PAUL, A SERVANT OF GOD] St. Paul does not elsewhere use this designation in his superscriptions; so an imitator would be unlikely to use it. ACCORDING TO THE FAITH, etc.] i.e. to promote the true faith. WHICH IS AFTER GODLINESS] i.e. which leads to godliness.... [ Continue Reading ]
GREETING. DIRECTIONS FOR ORGANISING THE CRETAN CHURCH 1-16. 'Paul an Apostle, to Titus his own son in the faith. In appointing elders in the towns of Crete, see to their character, and be sure that they keep the faith. There are Judaisers in the island, and the Cretans are liars; so Church officers... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT CANNOT LIE] A bad translation. The single Gk. word means 'absolutely truthful.' It is irreverent to say of the One Self-determined Being, 'cannot'; 'will not' is sufficient and final. Here AV and RV both add an idea not in the original, borrowing, doubtless, from Hebrews 6:18 : cp. Romans 3:4 a... [ Continue Reading ]
SON AFTER THE COMMON FAITH] i.e. his pupil in the faith which they shared together. Titus is not mentioned in Acts, but from St. Paul's Epistles we gather the following details: he was a Greek (Galatians 2:3); neither at his conversion nor (probably) later was he circumcised (ib.); he went on missio... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE] not necessarily of any wife, but of not more than one. Probably not an objection to polygamy, which was rare, but to divorce and remarriage, which was common. It is hardly likely that remarriage, after the death of a first wife, was to be a disqualification for office: cp. 1... [ Continue Reading ]
A BISHOP] This officer seems simply to be one of the 'elders' in Titus 1:5 : though the difference in name and number may suggest the beginning of a distinction between them. At any rate, the Church is here more highly organised than when St. Paul wrote, e.g. 1Cor, but not nearly so much so as when... [ Continue Reading ]
LOVER OF GOOD MEN] better (as RV), 'lover of good,' including both men and things.... [ Continue Reading ]
AS HE HATH BEEN TAUGHT] RV (which is lit.) 'according to the teaching'; i.e. the teaching which he has received, perhaps referring to a gradually forming statement of the essentials of the faith, such as culminated, in the 2nd cent., in the 'Roman symbol,' or early form of the Apostles' Creed. 10.... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE OF THEMSELVES] i.e. one of the Cretans. The reference is to Epimenides, a poet, circ. 600 b.c. St. Paul calls him a, prophet because, (1) poets and prophets were apt to be classed together, and (2) his 'witness' was still true in St. Paul's day. One reason why the Cretans were called liars was b... [ Continue Reading ]
JEWISH FABLES] e.g. the sort of rules, for maintaining which our Lord condemned the Pharisees (Matthew 15:23, etc.).... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO THE PURE ALL THINGS _are_ PURE] St. Chrysostom said, 'God made nothing impure.' Used, not abused, all things are right; abused, the seemingly innocent thing is sin. St. Paul does not mean to limit this principle to ceremonial distinctions (about meats, etc.), with which the Judaisers would be a... [ Continue Reading ]