Titus 1 KJV
Appointing Elders in Crete
Titus Chapter 1: Appointing Elders in Crete
The quotation labeling Cretans as 'always liars' draws from Epimenides and targets the island's specific claim to house Zeus's tomb, a tradition that contradicted pagan notions of divine immortality and allowed Paul to subvert local mythology against false teachers.
1aul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of Godโs elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
3 But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
4 To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:
6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucreโs sake.
12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
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Did You Know?
The quotation labeling Cretans as 'always liars' draws from Epimenides and targets the island's specific claim to house Zeus's tomb, a tradition that contradicted pagan notions of divine immortality and allowed Paul to subvert local mythology against false teachers.
Paul's omission of deacons from the leadership qualifications, unlike the parallel instructions in 1 Timothy, suggests a Crete-specific strategy where a single tier of elders was prioritized amid the island's decentralized villages and weak civic structures.
The requirement that elders' children be 'faithful' and not 'unruly' confronts Crete's documented practices of institutionalized pederasty and child exposure, issues noted by ancient writers like Strabo as endemic to the culture.
The declaration that 'unto the pure all things are pure' functions as a direct theological rebuttal to lingering Jewish purity laws or emerging ascetic sects, reframing ritual defilement as a matter of inner disposition rather than external observance.
Describing opponents as motivated by 'filthy lucre' while belonging to 'the circumcision' points to a localized exploitation of the Jewish temple tax system or patronage networks, blending ethnic identity with economic predation in a commercial hub like Crete.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain servant of God โ not found elsewhere in the same connection. In Ro 1:1 it is "servant of Jesus Christ" (Ga 1:10; Php 1:1; compare Ac 16:17; Re 1:1; 15:3). In Ro 1:1, there follows,โฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Titus 1 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Address: for what end titus was left in crete. Qualifications for elders: gainsayers in crete needing reproof.
- 1
- servant of God โ not found elsewhere in the same connection. In Ro 1:1 it is "servant of Jesus Christ" (Ga 1:10; Php 1:1; compare Ac 16:17; Re 1:1; 15:3). In Ro 1:1, there follows, "called to be an apostle," which corresponds to the general designation of the office first, "servant of GOD," here, followed by the special description, "apostle of Jesus Christ." The full expression of his apostolic office answers, in both Epistles, to the design, and is a comprehensive index to the contents. The peculiar form here would never have proceeded from a forger. according to the faith โ rather, "for," "with a view to subserve the faith"; this is the object of my apostleship (compare Tit 1:4, 9; Ro 1:5). the elect โ for whose sake we ought to endure all things (2Ti 2:10). This election has its ground, not in anything belonging to those thus distinguished, but in the purpose and will of God from everlasting (2Ti 1:9; Ro 8:30-33; compare Lu 18:7; Eph 1:4; Col 3:12). Ac 13:48 shows that all faith on the part of the elect, rests on the divine foreordination: they do not become elect by their faith, but receive faith, and so become believers, because they are elect. and the acknowledging of the truth โ "and (for promoting) the full knowledge of the truth," that is, the Christian truth (Eph 1:13). after godliness โ that is, which belongs to piety: opposed to the knowledge which has not for its object the truth, but error, doctrinal and practical (Tit 1:11, 16; 1Ti 6:3); or even which has for its object mere earthly truth, not growth in the divine life. "Godliness," or "piety," is a term peculiar to the Pastoral Epistles: a fact explained by the apostle having in them to combat doctrine tending to "ungodliness" (2Ti 2:16; compare Tit 2:11, 12).
- 2
- In hope of eternal life โ connected with the whole preceding sentence. That whereon rests my aim as an apostle to promote the elect's faith and full knowledge of the truth, is, "the hope of eternal life" (Tit 2:13; 3:7; Ac 23:6; 24:15; 28:20). that cannot lie โ (Ro 3:4; 11:29; Heb 6:18). promised before the world began โ a contracted expression for "purposed before the world began (literally, 'before the ages of time'), and promised actually in time," the promise springing from the eternal purpose; as in 2Ti 1:9, the gift of grace was the result of the eternal purpose "before the world began."
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