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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Tit_1:10-16
10For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. 12One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." 13This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, 14not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. 15To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. 16They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.
Tit_1:10
NASB "rebellious men"
NKJV, NJB "insubordinate"
NRSV "rebellious people"
TEV "who rebel"
This is the term "be subject" (hupotassô) with an alpha privative (cf. Tit_1:6). This means "not under authority." This relates contextually to "those who contradict" in Tit_1:9. They are described in Tit_3:9-11.
NASB "empty talkers and deceivers"
NKJV, NRSV "idle talkers and deceivers"
TEV "deceive others with their nonsense"
NJB "who talk nonsense and try to make others believe it"
These two words are found only here in the NT. The primary problem of the Pastoral Letters is false teachers (characterized by these terms in Tit_1:10) and their converts. What we believe and how we live are crucial aspects of Christianity.
▣ "those of the circumcision" This phrase reminds one of Paul's theological opponents at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) and in the churches of Galatia (Gal_2:12 ff). It is uncertain how these early Jewish legalists, who asserted that people had to become Jewish and keep the Mosaic Law before they could trust Jesus and become Christians, are related to the false teachers of Colossians, Ephesians, and the Pastoral Letters. These later heresies seem to be a combination of Jewish legalism and Greek philosophical thought (Gnostics ). See Introduction to 1 Timothy, C. False Teachers and the Special Topic at 1Ti_1:8.
With the death of the Apostles and the rapid spread of Christianity, many factious groups developed through the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The NT gives guidelines on how to identify these false teachers, especially Matthew 7 and the book of 1 John, which focus on appropriate lifestyle and true doctrine.
Tit_1:11 "who must be silenced" This is a present active infinitive of the compound "to put on the mouth" (i.e. to muzzle, to gag, or silence). Church leaders must control who speaks in the house churches. The same principle is true today. Religious and academic freedoms do not give anyone and everyone the right to address the gathered people of God!
▣ "they are upsetting whole families" This could refer to house churches (cf. Rom_16:5; 1Co_16:19; Col_4:15; 1Ti_3:15) or to the exploitation of widows and those they talk to (cf. 2Ti_3:6).
▣ "for the sake of sordid gain" This shows the true nature of the false teachers (cf. 1Ti_1:7; 1Ti_6:5; 1Ti_6:10; 2Pe_2:3; 2Pe_2:14; Jud_1:16). The church leaders of 1 Timothy 3 must be free of this temptation (cf. 1Ti_3:3; 1Ti_3:8; 1Ti_6:9-10).
False teachers and cult groups can be quickly identified by three characteristics.
1. exploitation of money
2. exploitation of sexual freedom
3. a claim to unique and direct revelation
If your religious leaders want your money, your wife, and claim God told them — run!
Tit_1:12 "One of themselves a prophet" Epimenides lived in the sixth century b.c. and was from Crete. The fact that Paul quotes one of their poets shows the Greek influence on this island and in the heresy. Paul quotes from Greek philosophers and poets at least three times in his writings (cf. Act_17:28; 1Co_15:13; Tit_1:12). His home town of Tarsus was known for its educational institutions. Paul was highly educated in both Greek and Hebrew culture.
Paul may have called Epimenides a prophet because he wrote truly about the inhabitants of Crete or possibly because the Cretans considered him a speaker inspired by the Greek gods. He was known as one of the wisest men of Crete.
▣ "Cretans are always liars" This is in hexameter poetic form. The Cretans believed and bragged that Zeus was buried on their island. The term "cretinous" meant "a liar." In this context this characterization seems to relate to the false teachers, not the churches or the general public.
▣ "lazy gluttons" The basic meaning of the phrase is greed (cf. Php_3:19).
Tit_1:13 "reprove them severely" This literally means "cut off with a knife." This is a present active imperative. This strong term is used only here in the NT. Additional admonitions to strongly rebuke can be seen in 1Ti_5:25; 2Ti_4:2; Tit_2:15.
▣ "so that they may be sound in the faith" This shows that discipline is to be redemptive, not punitive (cf. 1Co_5:5; Heb_12:5-13). The pronouns in Tit_1:13 refer to the false teachers (cf. 2Ti_2:25-26).
The term "sound" is a recurrent theme in the Pastoral Letters, which refers to something being healthy (cf. 1Ti_1:10; 2Ti_1:13; 2Ti_4:3; Tit_1:9; Tit_1:13; Tit_2:1-2; Tit_2:8).
Tit_1:14 "Jewish myths" These myths may be connected to Jewish speculation about the genealogy of the Messiah (cf. Tit_3:9; 1Ti_1:4; 2Ti_4:4). For a good discussion of the differing connotations of "myth" see G. B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible, pp. 219-242.
▣ "and commandments of men" This, in context, seems to refer to the Oral Tradition of the Jews, later codified in the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds (cf. Isa_29:13; Mar_7:7-8; Col_2:16-23).
▣ "who turn away from the truth" This is a present middle participle. These false teachers continue to turn away from the gospel. See Special Topic: Truth at 1Ti_2:4.
Tit_1:15 "To the pure, all things are pure" "Everything" is put first in the Greek sentence for emphasis. This truth is hard for some believers to understand (cf. 1Ti_4:4; Mar_7:15-23; Luk_11:41; Rom_14:14; Rom_14:20; 1Co_10:23-33)! This possibly relates to asceticism so common in Greek religious philosophical traditions (cf. 1Ti_4:3; Col_2:20-22). Legalistic Christians often lose the biblical balance at this very point (cf. Rom_14:1 to Rom_15:13)!
▣ "but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure" The first cognate verbal is a perfect passive participle and the second is a perfect passive indicative, which speaks of a settled state produced by an outside agent, here possibly the evil one. This type of person twists everything and everyone for personal interest (ex. Act_20:29).
Tit_1:16 "They profess to know God" "God" is placed first in the Greek sentence for emphasis. These false teachers claim to be religious! They claim godliness based on human regulations (cf. Isa_29:13; Col_2:16-23), but in reality, they are defiled. Some see this as another evidence of the Jewish element of the heresy because of the term "God" rather than Christ. For "profess" see hyperlink at 1Ti_6:12.
▣ "but by their deeds they deny Him" This is a present middle indicative. Believers' lifestyle choices give evidence of their true conversion (cf. Mat_7:16; Mat_7:20; 1 John and James).
▣ "detestable" This is a term used often in the Septuagint translated "abominable" (cf. Rev_17:4) and is often associated with idolatry. It literally means "smelly" (cf. Rev_21:8).
▣ "and disobedient and worthless for any good deed" What a shocking phrase (cf. 1Co_3:10-15; 2Pe_1:8-11)!
The word "disobedient" is also used in Tit_3:3 to describe how believers lived before the grace of God/Christ changed them (Tit_3:4)!
The word "worthless" literally means "failure to pass the test" (dokimos with the alpha privative, cf. 1Co_9:27; 2Ti_3:8). See Special Topic: The Greek Term for "Testing" at 1Ti_6:9.
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