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Tit_3:14. Μανθανέτωσαν δὲ καὶ οἱ ἡμέτεροι ] ï ἱ ἡ ìÝôåñïé are the Christian brethren in Crete, not, as Grotius thought, Zenas and Apollo. Êáß stands with reference not merely to the Jews (Hofmann), but to non-Christians in general. As non-Christians provide for the needs of their own, so ought Christians, and not refrain through their anxiety for heavenly things.
καλῶν ἔργων προΐστασθαι ] in the same general sense as in Tit_3:8, but the words following give the phrase a more special reference to works of benevolence; εἰς τὰς ἀναγκαίας χρείας , “in regard to the necessary wants.”
ἵνα μὴ ὦσιν ἄκαρποι ] The subject is ï ἱ ἡμέτεροι . Hofmann construes the words εἰς τὰς ἀναγκαίας χρείας with the clause of purpose following them. He says that “the particle of purpose is placed after the emphatic part of the clause,” a thing which frequently occurs in the N. T., and for this he appeals to Winer, p. 522 [E. T. p. 764]. In this he is entirely wrong. Such a construction seldom occurs, and of all the passages there quoted by Winer, that from 2Co_12:7 alone is to the point; the rest are of quite another kind. It is quite clear from what was said on ἵνα in 1Ti_1:3; 1Ti_1:1[22] that such a construction is not to be admitted here. The exhortation in the passage does not refer simply to the present case of equipping Zenas and Apollo, which indeed occasioned it, but is in general terms, and is applicable to all cases where the necessary wants of others have to be considered (van Oosterzee).
[22] To say that with the common construction the clause of purpose is too general (Hofmann), is not to the point, since it can easily be defined from what precedes.