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Directions which Titus is to give to different classes of Church members, and to confirm by his own example
Tit_2:1-10
Tit_2:2. That aged men, &c. This whole predicate, which is continued in what follows, depends either upon ëÜëåé (speak), or upon ἅ ðñÝðåé , ê . ô . ë . (what becomes, &c.), which amounts to the same thing in respect to the sense. The first connection appears to be favored by the form of Tit_2:6.—Aged ( ðñåóâýôáò ), namely, in years (as Phm_1:9; Luk_1:18), [not ðñåóâõôÝñïõò , in an official sense; Ellicott.—D.].—Sober, íçöáëßïõò (comp. on 1Ti_3:2).—Grave, temperate (comp. on 1Ti_2:2; Tit_1:8).—Sound in faith, &c.—Steadfastness, ὑðïìïíÞ , here corresponds in a measure to “hope,” in the ordinary Pauline trilogy. If this virtue becomes every disciple of the Lord (Mat_24:23), it is peculiarly an ornament to the aged. On the dative here employed, for which, in Tit_1:13, the preposition ἐí is found, see Winer, Gramm., § 194. Calvin: “With good reason does he include in these three parts (faith, love, patience) the sum of Christian perfection. For by faith we worship God; because neither invocation, nor any exercises of piety, can be separated from it. Love extends to all the commandments of the second table. Patience follows as the seasoning of faith and love. For, without it, faith would not long endure, and many things occur every day, so insulting, or exhibiting so much ill temper, that in our irritation we should not only be languid, but almost dead to the duties of love, if the same patience did not support us.”
Tit_2:3. Aged women likewise, ðñåóâýôéäáò : the Apostle refers here not to the wives of the elders, nor to the deaconesses, but to the aged female members of the church generally (comp. 1Ti_5:2).—In behavior, ἐí êáôáóôÞìáôé , not only in their apparel, but also in their whole deportment. Jerome: “That their very walk and motions, countenance, language, and silence, shall present a certain decorous and sacred dignity.”—As becometh saints (comp. Eph_5:3; 1Ti_2:10). The sanctification of the inner life must shine forth in the whole arrangement of our daily walk and conduct.—Not slanderers, literally, not devils, ìὴäéáâüëïõò (see on 1Ti_3:11).—Not addicted to much wine-drinking (comp. on 1Ti_3:8). Of ardent spirits, which in our days are drunk along with, and now and then more than wine, the Apostle does not speak, because in his time they were not in use. Against brandy, for instance, he could not lift up a warning voice, because it has been known but four hundred years, and was first sold by the apothecaries, in the fifteenth century, as a medicine. But surely the sin of being addicted to such liquors is no less inconsistent with “the sound doctrine,” than the being “given to much wine” (1Ti_3:8).—Teachers of what is good, not publicly (1Ti_2:12), but [as the specifications in the context imply.—D.] privately, although by the word of exhortation, as appears from what immediately follows.
Tit_2:4. That they school the young women, ἵíá óùöñïíßæùóé ôὰò íÝáò . Without prohibiting the exhortation of the young women directly by Titus himself, Paul would have these exhortations, in matters of daily life, proceed from the aged women in their several circles of influence. The substance of these exhortations is, to love their husbands, to love their children. It is worthy of note how the Apostle here, and in other passages, directs the attention of every one to the immediate sphere in which Providence has placed him. The key to this is given in the remark of Calvin: “Moreover, he exhorts more at length, because they were to be particularly recalled to the endeavor after a holy and becoming life, who had been busy only in idle inquisitiveness: for there is nothing which better checks the aimless curiosity of men, than to know in what duties they ought to be engaged.”
Tit_2:5. Discreet [or, perhaps better, staid.—D.], chaste, domestic, ïἰêïõñïýò , (according to another reading possessing much authority, ïἰêïõñãïýò [see critical remarks.—D.], a word which does not elsewhere occur, but meaning, according to its composition, working at home, housewifely).—Obedient to their own husbands ( ôïῖò ἰäßïéò ἀíäñÜóéí , own with emphasis), a genuine Pauline expression (Eph_5:22), and a deep Christian thought (1Pe_3:1-6).—That the word of God be not blasphemed (comp. on 1Ti_4:1). [Also Tit_2:8; 1Ti_5:14. The general idea of this passage is, that the good name of the gospel depends upon the proper conduct of its professors in the stations they occupy.—D.] On comparing this with 1Ti_5:1 it is manifest that the Apostle would have the young women in Crete exhorted in a somewhat sharper tone than those in Ephesus. There, however, the exhortation was to be given by the youthful Timothy himself; here, on the contrary, by the aged women, who in many respects would have more freedom and right to address their younger sisters.
