Cretan heretics, in whom the Jewish strain is disagreeably prominent. Alike in their new-fangled philosophy of purity, and in their pretensions to orthodoxy, they ring false. Pur... [ Continue Reading ]
οὓς δεῖ ἐπιστομίζειν : _quos oportet redargui, whose mouths must be stopped_ by the unanswerable arguments of the orthodox controversialist. This is the result hoped for from the “conviction,” of Titus 1:9. ὅλους οἴκους ἀνατρέπουσιν : _pervert whole families_ (Alf.); Moulton and Milligan give an ap... [ Continue Reading ]
προφήτης : It is possible that St. Paul applies this title to the author of the following hexameter line because the Cretan false teachers were self-styled prophets. There was a Cretan prophet once who told plain truths to his countrymen. The whole line occurs, according to Jerome, in the περὶ χρησμ... [ Continue Reading ]
διʼ ἥν αἰτίαν : See on 2 Timothy 1:6. ἀποτόμως : _severely_. The noun ἀποτομία, _severitas_, occurs Romans 11:22. See Moulton and Milligan, _Expositor_, vii., vi. 192. ἵνα ὑγιαίνωσιν : See note on 1 Timothy 1:10. The intention of the reproof was not merely the securing of a controversial triumph,... [ Continue Reading ]
προσέχοντες : See on 1 Timothy 1:4. The word implies the giving one's consent, as well as one's attention. Ἰουδαϊκοῖς : This determines the nature of the μῦθοι referred to in these epistles. See on 1 Timothy 1:4. ἐντολαῖς ἀνθρώπων ἀποστρεφομένων : We are naturally reminded of Mark 7:7-8, with its a... [ Continue Reading ]
πάντα καθαρὰ κ. τ. λ.: This is best understood as a maxim of the Judaic Gnostics, based on a perversion of the Saying πάντα καθαρὰ ὑμῖν ἐστιν (Luke 11:41. _Cf._ Romans 14:20; Mark 7:18.). St. Paul accepts it as a truth, but not in the intention of the speaker; and answers, τοῖς δὲ μεμιαμμένοις κ. τ.... [ Continue Reading ]
θεὸν ὁμολογοῦσιν εἰδέναι : “ _We know God_ ”; that was their profession of faith. They “gloried in God,” Romans 2:17. This is an allusion to the Jewish pride of religious privilege. Weiss points out that this phrase alone is sufficient to prove that the heretics in question are not the Gnostics of t... [ Continue Reading ]