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The Apostle Paul, Rembrandt van Rijn (and Workshop?), about 1657, National Gallery of Art

The Apostle Paul, Rembrandt van Rijn (and Workshop?), about 1657, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.

New Testament · Book 56 of 66

Titus

Titus is Paul's letter to Titus, whom he left in Crete to appoint elders in every town. He sets out what elders must be, how each group in the church should live, and how God's grace teaches godly living.

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The Apostle Paul, Rembrandt van Rijn (and Workshop?), about 1657, National Gallery of Art

The Apostle Paul, Rembrandt van Rijn (and Workshop?), about 1657, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.

What is Titus about?

Titus is a short letter Paul wrote to his coworker Titus, whom he had left on the island of Crete to finish the work among the new churches. Paul tells him to appoint elders in every town, men of proven life who hold to the faithful word, and to silence teachers who upset whole households for money. He then sets out what each group in the church is to learn: older men and women, younger women and men, and slaves. Twice he states the gospel itself: the grace of God has appeared, and God saved us by his mercy. He wants believers to “devote themselves to good deeds” (3:8).

All 3 chapters

Every chapter of the book, in one grid. Each cell opens that chapter.

  • Elders in every townChapter 1
  • The grace that trainsChapter 2
  • He saved usChapter 3

The colour is the movement of the letter, one chapter to each movement, and every cell opens that chapter's Study level.

1Set in order2Sound doctrine lived3Ready for good works

Who wrote it, where, when, for whom, and why?

The letter names its writer in its first words, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle (1:1), and names Titus as his true child in their common faith (1:4). Titus was a Greek who went up to Jerusalem with Paul and Barnabas (Galatians 2:1 to 3), and Paul calls him his partner and fellow worker (2 Corinthians 8:23).

The letter names two places: Crete, where Paul left Titus, and Nicopolis, where Paul has decided to spend the winter. Acts records Paul beside Crete once, as a prisoner on the voyage to Rome, when the ship put in at Fair Havens (Acts 27:7 to 8).

As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.

Titus 3:12, Berean Standard Bible.

The text places the letter after Paul and Titus had worked in Crete together and before a winter at Nicopolis (1:5, 3:12). The churches are young, since elders are still to be appointed in every town. Paul plans to send Artemas or Tychicus to Crete, and a later letter finds Titus gone to Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10).

The letter is written to Titus (1:4), and its last line greets all who are with him (3:15). The churches of Crete held Jews and Gentiles, and the teachers causing trouble were especially those of the circumcision (1:10). One of the island's own prophets had called Cretans liars (1:12).

Paul writes so Titus will finish setting the churches in order, appoint elders, and silence teachers who undermine entire households for dishonourable gain (1:5, 1:11). He wants every group in the church to live in a way that adorns the teaching about God our Savior (2:10), and every believer to do good works that meet real needs (3:14).

This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.

Titus 3:8, Berean Standard Bible.

Sources. Titus 1:1, 1:4 to 5, 1:10 to 12, 2:10, 3:8, 3:12, 3:14 to 15; Galatians 2:1 to 3; 2 Corinthians 8:23; Acts 27:7 to 8; 2 Timothy 4:10. Every verse is read in the Berean Standard Bible.

How is Titus arranged, and what is it for?

The three movements of the letter, one to each chapter, then what it teaches and what it was written to do.

  1. Elders in every townChapter 1, 16 verses, the turn at 1:5

    Titus is left in Crete to set the churches in order, appoint proven elders and silence teachers who work for gain.

  2. The grace that trainsChapter 2, 15 verses, the turn at 2:11

    Each group in the church is taught how to live, and the grace of God that has appeared is the reason.

  3. He saved usChapter 3, 15 verses, the turn at 3:5

    Believers live gently in public because God saved them by his mercy, and they devote themselves to good works.

The theme

The grace of God that saves also trains. Titus states the gospel twice, in 2:11 to 14 and in 3:4 to 7: the grace and kindness of God appeared in Christ, he gave himself to redeem a people, and God saved us by his mercy through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Each time the letter moves straight from what God has done to how his people live: sensible, upright, gentle toward everyone, and eager to do good.

