King James Version
Titus 3
15 verses with commentary
Do Good Works
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
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<strong>Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates</strong>—ὑπομίμνῃσκε (hypomimnēske, remind/put in remembrance) αὐτοὺς ἀρχαῖς ἐξουσίαις ὑποτάσσεσθαι (autous archais exousiais hypotassesthai, them to submit to rulers and authorities). πειθαρχεῖν (peitharchein, obey/be persuaded by rulers). Civil submission is Christian duty, not optional (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Pet...
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**III.**
(1) **Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers.**—Very careful and searching have been the Apostle’s charges to Titus respecting the teachers of the *Church, *their doctrine and their life; very particular have been his directions, his warnings, and exhortations to men and women of different ages on the subject of their *home* life. But, with the exception of a slight d...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. Hymenaeus--**There is no difficulty in supposing him to be the Hymenæus of 2Ti 2:17. Though "delivered over to Satan" (the lord of all outside the Church, Ac 26:18, and the executor of wrath, when judicially allowed by God, on the disobedient, 1Co 5:5; 2Co 12:7), he probably was restored to the Church subsequently, and again troubled it. Paul, as an apostle, though distant at Rome pronounced...
Read full commentary →To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
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<strong>To speak evil of no man</strong> (μηδένα βλασφημεῖν, mēdena blasphēmein)—βλασφημέω (blasphēmeō, slander/revile) is strong language, the same verb for blaspheming God. Malicious speech against humans maligns God's image. <strong>To be no brawlers</strong> (ἀμάχους εἶναι, amachous einai)—ἄμαχος (amachos, peaceable/not combative), avoiding unnecessary quarrels (2 Timothy 2:24).<br><br><strong...
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(2) **To speak evil of no man.**—These commands of St. Paul to the Church of Crete breathe throughout the spirit of Christ, who “when He was reviled, reviled not again;” who said “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.” The Christian in the days of St. Paul, and for “many days” after St. Paul had borne that gallant witness ...
Read full commentary →Saved by God's Mercy
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
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<strong>For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived</strong>—γάρ (gar, for) explains why Christians should be gentle (v. 2): we remember our former state. ἦμεν γάρ ποτε (ēmen gar pote, for we were once) ἀνόητοι (anoētoi, foolish/senseless), ἀπειθεῖς (apeitheis, disobedient), πλανώμενοι (planōmenoi, deceived/wandering). Grace found us in this condition; we didn't climb out.<...
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(3) **For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived.**—Better rendered, *For we were once ourselves foolish, disobedient, going astray.* Surely, the Apostle argues, *Christians* can never refuse obedience to one in authority, or decline to be meek, courteous, kind, and forbearing to their neighbours, because, forsooth, they deem the magistrate in authority or their neighbours...
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CHAPTER 2
1Ti 2:1-15. Public Worship. Direction as to Intercessions for All Men, since Christ Is a Ransom for All. The Duties of Men and Women Respectively in Respect to Public Prayer. Woman's Subjection; Her Sphere of Duty.
**1. therefore--**taking up again the general subject of the Epistle in continuation (2Ti 2:1). "What I have therefore to say to thee by way of a charge (1Ti 1:3, 18), is,...
Read full commentary →But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, love: or, pity
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<strong>But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared</strong>—ἀλλά (alla, but) marks glorious contrast. ὅτε δὲ ἡ χρηστότης καὶ ἡ φιλανθρωπία ἐπεφάνη (hote de hē chrēstotēs kai hē philanthrōpia epephanē, when the kindness and philanthropy appeared). χρηστότης (chrēstotēs, kindness/goodness) and φιλανθρωπία (philanthrōpia, love for humanity—literally "man-loving") both...
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(4) **But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.**—Another thought now wells up in the Apostle’s mind. We of ourselves should never have become changed men, had not the kindness of God and His divine love for men shown itself. We, indeed, have no ground for self-exaltation, no excuse for haughty treatment of others, either in thought or action; for if we now live ...
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**2. For kings--**an effectual confutation of the adversaries who accused the Christians of disaffection to the ruling powers (Ac 17:7; Ro 13:1-7).
**all ... in authority--**literally, "in eminence"; in stations of eminence. The "quiet" of Christians was often more dependent on subordinate rulers, than on the supreme king; hence, "all ... in authority" are to be prayed for.
