Cor. vi. 12, x. 23 ; for it will at once be perceived that the but here
introduces no such sentiment as could be contrasted with the phrase
immediately preceding. Quite as mistaken is the view which ex-
plains the all things to mean the errors of the opponents, according
to which the apostle would say, that these do not injure the pure ;
against this view De Wette and Matthias have said all that is neces-
sary. Udvra (here as universal as at Rom. xiv. 20, and 1 Cor. vi.
TITUS I. 15. 585
12) can denote only the entire range of those things to which the
distinction between pure and impure can be applied ; still, as De
Wette remarks with truth, it is not actions, but the materials of
action that are meant. Pure, in opposition to the view which finds
something impure in the things themselves, so that their use has
something polluting in it. The words of Bom. xiv. 20 explain those
before us. And we learri from Acts x. 14, xi. 8, how closely con-
nected such a view was with the Old Testament stand-point, so that
we need for its explanation no Gnostic aversion to the creation.
Tolg Ka6apol$, not the dative of estimation, " in the estimation of the
pure," but " pure for them in the use," as the antithesis shews. It
is also shewn in the antithetical terms defiled and unbelieving, the
latter of which is explanatory of the former, what kind of purity is
meant that purity, namely, of mind and heart which proceeds
from faith. It is arbitrary to assign to the word the signification of
"free from prejudice," as is done by De Wette, although in 1 Cor.
x. 28, 1 Tim. iv. 4, knowledge is mentioned as a condition of the
state expressed in the term nadap6$ ; comp. Kom. xiv. 14. As to
the pure all things are pure, so to the defiled and the unbelieving
nothing is pure, i. e. } the impurity of their mind is reflected from the
things with which they come into contact : " all things become to
them the materials of sin." (De Wette.') On pept&pp&vets instead
of neniaofjiKvoig, Winer's Gr., 15, p. 81. The word commonly used
to express Levitical purity, John xviii. 28, and in the Septuagint, is
here transferred to the mind, comp. Heb. xii. 15 ; Jude 8. On this
very account, perhaps, is the designation unbelieving added, which
determines the sense of the preceding expression to be, the impurity
of unbelief. That the apostle has here in his eye the authors of
those commandments (ver. 14), we learn from the following words,
but, etc., which refer specially to them. These words declare in a
positive form why nothing is pure to the defiled and the unbeliev-
ing ; this, however, is stated, not in the form of a reason, but
simply as the opposite of what precedes, as in 1 Cor. xv. 10, aAAa
also is used, where, however, the sentiment might quite as well be
applied in a causal form. "But their mind and conscience is de-
filed." The defilement which already exists within them commu-
nicates itself to everything with which they come into contact ; even
the purest thing thus becomes impure. By vovg the apostle denotes
not merely the understanding, but the entire mental habitus ; ov-
veidrjmg, however, is conscience, the moral consciousness of my
thoughts and feelings, and manner of conduct in their relation to
the law. It is a standing feature of the errors combated in the
Pastoral Epistles, that they have their source in a defiled conscience,
a depraved mind, which has no relish for the simple truth of the
gospel, and therefore leads into those by-paths of error ; for the re-
586 TITUS I. 15.
ception of Christian truth, as well as the maintenance of it, requires
a certain moral integrity not to be found in persons of this de-
scription.
Their moral deficiency is described in ver. 16. They are men
entirely wanting in moral earnestness, and in all power for what is
good. " They profess that they know God, but in works they deny
it, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work
reprobate." After dpvovvrai supply eldt-vcu ; compare on the expression
ii. 12 ; 1 Tim. v. 8 ; 2 Tim. ii. 12, iii. 5, and elsewhere, 1 John ii.
22, 23 ; Luke xxii. 57, etc. That it does not elsewhere occur in
the apostle's writings is indeed true, but no one will therefore hold
the sentiment to be unpauline. BdeXvKToi only here, in the Sept.
used for nsapn, does not designate the seducers as idolaters, but, in
its "connexion with the following general predicates, denotes their
moral abandonment, which is such as to make them an abomination.
