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Tit_1:2. Ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ζωῆς αἰωνίου ] ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι , “in hope” (comp. Rom_4:18; Rom_8:21; 1Co_9:10). It is not to be taken with ἐπίγνωσις ἀληθείας (“the knowledge of the truth which gives hope of an eternal life,” Heydenreich, but with hesitation; Wiesinger: “it is a knowledge whose content is that ἀλήθεια , and whose ground and condition is the hope of eternal life, by which hope it is supported and guided”), nor is it to be taken with εὐσέβεια (“a holiness the possessor of which is justified in hoping for eternal life,” which Heydenreich likewise considers possible), nor with τῆς κατʼ εὐσέβειαν (Matthies: “truth and holiness in their inner relationship are founded evangelically on the hope of eternal life”), nor even with the two ideas closely connected: πίστιν and ἐπίγνωσιν ἀλ . (so Plitt: “the πίστις and the ἐπίγνωσις rest on the ἐλπίς ”); but it is to be joined with ἀπόστολος κ . τ . λ . Paul by this declares that the ἐλπὶς ζωῆς αἰωνίου is the basis on which he stands as an ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριοτοῦ κατὰ πίστιν κ . τ . λ . Van Oosterzee: “Paul in Tit_1:4 says he fulfils his task with or in hope of eternal life” (so, too, Hofmann).
The believer, it is true, possesses the ΖΩῊ ΑἸΏΝΙΟς in the present; but its perfection will only be granted to him in the future (comp. Col_3:3-4); here it is to be considered as a future blessing, which is indicated by ἘΠʼ ἘΛΠΊΔΙ .
ἫΝ ἘΠΗΓΓΕΊΛΑΤΟ Ὁ ἈΨΕΥΔῊς ΘΕῸς ΠΡῸ ΧΡΌΝΩΝ ΑἸΩΝΊΩΝ ] ἭΝ relates to ΖΩῆς ΑἸΩΝΊΟΥ , and not, as some expositors (Flatt, Mack, and others) think, to ἈΛΉΘΕΙΑ .
ἘΠΗΓΓΕΊΛΑΤΟ , viz. ΔΙᾺ ΤῶΝ ΠΡΟΦΗΤῶΝ , comp. Rom_1:2.
Ὁ ἈΨΕΥΔῊς ΘΕΌς ] This epithet occurs only here; ἈΨΕΥΔΉς is equivalent to ΠΙΣΤΌς , ἈΛΗΘΉς in regard to the divine promises, comp. Heb_6:18 : ἈΔΎΝΑΤΟΝ ΨΕΎΣΑΣΘΑΙ ΘΕΌΝ ; 1Co_1:9; Rom_3:4.
ΠΡῸ ΧΡΌΝΩΝ ΑἸΩΝΊΩΝ here is not equivalent in meaning to ΠΡῸ ΚΑΤΑΒΟΛῆς ΚΌΣΜΟΥ or similar expressions; for in that case ἘΠΗΓΓΕΊΛΑΤΟ must have meant promittere decrevit, or the like, as Chrysostom expounds it: ἌΝΩΘΕΝ ΤΑῦΤΑ ΠΡΟΏΡΙΣΤΟ , which is impossible. It is equivalent to ἈΠʼ ΑἸῶΝΟς , Luk_1:70 : “before eternity, i.e. before the earliest times” (Wiesinger, van Oosterzee, Plitt, Hofmann), comp. 2Ti_1:9. Calvin rightly says: hic, quia de promissione tractat, non omnia saecula comprehendit, ut nos adducat extra mundi creationem, sed docet, multa saecula praeteriisse, ex quo salus fuit promissa. De Wette rightly remarks that apparently the opposite is declared in μυστήριον χρόνοις αἰωνίοις σεσιγημένον , Rom_16:25.