**that we may lead-...
Read full commentary →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;
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<strong>Not by works of righteousness which we have done</strong>—οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ ἃ ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς (ouk ex ergōn tōn en dikaiosynē ha epoiēsamen hēmeis)—emphatic negation of works-based salvation. ἔργα (erga, works) ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ (en dikaiosynē, in righteousness) are our best moral efforts. Paul demolishes all merit theology: salvation isn't earned.<br><br><strong>But according to...
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(5) **Not by works of righteousness.**—This by no means asserts that such works ever had been done, and then produced, as it were, before the bar of God, and weighed and found insufficient; but it simply maintains that to *win* salvation such *must* be done. Sad experience, more forcibly than any theological assertion, has demonstrated to us all the utter impossibility of any of us, even the holie...
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**3. this--**praying for all men.
**in the sight of God--**not merely before men, as if it were their favor that we sought (2Co 8:21).
**our Saviour--**a title appropriate to the matter in hand. He who is "our Saviour" is willing that all should be saved (1Ti 2:4; Ro 5:18); therefore we should meet the will of God in behalf of others, by praying for the salvation of all men. More would be conv...
Read full commentary →Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; abundantly: Gr. richly
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<strong>Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour</strong>—οὗ ἐξέχεεν ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς πλουσίως (hou execheen eph hēmas plousiōs)—ἐκχέω (ekcheō, pour out) πλουσίως (plousiōs, richly/abundantly). The Holy Spirit wasn't given sparingly but lavishly poured out (Acts 2:17-18, 33). διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν (dia Iēsou Christou tou sōtēros hēmōn, through Jesus Christ our Savior)—C...
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(6) **Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.**—In other words, *which*—namely, the Holy Ghost—*the Father poured abundantly on us through Jesus Christ cur Saviour.* The argument continues thus: He (God) saved us first by the laver of regeneration and of renewal of the Holy Ghost, which God—he proceeds to say—shed (or *poured out*) abundantly on us, and this constant renew...
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4. "Imitate God." Since He wishes that all should be saved, do you also wish it; and if you wish it, pray for it. For prayer is the instrument of effecting such things [Chrysostom]. Paul does not say, "He wishes to save all"; for then he would have saved all in matter of fact; but "will have all men to be saved," implies the possibility of man's accepting it (through God's prevenient grace) or rej...
Read full commentary →That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
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<strong>That being justified by his grace</strong>—ἵνα δικαιωθέντες τῇ ἐκείνου χάριτι (hina dikaiōthentes tē ekeinō chariti)—δικαιόω (dikaioō, justify/declare righteous) is forensic: God's legal verdict of "not guilty." τῇ χάριτι (tē chariti, by grace)—instrumental dative: grace is the means. Justification is by grace alone through faith alone (implied from context), not works (v. 5).<br><br><stro...
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(7) **That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.**—Here appears the glorious design of God’s salvation. We were in a hopeless and lost state, from which God’s love for man saved us by the laver of regeneration and renovation; and this was the end for which He saved us—*that we should be heirs of* *eternal life.* “Being justified,” that is, fre...
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**5. For there is one God--**God's unity in essence and purpose is a proof of His comprehending all His human children alike (created in His image) in His offer of grace (compare the same argument from His unity, Ro 3:30; Ga 3:20); therefore all are to be prayed for. 1Ti 2:4 is proved from 1Ti 2:5; 1Ti 2:1, from 1Ti 2:4. The one God is common to all (Is 45:22; Ac 17:26). The one Mediator is mediat...
Read full commentary →This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
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<strong>This is a faithful saying</strong>—πιστὸς ὁ λόγος (pistos ho logos, faithful/trustworthy the word)—formula appearing five times in Pastorals (1 Timothy 1:15, 3:1, 4:9; 2 Timothy 2:11; Titus 3:8), likely marking early Christian creedal summaries or hymns. Verses 4-7 constitute trustworthy doctrine demanding full confidence.<br><br><strong>And these things I will that thou affirm constantly<...
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(8) **This is a faithful saying.**—Then St. Paul, having, in those few but sublime words we have been considering, painted our present happy state—happy even on earth, where the glorious promised inheritance was still only a hope—and having shown how that this blessedness was the result of no efforts of our own, but that we owe it solely to the tender love and to the divine pity of God for man—cri...