The expression, however, is not selected without a reference to the
foregoing ; while they lay stress on the contracting of abomination
from outward things, they themselves are abominable, comp. Rom.
ii. 22, and Lev. xi. 10, 13, seq. Disobedient, as at iii. 3, namely,
towards God ; compare with Eph. ii. 2, v. 6. 'AduKt^og = reprobus,
here as elsewhere in a passive signification, 2 Tim. iii. 8 ; Rom. i.
28 ; 1 Cor. ix. 27, etc. The critics have also much to object to in
this passage " on the heretics," ver. 10-16. They find the heretics
themselves indistinctly characterized (so De Wette, Einl. p. 3) ;
this, however, will not agree with what De Wette himself says in
the page immediately before, that the apostle warns Titus against
the heretics, " from a knowledge which implies a lengthened obser-
vation of them." Further, it is alleged that the apostle says no-
thing which might serve as an adequate refutation, of their errors.
But only on the supposition that we find here the forms of the later
gnosis already distinctly stamped, can the designation, as also the
refutation, of the errors appear to be inadequate. That without
this supposition the passage presents a distinct view of the error of
these opponents in its source, its manifestations, and its results,
has been shewn in the exposition. Nor do I know what more suit-
able confutation could have been given of those who, themselves
inwardly impure, lay stress on a certain outward purity, than that
which the apostle has given in ver. 15. Any difficulty in determin-
ing with certainty the sense of this or that expression is accounted
for by the fact, that the apostle was writing to Titus, who knew
well what the apostle meant, and for whom the indications which he
gives as to the real source of the error were amply sufficient
TITUB II. 1. 587
3. WHAT TITUS is TO TEAOH IN OPPOSITION TO THE FALSE
TEACHEES, AND HOW HE is TO ACT.
(Ch. ii. 1 iii. 11.)
A. In reference to the right deportment of Christians, and that
according to sex, age, and rank. (Ch. ii. 115.)
The apostle now lays down what Titus is to teach, in opposition
to the vaiu, unprofitable talk, the contents of which are specified at
ver. 14 as fables and commandments of men, and to which belongs
no morally regenerating influence. He states it summarily in ver.
1 as the things which become sound doctrine, an expression which
could not be selected in opposition to a cardinal heresy, but only in
opposition to a doctrine destitute of the fruits of godliness. He fur-
ther explains in ver. 2 10, what he means by the things which be-
come, etc., inasmuch as he there prescribes to Titus how he is to
exhort the aged men in the church, ver. 2, then ver. 3 the aged
women, in order that through their instrumentality the younger
persons of their sex may be directed to what is good. Then ver. 6,
how he is to exhort young men, where also the apostle, ver. 7 and 8,
interposes an admonition to Titus, to show himself a pattern in con-
formity to his calling. Then ver. 9 and 10, what is necessary for
slaves, in order that they may adorn the doctrine of Grod. From
these injunctions intended for individuals, according to sex, age,
and rank, the apostle then, ver. 11, reverts to the great truth on
which the foregoing exhortations are founded (yap), namely, that
the end for which the divine grace hath been manifested in regard
to all is, that we might begin and carry forward a new godly life
here below, in the expectation of the glorious appearing of Him,
who designed by his death to purchase a peculiar people for himself,
zealous of good works. This then Titus is to urge in every way on
those under his care, and not to give himself any concern about his
youth. Thus the apostle concludes, in order, at iii. 1, to pass to a
new admonition bearing on a different relation, that, namely, in
which Christians stand to magistrates.