The purpose

Paul wrote to put the young churches of Crete in order under faithful elders and to answer teachers whose actions denied the God they claimed to know (1:16). He wants the believers' conduct at home and in public to commend the gospel to those outside (2:5, 2:8, 2:10), and their good works to meet pressing needs (3:14).

The two summaries of the gospel, and the good works that follow

What appeared
Titus 2:11 to 14

2:11“the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone”

Titus 3:4 to 7

3:4“the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared”

What it does
Titus 2:11 to 14

2:12“It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions”

Titus 3:4 to 7

3:5“He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy”

The hope ahead
Titus 2:11 to 14

2:13“the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”

Titus 3:4 to 7

3:7“heirs with the hope of eternal life”

The work of Christ
Titus 2:11 to 14

2:14“He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness”

Titus 3:4 to 7

3:6“the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior”

The good works it produces
Titus 2:11 to 14

2:14“zealous for good deeds”

Titus 3:4 to 7

3:8“devote themselves to good deeds”

Good works in the letter (6 places)

  1. 1:16“unfit for any good deed”

    The teachers who deny God by their actions

  2. 2:7“an example by doing good works”

    Titus, as the pattern for the young men

  3. 2:14“zealous for good deeds”

    The people Christ purified for himself

  4. 3:1“ready for every good work”

    Believers, toward rulers and authorities

  5. 3:8“devote themselves to good deeds”

    Those who have believed God

  6. 3:14“devote themselves to good works”

    Our people, to meet pressing needs

Titus states the gospel twice, and both times the same four things stand in the same order, then good works; the strip shows all six places good works stand in the letter. In this letter grace comes first and the works follow it. Sources: Titus 1:16, 2:7, 2:11 to 14, 3:1, 3:4 to 8 and 3:14 in the Berean Standard Bible.

Elders in every town, Titus 1

What chapter 1 says, and the pages it opens on.

Paul opens with one long greeting: he is an apostle for the faith of God's elect, in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. He left Titus in Crete to set in order what was unfinished and to appoint elders in every town. An elder must be blameless in his marriage and his home, and as God's steward he must hold firmly to the faithful word so he can encourage others and refute those who oppose it. Many were rebellious, especially those of the circumcision, and taught for dishonourable gain. Paul quotes a Cretan prophet, grants that the line is true, and tells Titus to rebuke them sternly. To the pure all things are pure, and those who profess to know God deny him by their actions.

The reason I left you in Crete was that you would set in order what was unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
Titus 1:5, Berean Standard Bible. The charge to set the churches in order and appoint elders in every town is the task the rest of the chapter explains.
  • Titus 1the greeting, the elder, and the teachers rebukedShow summary, 5 pages

    Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, to Titus, my own son after the common faith. For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city. A bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God. There are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers; their mouths must be stopped. The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him. Henry reads the chapter as elder qualification under cultural pressure.

    On this chapter (5)

    Read Titus 1 verse by verse

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The elder of Titus 1 beside the overseer of 1 Timothy 3

Named in both letters (9)

  • Above reproach
    Titus 1:

    1:7“an overseer must be above reproach”

    1 Timothy 3:

    3:2“must be above reproach”

  • One wife
    Titus 1:

    1:6“the husband of but one wife”

    1 Timothy 3:

    3:2“the husband of but one wife”

  • His children
    Titus 1:

    1:6“having children who are believers”

    1 Timothy 3:

    3:4“keep his children under control”

  • Wine
    Titus 1:

    1:7“not given to drunkenness”

    1 Timothy 3:

    3:3“not dependent on wine”

  • Temper
    Titus 1:

    1:7“not violent”

    1 Timothy 3:

    3:3“not violent but gentle”

  • Money
    Titus 1:

    1:7“not greedy for money”

    1 Timothy 3:

    3:3“free of the love of money”

  • His home open
    Titus 1:

    1:8“hospitable”

    1 Timothy 3:

    3:2“hospitable”

