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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Tit_1:8. Ἀλλὰ φιλόξενον ] see 1Ti_3:2.
φιλάγαθον ] ἅπ . λεγ . (the opposite in 2Ti_3:3), loving either the good or what is good. Chrysostom is inaccurate: τὰ αὐτοῦ πάντα τοῖς δεομένοις προϊέμενος ; and Luther: “kindly.”
σώφρονα ] see 1Ti_3:2.
δίκαιον , ὅσιον ] These two ideas are frequently placed together; comp. 1Th_2:10; Eph_4:24; Plato (Gorg. 507 B) thus distinguishes between them: καὶ μὴν περὶ μὲν ἀνθρώπους τὰ προσήκοντα πράττων δίκαιʼ ἂν πράττοι , περὶ δὲ θεοὺς ὅσια .
δίκαιος is one who does no wrong to his neighbour; ὅσιος is one who keeps himself free from that which stains him in the eyes of God; synonymous with ἄκακος , ἀμίαντος , Heb_7:26.
ἐγκρατῆ ] ἅπ . λεγ ., Chrysostom: τὸν πάθους κρατοῦντα , τὸν καὶ γλώττης , καὶ χειρὸς , καὶ ὀφθαλμῶν ἀκολάστων · τοῦτο γὰρ ἐστὶν ἐγκράτεια , τῷ μηδενὶ ὑποσύρεσθαι πάθει . There is no ground for limiting the word to the relation of the sexes; besides, ἐγκράτεια , and ἐγκρατεύεσθαι in the N. T. hardly convey anything more than the general idea of self-control. The three last qualifications are closely related to each other, describing the conduct of the man towards his neighbour, towards God, towards himself; comp. Tit_2:12.
The positive qualifications in this verse are not direct antitheses to the negative qualifications in the preceding verse; still there is a certain antithesis of cognate ideas. This is the case with μὴ αὐθάδη and φιλόξενον , φιλάγαθον ; with μὴ ὀργίλον , μὴ πάροινον , μὴ πλήκτην , and σώφρονα ; μὴ αἰσχροκερδῆ and δίκαιον , ὅσιον , ἐγκρατῆ . Still these epithets, though corresponding to one another, are not quite the same in the extent of their application.