Ver. 1. Titus, in opposition to the seducers described before
and their doings, is to speak what becomes the sound doctrine. "A
ftps-net cannot denote the true doctrine itself in opposition to the error,
but only what is conformable to the sound doctrine which leads
to godliness ; it designates, as is plain from what follows, the
right moral deportment as founded in the facts of the gospel plan
of salvation (ver. 11). If then Titus, in opposition to the prevail-
ing error, is to urge with all his might the moral requirements
of Christianity, and to enjoin a moral conduct corresponding to
588 TITUS II. 2, 3.
the sound doctrine, the main and essential characteristic of that
error must have been clearly its moral unfruitfulness, and its ten-
dency to divert from strenuous efforts after holiness by leading its
followers to occupy themselves with profitless questions. The ob-
jection, that the opponents would assuredly have also subscribed
to the moral precepts that are laid down, proceeds therefore from
an entirely false point of view. For the apostle does not con-
fute the opponents with these precepts, but tells Titus what he
is to insist on, namely, on a conduct becoming the gospel, a
conduct the real nature of which he further shews with reference
to the natural distinctions of sex, age, and rank. It is not said
that those opponents denied the lightness of these moral precepts,
but only that it is necessary in opposition to them to turn away the
attention from subjects morally unprofitable, and to lead to a mani-
festation of faith in a corresponding moral conduct. Calvin says
well, " besides, he therefore deals more in exhortations, because
those who were intent on useless questions needed chiefly to be re-
called to the study of a holy and honest life ; for there is nothing
that will more effectually allay the wandering curiosity of men, than
their being brought to recognize those duties in which they ought
to exercise themselves."
Ver. 2. The apostle now begins with his moral injunctions for
the aged. That the aged men be sober, etc. On TrpeaQvrcu; comp.
Philem. 9 ; Luke i. 18, denoting merely the age, and therefore to be
distinguished from -rrpeopvrepos, the official designation. *NT)(f>aMovg }
" sober" in the proper sense of the term, comp. i. 7 ; ii. 3 is found
also in 1 Tim. iii. 2, 11 ; oepvovs, besides in the Pastoral Epistles,
occurs only in Phil. iv. 8, " dignified." 2w0povoc, " steady, dis-
creet," comp. on i. 8. "Tyiaivovra^, etc., sound with respect to faith,
love, patience. The expression comprehensively denotes that moral
perfection which we expect chiefly in a TrpeaftvTrjs. Patience is used
here in place of hope (comp. 1 Cor. xiii. 13), with the view of giv-
ing prominence to that moral energy, in virtue of which the Chris-
tian stands fast, comp. 1 Thess. i. 3, in which both are connected.
Chrysostom, " the apostle has well said in patience, for this is espe-
cially suitable to old men." On the connexion between love and
patience comp. 1 Cor. xiii. 7. De Wette's remark is unfounded,
that vyiaiv. in reference to r^ ayairg and rq imofiovq is an* inexact ex-
pression for : fruitful in love, strong in patience. "Tytaivuv denotes the
man who is as he ought to be, in a normal condition in every respect.
Ver. 3. Tlie aged women likeivise, etc. A similar character is
required in them, hence, likewise, which places them side by side
with the aged men. Kardarjjfjia used by the profane writers and
elsewhere (Ign. ad Trail, c. 3), not merely of the dress, but of the
whole deportment. 'leponpeTreis only here, conveniens hominibus
TITUS II. 4. 589
Deo sacris (Wahl), is explained by 1 Tim. ii. 10, ivhich becometh,
women professing godliness, Eph. v. 3, as becometh saints. Their
priestly calling should manifest itself in their whole conduct.
Jerome : " that their very gait and motions, their countenance,
their speech, their silence, may carry in them a certain dignity of
sacred beauty." Not slanderers, not given to much wine, faults of
which the first is frequent in this class, the second doubtless bears
reference to the national character of the people. Not slanderers,
1 Tim. iii. 11, not given to much wine not indulging the inclina-
tion for wine. Similarly 1 Tim. iii. 8, comp. with 2 Pet. ii. 19.