  • Self-control
    Titus 1:

    1:8“self-controlled”

    1 Timothy 3:

    3:2“self-controlled”

  • Teaching
    Titus 1:

    1:9“encourage others by sound teaching”

    1 Timothy 3:

    3:2“able to teach”

Named in Titus 1 alone (6)

  • 1:7“not self-absorbed”

  • 1:7“not quick-tempered”

  • 1:8“a lover of good”

  • 1:8“upright, holy, and disciplined”

  • 1:9“hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught”

  • 1:9“refute those who contradict it”

Named in 1 Timothy 3 alone (6)

  • 3:1“he desires a noble task”

  • 3:2“temperate”

  • 3:2“respectable”

  • 3:3“peaceable”

  • 3:6“He must not be a recent convert”

  • 3:7“a good reputation with outsiders”

In each card the first line, marked in red, is Titus 1 and the second is 1 Timothy 3. The two lists ask for the same kind of man, and Titus adds that he must hold firmly to the faithful word to refute those who contradict it. Sources: Titus 1:5 to 9 and 1 Timothy 3:1 to 7 in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (5)

Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.

  • Paul

    The apostle who writes, a servant of God.

  • Titus

    Paul's true child in the faith, left in Crete.

  • The elders

    The men Titus is to appoint in every town.

  • The Cretan prophet

    One of the island's own, quoted at 1:12.

Show the next 1
  • Those of the circumcision

    The teachers who upset whole households.

Places (1)

Where the chapter stands.

  • Crete

    The island where Paul left Titus to finish the work.

Themes (3)

What the chapter raises, each on its own page where one stands.

  • The elder's character

    What the letter asks of a church's leaders.

  • Paul and the poets

    The Greek writers Paul quotes, the Cretan line among them.

  • Sound doctrine

    The faithful word the elder holds and teaches.

Where these chapters take up the Old Testament (1)each marked as the store holds it, with 1 Timothy 3 and Galatians 2 beside it
  • Probable allusionNumbers 23:19 at Titus 1:2. The God who cannot lie echoes Balaam's oracle on the truthfulness of God. Held in the store as a cross reference from Titus 1:2, with 29 votes.

Beside it in 1 Timothy 3 and in Galatians 2: Titus 1:8 with 1 Timothy 3:2 (10 votes); Titus 1:10 with Galatians 2:4 (5votes), the store's cross references with the most votes.

The grace that trains, Titus 2

What chapter 2 says, and the pages it opens on.

Titus is to speak what is consistent with sound doctrine. Paul goes through the church group by group: older men, older women who teach the young women, younger men, and slaves, and Titus himself is to be an example of good works. Most of the instructions carry a reason: that the word of God will not be discredited, that opponents will be ashamed, and that slaves will adorn the teaching about God our Savior. Then Paul gives the ground of it all. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone, and it teaches believers to renounce ungodliness and live upright lives while they wait for the glorious appearing of Christ, who gave himself to purify a people zealous for good deeds.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.
Titus 2:11, Berean Standard Bible. The appearing of God's grace gives the reason for every instruction to the household that comes before it.
  • Titus 2each group taught, and the grace that trainsShow summary, 5 pages

    Speak the things which fit sound doctrine. The aged men to be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith; the aged women in behaviour as fits holiness; that they teach the young women to love their husbands, to love their children. Young men likewise. Sober-minded. Exhort servants to be obedient to their own masters, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly. Calvin reads the chapter as the grace-taught household.

    On this chapter (5)

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The five groups of chapter 2, what each is taught, and why

  1. Older men
    Taught

    2:2“temperate, dignified, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and perseverance”

    The aim

    2:1“the things that are consistent with sound doctrine”

  2. Older women
    Taught

    2:3“reverent in their behavior”

    The aim

    2:4“they can train the young women to love their husbands and children”

  3. Young women
    Taught

    2:5“self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind”

    The aim

    2:5“so that the word of God will not be discredited”

  4. Younger men
    Taught

    2:6“urge the younger men to be self-controlled”

    The aim

    2:8“so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed”

  5. Slaves
    Taught

    2:9“submit to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing”

    The aim

    2:10“they will adorn the teaching about God our Savior”

Each card holds one group of the church, what Titus is to teach it, and the aim the letter sets beside it. Three of the aims look outward, to how the gospel is seen: the word of God kept from reproach, opponents put to shame, and the teaching about God our Savior adorned. Sources: Titus 2:1 to 10 in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (4)

Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.