Tit_2:6. The young men [ ôïὺò íåùôÝñïõò , the younger men.—D,]. to be temperate. Having spoken of the elders and the younger women, the Apostle now adds to the directions for aged men (Tit_2:2) a hint for Christian youth. All that Titus was to hold up before this class, is summed up once more in a Christian óùöñïíåῖí [to be sober-minded, in opposition to being under the influence of immoderate affections; Beza, Huther.—D.]. It will be remembered in what a comprehensive sense this word is elsewhere employed, and how much value Plato, for example, attaches to temperantia.
Tit_2:7. In all things, &c. This exhortation springs quite naturally from the preceding, since Titus himself was also a young man. But not only with a view to this class, but also to all the members of the church, Paul would have Titus unite with the preaching of the word the preaching of his own example, without which all teaching and exhortations are vain. [Notice, in the original, the emphasis, next only to ðåñὶ ðÜíôá , on óåáõôüí , thyself.—D.] In all points, ðåñὶ ðÜíôá , i.e., in respect to all things which belong to the faith and the life of the true Christian, showing thyself, óåáõôὸí ðáñå÷üìåíïò (on the reflexive pronoun with the Middle, see Winer,Gramm., § 39, 6), as an example of good works, ôýðïí , a pattern which others might safely follow, such as Paul himself had given (1Co_11:1). Calvin: “He wishes the teachers to be a copy, which the scholars may imitate.”—In doctrine uncorruptness. “This and the following accusative are dependent upon ‘showing;’ see Col_4:1;” Huther.—Instead of ἀäéáöèïñßáí in the Recepta, is to be read, with A. C. D.1 E. [Cod. Sin.], and others (see Lachmann and Tischendorf) ἀöèïñßáí [which has much the same meaning. To make, with De Wette, this incorruptness, or purity, refer to the quality of the doctrine, viz., as unadulterated or pure, would be to anticipate what is said in the next verse, “sound doctrine,” and to necessitate a too abrupt connection with the next word, “dignity,” Which must certainly be referred to the teacher. It is best, therefore, with Macknight, Flatt, Heyden-reich, Wiesinger, Ellicott, and others, to understand it, as Dr. Van Oosterzee does, of the form of Titus’s teaching. His discourses, in respect to their preparation and delivery, must be characterized by sincerity and dignity; or, as Ellicott well expresses it—in his delivery, “a chaste sincerity of mind was to be combined with a dignified óåìíüôçò of manner.”—D.] The form of the doctrine, then, should be pure, chaste, free from everything at variance with the character of the gospel; the spirit, and the true way and manner of discourse, is indicated by the next word, óåìíüôçôá , dignity.
Tit_2:8. Sound speech, that cannot be condemned, a description of the import of the doctrine which Titus was to preach, in distinction from that of the false teachers. The connection shows clearly enough that “sound speech,” ëüãïí ὑãéῆ , must be understood not of private conversation (Calvin), but of public preaching.—That the adversary may be ashamed. Since the connection gives no decisive indication of the particular kind of hostility here specially referred to, we may suppose it to be that of Satan, and also the false teachers who were his instruments. [Chrysostom also understands “the adversary” to be the devil; but the distinct reference to speaking against believers, seems much more probably to point to heathen or Jewish opposers, or both. This is now the opinion of the best expositors.—D.]—When he has nothing evil to say of us; either of us the Apostles—Titus, and Paul’s other fellow-laborers—or also of us Christians in general.
Tit_2:9. Servants, &c. (comp. 1Ti_6:1). In consequence of the peculiar national character of the Cretians, the spurious love of liberty must have here developed itself in its full strength. “Exhort,” ðáñáêÜëåé , is to be supplied from Tit_2:6. The Christian slaves must be subject to their own masters—the masters to whom they legally belong.—In all things well-pleasing; so that not only their actions shall be blameless, but the way and manner also in which they perform them be agreeable in the eyes of their masters. The phrase, “in all things,” finds the needed limitation, of course, in Act_5:29.—Not to be contrary, ìὴ ἀíôéëÝãïíôáò , not referring to isolated cases, but to the habit which many servants contract, of incessantly making some objection against what is said to them, and setting up their own will in opposition to that of their masters.
Tit_2:10. Purloining nothing, ìὴ íïóöéæïìÝíïõò , literally, taking away nothing for themselves (comp. Act_5:2-3).—Showing all good fidelity, describing the general disposition which should lie at the foundation of the particulars just mentioned. [It is called good, with reference to its results, as the connection shows.—D.]—That they may adorn in all things the doctrine, the word of the gospel, of our Saviour God (comp. chaps. 1, 2), not Christ distinctively, but God in His whole indivisible essence. A life, then, in which the power of the gospel is displayed, may be called an adornment of the doctrine ( äéäáóêáëßá ). “The humbler the condition of servants, the more beautifully is their piety described;” Bengel.