Further, naAodidaaKakovg only here, honestatis magistrse ; not by
public addresses (1 Tim. ii. 12 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 34), but by private ad-
monition and the example of their conduct, in order that through
them the young women might be directed to what is good.
Ver. 4. "Iva autypovifaai (Tischendorf, aucppovi^ovai, according to
A.F.Gr.H. comp. Winer's G-r., 41, 1), rag veag. Zutypovi&iv only here
to set right. The following infinitives depend on oufaovifaai,
although the following aufipovag may certainly seem strange accord-
ing to this construction ; hence many commentators rather take
these infinitives as dependent on AaA, ver. 1. Against this, how-
ever, is the infinite elvat, which in this case would better be want-
ing, and also that the following special characteristics are more suit-
able to young wives (by veag are to be understood married women),
and, lastly, that in reference to these too little would be said in
proportion. It is doubtless, not by chance merely, that the apostle
gives directions for the younger women to be taught by the elder,
and not directly by Titus, which also Chrysostom and others have
noticed. They are to be directed to love their husbands and chil-
dren, for in this lies the foundation of all domestic happiness ;
further, to be modest, chaste, keepers at home, kind, obedient to
their husbands. If outypovi&iv comprehends all the following char-
acteristics, then in its more general signification of " to set right,"
it must be understood as = vovOeruv or -natdevecv, as Theophylact
explains it. ZuQpovag is then "discreet, judiciously modest." (Mat-
thies.) 'Ayvog in its more special signification = chaste. Olnovpovs
(according to C.D.***H.I.K., etc., and olnovpyovg according to
A.C.D.*F.G. ; the latter occurs nowhere else = active in household
affairs. Hesychius, oinovpoc;- 6 (frpovrifav rd rov olnov nal (pv^drTW
yap 6 0vAa Aeyerat ; comp. 1 Tim. v. 13 ; Prov. vii. 11.
is not to be connected with olnovpovs, as the latter is already
a complete idea in itself; but = " kind," as Matth. xx. 15 : 1 Pet.
ii. 18 ; Rom. v. 7. Heydenreich : "their thriftiness must not de-
generate into avarice." Subject to their husbands, Eph. v. 22 ; Col.
iii. 18, etc. "Idiog dvijp, husband, comp. Winer, 22, 7, p. 139.
TJiat the word of God be not blasphemed, comp. ver. 8 and 10 ;
TITUS II. 6, 7.
I Tim. v. 14, vi. 1 ; Rom. ii. 24. Theophylact : " unless we are
virtuous blasphemy will come through us to the faith." Chrysostom
connects with this especially the case of a Christian wife having a
heathen husband. An unnecessary limitation, as the comparison
with other passages shews.
Ver. 6. The apostle now turns to the younger men. They stand
opposed to the Trpeaf3vrag } ver. 2, just as the viat to the 7Tpea(3vTide$,
ver. 3. Young unmarried woman are therefore not to be included
in the veurepovg for that the viai y ver. 4, are spoken of in close con-
nexion with the -rrpeofiv-ides, is accounted for by the relation which is
to subsist between them as teachers and taught, and can therefore
not be brought as a proof against this division. The apostle sums
up in the word owfrpovelv every duty to which they are to be admon-
ished. Calvin : bene compositos, rationi obtemperantes. Chrysos-
tom : " nothing is so hard and difficult at this age as to overcome
pleasures and follies."
Ver. 7. To this class Titus himself belongs (comp. ver. 15), and
therefore the apostle here interposes an admonition to him, to shew
himself a pattern of good works. The apostle thus gives us to un-
derstand that all teaching and exhortation are useless, unless the
teacher's example confirm and enforce his word. Titus is to shew
himself in every respect a pattern of good works. On -nepi as deno-
ting the objects about which an action is conversant as = " in respect
to," see Winer's Gr., 49, i., p. 361 ; comp. 1 Tim. i. 19 ; 2 Tim.
iii. 8, and also elsewhere, Phil. ii. 23 ; Luke x. 41, etc. On the
middle rrape^ofievof connected with the reflex pronoun, see Winer's
Gr., 38, 6, p. 231. KaAwv Zpyuv as ver. 14, iii. 8-14 ; 1 Tim. v.