  • Titus

    The example of good works, taught to speak with all authority.

  • Older men and older women

    The first two groups; the older women teach the younger.

  • Younger women and younger men

    Taught self-control, with Titus as their pattern.

  • Slaves

    Taught to adorn the teaching about God our Savior.

Places (1)

Where the chapter stands.

  • Crete

    The households the teaching is spoken to.

Themes (4)

What the chapter raises, each on its own page where one stands.

Where these chapters take up the Old Testament (3)each marked as the store holds it, with 1 Timothy 3 and Galatians 2 beside it
  • Probable allusionExodus 19:5 at Titus 2:14. A people for his own possession is the word of Sinai for Israel. Held in the store as a cross reference from Titus 2:14, with 8 votes.
  • Probable allusionPsalm 130:8 at Titus 2:14. To redeem from all lawlessness echoes the psalm's promise to redeem Israel from all iniquity. Held in the store as a cross reference from Titus 2:14, with 7 votes.
  • Probable allusionEzekiel 37:23 at Titus 2:14. To purify a people echoes God's promise to cleanse his people and make them his own. Held in the store as a cross reference from Titus 2:14, with 3 votes.

Beside it in 1 Timothy 3 and in Galatians 2: Titus 2:3 with 1 Timothy 3:11 (24 votes); Titus 2:14 with Galatians 2:20 (15votes), the store's cross references with the most votes.

He saved us, Titus 3

What chapter 3 says, and the pages it opens on.

Believers are to submit to rulers, be ready for every good work, malign no one and show consideration to everyone. Paul reminds them what they once were: foolish, disobedient, enslaved to desires, hated and hating. Then the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, and he saved us by his mercy through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, poured out abundantly through Christ, so that, justified by his grace, we would become heirs. This saying is trustworthy, and Titus is to stress it so believers devote themselves to good deeds. He is to avoid foolish controversies and reject a divisive man after two warnings. Paul closes with plans for Artemas, Tychicus, Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, and a winter at Nicopolis.

He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:5, Berean Standard Bible. God saved us by his mercy, and that is the ground for the gentleness and the good works the chapter asks for.
  • Titus 3what we once were, God's mercy, and good worksShow summary, 5 pages

    Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. These things I will that you affirm constantly. Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject. Let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses. JFB reads the chapter as the gospel's ethic for outward witness.

    On this chapter (5)

    Read Titus 3 verse by verse

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What we once were, and what God did

What we once were, 3:3 (6)

3:3“foolish”

3:3“disobedient”

3:3“misled”

3:3“enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures”

3:3“living in malice and envy”

3:3“being hated and hating one another”

What God did, 3:4 to 7 (6)

3:4“the kindness of God our Savior”

3:5“He saved us”

3:5“the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”

3:6“poured out on us abundantly”

3:7“having been justified by His grace”

3:7“we would become heirs”

The six phrases of 3:3 beside six phrases of 3:4 to 7, each as the store's text prints it. Paul counts himself among those who were enslaved, and every change in the second column is God's work: his kindness appeared, he saved us, and the Spirit renewed us. Sources: Titus 3:3 to 7 in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (4)

Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.

  • Artemas

    One of the two Paul may send to Crete.

  • Tychicus

    The other Paul may send, so Titus can come to him.

  • Zenas the lawyer

    A traveller Titus is to equip for the road.

  • Apollos

    The teacher who travels with Zenas.

Places (2)

Where the chapter stands.

  • Nicopolis

    Where Paul has decided to spend the winter.

  • Crete

    Where Titus waits for Artemas or Tychicus.