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**6. gave himself--**(Tit 2:14). Not only the Father gave Him for us (Joh 3:16); but the Son gave Himself (Php 2:5-8).
**ransom--**properly of a captive slave. Man was the captive slave of Satan, sold under sin. He was unable to ransom himself, because absolute obedience is due to God, and therefore no act of ours can satisfy for the least offense. Le 25:48 allowed one sold captive to be redeeme...
Read full commentary →Avoid Foolish Controversies
But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
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<strong>But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law</strong>—μωρὰς δὲ ζητήσεις (mōras de zētēseis, foolish speculations) καὶ γενεαλογίας (kai genealogias, and genealogies) καὶ ἔρεις (kai ereis, and quarrels) καὶ μάχας νομικάς (kai machas nomikas, and disputes about the law). These describe the Judaizers' obsessions: speculative midrash, rabbinic genea...
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(9) **But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies.**—The “questions” and “genealogies” have been discussed above (1Timothy 1:4). The Apostle characterises them as “foolish,” because they were of an utterly unpractical nature, and consumed time and powers which were needed for other and better things. The “contentions” were disputes and wranglings which arose out of arguments advanced by different...
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**7. Whereunto--**For the giving of which testimony.
**I am ordained--**literally, "I was set": the same Greek, as "putting me," &c. (1Ti 1:12).
**preacher--**literally, "herald" (1Co 1:21; 9:27; 15:11; 2Ti 1:11; Tit 1:3). He recurs to himself, as in 1Ti 1:16, in himself a living pattern or announcement of the Gospel, so here "a herald and teacher of (it to) the Gentiles" (Ga 2:9; Ep 3:1-1...
Read full commentary →A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
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<strong>A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject</strong>—αἱρετικὸν ἄνθρωπον (hairetikon anthrōpon, heretical/divisive man) μετὰ μίαν καὶ δευτέραν νουθεσίαν (meta mian kai deuteran nouthesian, after first and second admonition) παραιτοῦ (paraitou, reject/refuse/avoid). αἱρετικός (hairetikos, heretic) means one who creates factions/divisions through false teaching, not...
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(10) **A man that is an heretick.**—The Greek word translated “heretick” in the New Testament occurs here only. The term “heresies” occurs twice (1Corinthians 11:19; Galatians 5:20). In neither, however, of these passages does the word signify there a fundamental or doctrinal error. This sense belongs to a usage of later times. From the meaning of the word “heresy” in these passages of St. Paul, w...
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**8. I will--**The active wish, or desire, is meant.
**that men--**rather as Greek, "that the men," as distinguished from "the women," to whom he has something different to say from what he said to the men (1Ti 2:9-12; 1Co 11:14, 15; 14:34, 35). The emphasis, however, is not on this, but on the precept of praying, resumed from 1Ti 2:1.
**everywhere--**Greek, "in every place," namely, of public...
Read full commentary →Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
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<strong>Knowing that he that is such is subverted</strong>—εἰδὼς ὅτι ἐξέστραπται ὁ τοιοῦτος (eidōs hoti exestraptai ho toioutos)—ἐκστρέφω (ekstrephō, turn inside out/pervert/corrupt). Perfect tense ἐξέστραπται (exestraptai) indicates settled condition: the heretic is fundamentally twisted. <strong>And sinneth, being condemned of himself</strong> (καὶ ἁμαρτάνει, ὢν αὐτοκατάκριτος, kai hamartanei, ō...
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(11) **Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.**—Better rendered, *is perverted and sinneth, being self-condemned.* Inasmuch as thou knowest, seeing that thy reproofs and warnings have been of none effect, that he is “thoroughly perverted”—the expression is a very strong one, and signifies literally *hath been turned inside out.* The same verb is used in...
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9-10. The context requires that we understand these directions as to women, in relation to their deportment in public worship, though the rules will hold good on other occasions also.
**in modest apparel--**"in seemly guise" [Ellicott]. The adjective means properly. orderly, decorous, becoming; the noun in secular writings means conduct, bearing. But here "apparel." Women are apt to love fine dr...
Read full commentary →Final Instructions and Greetings
When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter.