10-25, vi. 18, and tpyo dya0a, 1 Tim. ii. 10 ; 2 Tim. ii. 21 ; Tit. iii. 1.
" A characteristic of the Pastoral Epistles," observes De Wette on
this expression ; he himself however refers to Eph. ii. 10 ; created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, where we find quite the same expres-
sion and idea for by these good works are to be understood, as
Matthies expresses it, the attestation of evangelical life. It is the
manifestation of that in the life, which the apostle denotes in ver. 1
by a TrpeTTtt as the import of his admonitions. Comp. General Intro-
duction, 4. The only thing then in regard to this expression, that
is peculiar to the Pastoral Epistles, is the more frequent use of it.
But the nature of the error opposed in these epistles, fully explains
its more frequent use ; comp. moreover, itakoTToieiv, in 2 Thess. iii.
13. TuTrof, used in like manner of the apostle in Phil. iii. 17, comp.
the comment. Then follow the words : tv rg SidaanaXia d&aQdopfav
(the older and more authorized reading dtiOopiav signifies the same
thing), /cat ae/woTT/ra, etc. In order to the right understanding of
these words, it .must not be overlooked that they set forth that in
which Titus is to shew himself a pattern of his own instructions to
TITUS II. 8. 591
others. Further, that didaaitaMa may signify as well the doctrine
in which instruction is given as the teaching itself, we have seen
at ver. 9. It will therefore not do to connect ev ry didaoitaMa with
the immediately preceding, according to which the sense would
be : Titus is to shew himself in every department of his teaching a
pattern of good works. This limitation of the example to the
teaching, yields no suitable sense, and the words thus constructed
can give no other sense. If, then, Titus is to shew himself in all
respects as a pattern, then in the words, in doctrine, the special
sphere of his vocation is brought into prominence, after the foregoing
expression Kepi -ndvra had set forth in a general form all things in which
he is to be a pattern. As well generally as specially in his official
calling is he to shew himself a pattern. Then, however, uncorrupt-
ness is not a quality of the doctrine, but a personal quality ; for this
is required by rvirog, and also by the quality expressed in the word
following, namely, gravity. 'A.(j>6opia signifies, therefore, not purity
of doctrine, but sincerity of mind in teaching, and is to be compared
with 2 Cor. xi. 3, lest your mind should be corrupted (fiOapfy from
the simplicity that is in Christ. Sep-dr?^ is thus a dignified serious-
ness in setting forth Christian truth. The end sought is, that the
learners may, through his instructions, be penetrated with the per-
sonal sincerity " which is concerned only about the communication
of the pure truth" (Heydenreich) and the deep seriousness of the
teacher. Thus does he who teaches shew himself a pattern in his
teaching ; the truth and power of that which he makes known is
perceived in his own person. The verb Trape^d^evof is to be con-
nected with these substantives, as also with the following /Idyov vyirj,
comp. Acts xix. 24 ; Col. iv. 1.
Ver. 8. If our interpretation is so far correct, hoyov iyirj cannot
be understood of private conversation, as Calvin explains it ; sanus
sermo ad communem vitam et privata colloquia refertur. After the
foregoing expression in doctrine, which transfers us to the sphere of
Titus's official calling, a new characteristic would certainly be re-
quisite, in contradistinction to it, in order to intimate that the Adyo?
does not also belong to it. But neither does A,dyo^ vyirjg denote the
sound Christian doctrine, for this would not correspond to
rog and the reference to rvnos rather, "koyoq vyiijg and
in close connexion with the preceding, designate the qualities and
character of the discourse, sincerity and seriousness in the speaker
being presupposed : it will be sound speech that cannot be con-
demned. ' AnardyvuGTos only here, comp. uaTeyvuanevog, Gal. ii. 11.