2. The care of the Apostle not to give the least offence to those who are unfriendly to the gospel, is entirely in the spirit of his Master (Mat_17:24-27), and hence must be imitated by every Christian in every sphere.
3. As our Lord exhorts all His disciples to edify others by the example of their life, the minister of the gospel is especially called to do this, if his preaching is not to be entirely fruitless. “Take heed to yourself, for the eyes of many are turned towards you, and many can see your fall. You can commit no fault, but that the world will trumpet it. Eclipses of the sun, when the sky is clear, seldom occur unobserved. Since you give yourselves out to be lights of the church, many eyes will inevitably be turned towards you. If others, therefore, can sin unobserved, you cannot. The light of your own teaching will reveal your bad life. Do your work therefore, as those who know that the world is looking on, and that, too, with the keen eye of enmity, which always infers the worst, and knows how to find out, spread abroad, and use the smallest weaknesses, and even discovers evil where none exists;” Baxter.
4. That Christianity is the most practical thing in the world, becomes manifest when it sanctifies the family and the community, and renders them a dwelling of God through the Spirit. As a fuller commentary upon these exhortations of the Apostle, deserves to be consulted the Descriptio reipubl. Christianopolitaisœ, Strasb., 1619, by John Val. Andreä, in which the entire internal organization, and all the conditions of a true Christian church, are described. A counterpart to this is “Bishop Erich Pontopidan Menoza, or History of an Asiatic Prince, who journeyed about in the world in search of Christians, but had little success in his search;” Copenhagen and Leipzig, 1750, 6 vols.
Starke: Cramer: A theologian must possess a theological prudence, wisdom, and discretion, in order to speak with every one according to his condition, character, and difficulties. For as a shepherd treats the young lambs in one way, the sheep in another, the wethers and rams in another, and makes a difference between the sound and the sick (Eze_34:15), so, because all Christians have not the same gifts, the preacher must know how to adapt himself to every case.—Hearers and readers of the Holy Scriptures should carefully note and practise the duties especially incumbent upon them by reason of their age, standing, and sex (Rev_2:7; Mat_24:15).—The fear of God adorns old age: an aged godly matron is worthy of double honor.—Biblia Würt.: Slander, detraction, backbiting, evil-speaking, is a common vice, especially among females.—Osiander: Hearty love between husbands and wives, parents and children, is well-pleasing to God.—Be assured, if Christian women lead scandalous and unseemly lives, great occasion is given to Jews and heathen to revile the gospel.—Shepherds of souls must not only let their voice be heard, but also go before the flock (Joh_10:3-4).—Fidelity is a golden virtue, and so an ornament to a servant.—Langii Opp.: if even servants and domestics should adorn the Christian religion, by their lives, how much more should ministers of the gospel, since not only their person, but their office, is concerned in the case (Tit_2:7-8).
Lisco: On the pastoral care in Christian churches,—(Synodical Sermon): The model of a good pastor.—Sound exhortation to all to an upright Christian life.—What influence sound doctrine should exert upon the different periods and relations of life.—Von Gerlach: All aged women in the Christian church have a kind of priestly office, viz., to pray for the young women, and to lead them to holiness (comp. 1Ti_2:9).
Footnotes:
Tit_2:4.—[The present indicative óùöñïíßæïõóéí occurring after éíá , makes a construction so much opposed to usage, that, on the authority of C. D. E. K. L., it has been rejected for the subj. óùöñïíßæùóé , by Griesbach, De Wette, Huther, Ellicott, and others. But on the evidence of A. F. G. H., et al., it has been accepted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, and is now confirmed by Cod. Sin.—D.]
Tit_2:5.—[This is the rendering of the Rec., ïἰêïῦñïõò , adopted by Ellicott on the comparatively weak authority of D.3 H. I. K., et al.; but the rare (“vox rara sed non inaudita,” Tischendorf) word ïἰêïῦñãïõò , “workers at home,” found in A. C. D.1 E. F. G., Cod, Sin., is now adopted by the best critics; Lachmann, Tischendorf, also Alford.—D.]
Tit_2:7.— Ἀöèáñóßáí , which has only in its favor, among the uncial MSS., D.3 E.2 I. K., &c., is generally rejected on the authority of A. C. D.1 E.,1 Cod. Sin.—D.]
Tit_2:8.—Instead of the reading, ðåñὶ ὑìῶí , of the Recepta, ðåñὶ ἡìῶí , with C. D. E. F. G., Cod. Sin., and many [most.—D.] versions and fathers, is to be preferred.