Themes (3)

What the chapter raises, each on its own page where one stands.

Where these chapters take up the Old Testament (1)each marked as the store holds it, with 1 Timothy 3 and Galatians 2 beside it
  • Probable allusionJoel 2:28 at Titus 3:6. The Spirit poured out abundantly takes up Joel's promise to pour out the Spirit on all people. Held in the store as a cross reference from Titus 3:6, with 16 votes.

Beside it in 1 Timothy 3 and in Galatians 2: Titus 3:2 with 1 Timothy 3:3 (9 votes); Titus 3:5 with Galatians 2:16 (11votes), the store's cross references with the most votes.

Where do readers disagree?

One list: the readings with their holders, and what the evidence does not settle.

  • Who is the prophet of 1:12, and how does Paul use a line that calls every Cretan a liar?

    Paul and the poets→
    • Epimenides, the Cretan seer. Held by Clement of Alexandria in his Stromata, book 1, and by Jerome in his Commentary on Titus, on 1:12.
    • A known saying turned on the false teachers. Held by John Calvin, Commentary on Titus (1549), on 1:12 to 13.

    What the evidence does not settle: Whether the whole line is the work of Epimenides; the letter says one of their own prophets spoke it (1:12), and Paul applies it to the teachers he answers (1:13).

    The argument in full

    Epimenides, the Cretan seer. Both name Epimenides of Crete as the author of the line. The first half of it also stands in the Hymn to Zeus of the poet Callimachus, so the saying was known long before Paul.

    A known saying turned on the false teachers. Paul takes a line his readers knew and grants it as true of the people he must rebuke, and the rebuke has a stated aim, that they will be sound in the faith (1:13). Calvin draws from it that a true saying may be taken from any writer, since all truth is from God.

  • Does 2:13 call Jesus Christ "our great God and Savior", one person or two?

    The deity of Christ→
    • One person: Christ is named God and Savior. Held by Granville Sharp, Remarks on the Uses of the Definitive Article in the Greek Text of the New Testament (1798), and by Murray J. Harris, Jesus as God (1992).
    • Two persons: the great God, and our Savior Jesus Christ. Held by Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849 to 1861), on 2:13, and by George Benedict Winer, A Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament (1822), on the article.

    What the evidence does not settle: Whether the rule of the one article holds when the first noun is God; the Berean Standard Bible renders the verse as naming one person.

    The argument in full

    One person: Christ is named God and Savior. One Greek article governs both nouns, God and Savior, joined by and, which by the rule Sharp set out names one person; the letter also gives the title Savior to God and to Christ in turn (1:3 to 4, 3:4 to 6).

    Two persons: the great God, and our Savior Jesus Christ. The word God can stand as a proper name without a second article, and Paul elsewhere names God and Christ side by side as two (1:4), so the appearing is of the Father's glory and of Christ.

    This site reads 2:13 with Sharp and Harris as naming Jesus Christ our great God and Savior, and teaches the deity of Christ at full strength.

  • What is the washing of new birth in 3:5, baptism or the renewal it signifies?

    Regeneration→
    • Baptism, the washing in which the Spirit gives new birth. Held by Martin Luther, The Small Catechism (1529), on baptism, and by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1215.
    • Baptism as the sign and seal of the Spirit's washing. Held by John Calvin in his Commentary on Titus, on 3:5.
    • The Spirit's inward cleansing, the washing a figure for it. Held by John Gill in his Exposition of the New Testament, on 3:5.

    What the evidence does not settle: How closely the washing is tied to the rite; all three readings hold that God saves by his mercy and that the Holy Spirit renews.

    The argument in full

    Baptism, the washing in which the Spirit gives new birth. Luther's catechism answers how water can do such great things with this verse, and the Catholic catechism calls baptism the bath of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit; the Spirit works through the rite.

    Baptism as the sign and seal of the Spirit's washing. Paul alludes to baptism, and the washing and renewal are the Spirit's work, which the rite signifies and seals; the sentence grounds the whole in God's mercy.