The apostle now adds, as at vers. 5 and 10, the design of all this ;
it is that the enemy may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of
us. Hepl fifitiv, not Kepi vp&v, is certainly the true reading according
to critical authorities ; it is likewise suitable that the apostle place
592 TITUS II. 9, 10.
himself in the same category with Titus when speaking of the
didaaKaMa. It is difficult to say with certainty whether Christian or
heathen opponents are referred to in the expression, he that is of
the contrary part for the apostle must certainly have had in his
mind either the one class or the other. If the former, reference
is made to i. 9 ; 2 Tim. ii. 25 (Heydenreich), and in favour of the
latter, the analogy in vers. 5 and 10, and 1 Tim. v. 14 is appealed
to (De Wette.) It appears to me from the whole context, in which
Titus is enjoined to teach and to lahour in opposition to the false
seducers (comp. ii. 1), and from the apostle's placing himself here
in the same category with Titus, more natural to refer the ex-
pression to these opponents. If Titus oppose them without being,
as here admonished, a pattern in his whole deportment, he will not
escape their malicious retorts. 'Evrpt-eadai, literally to be turned in
upon themselves = "be ashamed," 1 Cor. iv. 14 ; 2 Thess. iii. 14,
etc., 0aOAo^ comp. John iii. 20, v. 29 ; Jam. iii. 16 ; Roin. ix. 11.
Vers. 9, 10. The construction interrupted in vers. 7 and 8 is
now without any further notice continued ; the infinitives, therefore,
are dependent on napandfai, ver. 6. The apostle gives here also
special injunctions to be addressed to slaves, as in Eph. vi. 5, seq. *,
CoL iii. 22 ; 1 Tim. vi. 1, seq.; 1 Cor. vii. 21 ; comp. also 1 Pet. ii.
18. The reason of these repeated exhortations is plain. In no rank
was the high idea of Christian freedom and equality more in danger
of being misapplied, than in that of the slave, which indeed ap-
peared to be a direct contradiction of this ide. Hence the apostle's
sentiments on the subject of their emancipation, 1 Cor. vii. 21 ;
hence the ever recurring exhortation to subjection and obedience.
And indeed whether the master was a heathen or a Christian, in
either case it was natural for the slave who had become a Christian
to forget his place, and to seek either to exalt himself above his
master, or to put himself on a level with him. Thus in this passage
also the first thing that is enjoined is subjection to their masters.
"Idtos dsanorrjg like tdiog dvrjp } ii. 5. teoTro-njc., not Kvpto$, as in 1 Pet.
ii. 18. Still more is required of them in the words following : iv
Kdoiv evaptOTovs dvai to be complaisant in everything. The word is
often used by the apostle, Rom. xii. 1, xiv. 18, etc. It denotes that
zeal in the discharge of duty which does even more than is required,
that service which anticipates the command, and seeks in everything
to gain the good will of the master. Not answering again (Horn. x.
21), not purloining (literally not putting anything apart for them-
selves), Acts v. 2, 3, but shewing all good fidelity. On nio-ic, comp.
Horn. iii. 3. 'Evdencwfttvovc. a word often used by the apostle, and
only by him. 'Aya0//y, in opposition to a service which aims merely
at a good appearance ; comp. the passages adduced above, Eph. vi.
5, seq.; Col. iii. 22, seq. There also Iva points to the obligation of
TITUS II. 11-14. 593
Christians to give testimony to the gospel in their conduct. " For
the heathen," says Chrysostom, "do not judge of the Christian's
doctrines from the doctrine, but from his actions and life." " That
they may adorn the doctrine of our Saviour God in all things. 'Ev
tract answers to the iraaav. Their conduct is an ornament to the
doctrine, inasmuch as it reveals the power of godliness that lies in
it. Our Saviour God this appellation of its author at once de-
notes the essential import of the doctrine, and points to the ground