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<strong>When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus</strong>—Ἀρτεμᾶς (Artemas, not mentioned elsewhere) ἢ Τυχικός (ē Tychikos, or Tychicus—Paul's trusted messenger, mentioned five times: Acts 20:4; Ephesians 6:21; Colossians 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:12; Titus 3:12). One would replace Titus in Crete. <strong>Be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis</strong> (σπούδασον ἐλθεῖν πρός με εἰς Νικόπολιν, spo...
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(12) **When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me.**—But Titus is here reminded—perhaps with *some* reference to the question of the treatment of the factious or heretic persons just alluded to—that he is only the temporary ruler of the Cretan Church, on a special commission of the great missionary Apostle. Not improbably one of these two was intended to supply t...
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9-10. The context requires that we understand these directions as to women, in relation to their deportment in public worship, though the rules will hold good on other occasions also.
**in modest apparel--**"in seemly guise" [Ellicott]. The adjective means properly. orderly, decorous, becoming; the noun in secular writings means conduct, bearing. But here "apparel." Women are apt to love fine dr...
Read full commentary →Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them.
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<strong>Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently</strong>—Ζηνᾶν τὸν νομικὸν (Zēnan ton nomikon, Zenas the lawyer—mentioned only here) καὶ Ἀπολλῶν (kai Apollōn, and Apollos—Acts 18:24-28; 1 Corinthians 1:12, 3:4-6, 22, 4:6, 16:12). νομικός (nomikos, lawyer) could mean Torah expert or Roman jurist; context unclear. προπέμψον σπουδαίως (propempson spoudaiōs, send forward diligen...
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(13) **Bring Zenas the lawyer.**—A name contracted, as it seems, from Zenodorus. The term “lawyer” might possibly indicate that this friend of Paul’s was a Roman jurist, but it is more likely that the law in which he was an expert was that of Moses. Hippolytus numbers him among the seventy disciples, and relates how in after years he was Bishop of Diospolis. He is never mentioned by name in the Ne...
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**11. learn--**not "teach" (1Ti 2:12; 1Co 14:34). She should not even put questions in the public assembly (1Co 14:35).
**with all subjection--**not "usurping authority" (1Ti 2:12). She might teach, but not in public (Ac 18:26). Paul probably wrote this Epistle from Corinth, where the precept (1Co 14:34) was in force.
And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. maintain: or, profess honest trades
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And let our's also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses</strong>—μανθανέτωσαν δὲ καὶ οἱ ἡμέτεροι (manthanetōsan de kai hoi hēmeteroi, let our people also learn) καλῶν ἔργων προΐστασθαι (kalōn ergōn proistasthai, to engage in/practice good works) εἰς τὰς ἀναγκαίας χρείας (eis tas anankaias chreias, for urgent/necessary needs). μανθάνω (manthanō, learn) suggests this requires teac...
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(14) **And let our’s also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses.**—“Ours,” that is, those who with St. Paul and Titus in Crete called upon the name of Jesus. A last reminder to the brethren, whom with a loving thought he calls “ours,” constantly to practise good and beneficent works. In the expression “let ours also learn,” it would seem as though St. Paul would have Christians *trained*...
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**12. usurp authority--**"to lord it over the man" [Alford], literally, "to be an autocrat."
All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. It was written to Titus, ordained the first bishop of the church of the Cretians, from Nicopolis of Macedonia.
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<strong>All that are with me salute thee</strong>—ἀσπάζονταί σε οἱ μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ πάντες (aspazontai se hoi met emou pantes, greet you all those with me)—Paul's missionary team sends corporate greeting. <strong>Greet them that love us in the faith</strong> (ἄσπασαι τοὺς φιλοῦντας ἡμᾶς ἐν πίστει, aspasai tous philountas hēmas en pistei)—φιλέω (phileō, affectionate love) ἐν πίστει (en pistei, in/by faith...
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(15) **All that are with me salute thee.**—It is uncertain where Paul was when he wrote this letter. “All that are with me” include those with him, journeying in his company. They are not named, because the individuals composing the immediate following of St. Paul would be likely to be well known to Titus.
**Greet them that love us in the faith.**—An inclusive greeting, embracing each member of th...
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**13. For--**reason of the precept; the original order of creation.
**Adam ... first--**before Eve, who was created for him (1Co 11:8, 9).