    The Spirit's inward cleansing, the washing a figure for it. The washing and the renewal are one work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, and the verse names mercy and the Spirit as the causes of the new birth.

    This site holds that the Spirit God poured out abundantly through Jesus Christ (3:6) is his present gift to his people.

  • When was Paul in Crete?

    Who wrote the Pastoral letters→
    • After a release from the imprisonment of Acts 28. Held by Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History (about 325), 2.22, on Paul's release, and by J. N. D. Kelly in his commentary on the Pastoral letters (1963).
    • During the years based at Ephesus. Held by John A. T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament (1976).
    • Genuine notes of Paul set into a later letter. Held by P. N. Harrison, The Problem of the Pastoral Epistles (1921).

    What the evidence does not settle: When the stay on Crete took place; the letter says that Paul left Titus there (1:5) and planned to winter at Nicopolis (3:12).

    The argument in full

    After a release from the imprisonment of Acts 28. Acts records Paul beside Crete only as a prisoner (Acts 27:7 to 8), and 1:5 needs a stay long enough to plant churches in several towns, so the work belongs to the years after Acts closes.

    During the years based at Ephesus. Crete lay a short sail from Ephesus, Acts passes over much of those three years, and Apollos, named at 3:13, was at work in that period.

    Genuine notes of Paul set into a later letter. Harrison judged the letter's vocabulary later than Paul, and took the travel notes of 3:12 to 15 as genuine notes of Paul's that a later writer set into it.

  • What do "the husband of but one wife" and "children who are believers" in 1:6 require?

    Elders and deacons→
    • Married once only. Held by Tertullian in his On Monogamy, written about 210.
    • Faithful to one wife. Held by John Calvin in his Commentary on Titus, on 1:6.
    • Children who are faithful in conduct. Held by George W. Knight III in his commentary on the Greek text of the Pastoral letters (1992), on 1:6.

    What the evidence does not settle: Whether the rule looks at a man's whole life or at his present marriage, and whether the children's faith or their conduct is tested; every reading holds that an elder's own home shows whether he can lead.

    The argument in full

    Married once only. Tertullian read the rule as barring from the order of elders a man who had married a second time, even after his wife had died.

    Faithful to one wife. The rule bars a man with more than one wife at once, which was known among the Jews of that day, and asks for a man faithful in marriage.

    Children who are faithful in conduct. The rest of the verse, and 1 Timothy 3:4, speak of children under control and free of charges of wildness, so the word names children who are trustworthy and obedient.

  • What does 2:3 to 5 say about women teaching?

    Women in ministry→
    • A commission for older women, and one example of a wider ministry. Held by Catherine Booth, Female Ministry; or, Woman's Right to Preach the Gospel (1859).
    • A pattern that also marks the boundary, women teaching women. Held by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, editors, Women in the Church: A Fresh Analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9 to 15 (1995).

    What the evidence does not settle: Whether 2:3 to 5 describes the whole field of women's teaching or one part of it; both readings hold that older women are to be teachers of good.

    The argument in full

    A commission for older women, and one example of a wider ministry. Scripture shows women prophesying and teaching (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17 to 18, Acts 18:26), so the older women's teaching in 2:3 is one case of a ministry the Spirit gives to women.

    A pattern that also marks the boundary, women teaching women. Titus 2 names older women as teachers of the younger women, and read with 1 Timothy 2:12 it marks the field of their teaching.

    This site's own tradition stands with the first reading: the Azusa Street mission's elders included women, and the Assemblies of God opened ordination to women in 1935.

  • Did Paul write the letter?

    Who wrote the Pastoral letters→
    • Paul wrote it. Held by J. N. D. Kelly (1963), and by William D. Mounce in his Word Biblical Commentary on the Pastoral letters (2000).
    • Paul's thought in a secretary's words. Held by C. F. D. Moule, The Problem of the Pastoral Epistles: A Reappraisal (1965).
    • A later writer in Paul's name. Held by P. N. Harrison (1921), and by I. Howard Marshall, The Pastoral Epistles (1999).

    What the evidence does not settle: How much weight the vocabulary can bear in a letter of forty-six verses; the letter names Paul as its writer.

    The argument in full

    Paul wrote it. The letter names Paul (1:1), the early church received it as his, and its vocabulary follows from a new subject and a letter to a trusted coworker.

    Paul's thought in a secretary's words. Moule proposed that Luke wrote the three letters at Paul's direction, which accounts for their style and keeps them Pauline.

    A later writer in Paul's name. The vocabulary and the order of the church point to a time after Paul; Marshall calls the letters allonymous, written by a disciple to carry Paul's teaching on.

The Text and the Spade

The Cretan reputation and the tomb of Zeus

Greek, on Crete and about CreteEpimenides is placed in the 6th century BC; Callimachus wrote in the 3rd century BC

The parallel

Greek writers used the Cretans as a byword for lying, and a verb formed from the island's name meant to lie. Callimachus opens his Hymn to Zeus by charging the Cretans with the claim that Zeus was buried on their island, and quotes the line that they are always liars. The full hexameter Paul quotes at 1:12 is attributed to Epimenides by Clement of Alexandria and by Jerome in his commentary on Titus.

Read honestly

The reputation is genuine and ancient, and the first half of the line is certainly attested before Paul. The attribution of the whole line to Epimenides rests on later writers, Clement of Alexandria and Jerome. What the parallel does establish is that Paul quoted a saying his readers knew by heart, and that the sting in it was old.

Instruction addressed to a household by station

Greek and Roman, with Jewish examples as wellfrom Aristotle in the 4th century BC through the Roman period

The parallel

Ancient moral writers arranged advice by the position a person held: husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, older and younger. Chapter 2 follows that shape almost exactly, working through older men, older women, young women, younger men, and servants, with a duty named for each.

Read honestly

The form is shared and the ground under it is different. Where the ancient codes appealed to nature or to the good order of the city, Paul puts the whole chapter on one foundation and names it in the next paragraph, that 'the grace of God has appeared' (2:11). He also gives a slave the most dignified motive in the letter, that his ordinary honesty puts the teaching on display (2:10).

Imperial titles: saviour, benefactor, and the ruler's appearing

Roman, across the eastern provinces including Crete and Cyrenefrom the late Republic through the first century AD

The parallel

Greek cities honored emperors and kings as saviour and benefactor on inscriptions and coins, and used the word for appearing when a ruler arrived in state or a god was held to have shown himself. Titus uses saviour six times and the appearing word three times in three chapters.

Read honestly

The vocabulary was genuinely in the air, and a Cretan reader would have heard it. What the letter does with it is the point. The titles the province gave to Caesar are given to God and to Jesus Christ, and 2:13 puts them in the same clause. The parallel explains why the words carried weight in a province that gave them to Caesar.

The pages Titus opens on

Studies31

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People and groups3

Places5

Words6

Books beside it5

Sources for this page

The movements, the chapter entries, the figures and the Context are read off the text of Titus. The 5Old Testament passages under each movement, and the lines to 1 Timothy 3 and Galatians 2, are the store's cross references with their votes. The works behind the readings under Where do readers disagree are Clement of Alexandria, Stromata; Tertullian, On Monogamy (about 210); Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History; Jerome, Commentary on Titus; Martin Luther, The Small Catechism (1529); John Calvin, Commentary on Titus (1549); John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament (1746 to 1748); Granville Sharp, Remarks on the Uses of the Definitive Article in the Greek Text of the New Testament (1798); George Benedict Winer, A Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament (1822); Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849 to 1861); Catherine Booth, Female Ministry (1859); P. N. Harrison, The Problem of the Pastoral Epistles (1921); J. N. D. Kelly, A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles (1963); C. F. D. Moule, The Problem of the Pastoral Epistles: A Reappraisal (1965); John A. T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament (1976); George W. Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles (1992); Murray J. Harris, Jesus as God (1992); the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992); Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, editors, Women in the Church (1995); I. Howard Marshall, The Pastoral Epistles (1999); William D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles (2000). Every verse quoted on this page is the Berean Standard Bible, read from the store.

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