Titus 1 Study Notes

1:9 It was common for ancient authors to emphasize one item in a list by placing it at the beginning or end and then giving it significantly longer treatment than the other items. This is what Paul does here. While he spent only a few words on the items in vv. 6-9, his treatment of this last subject is both long and grammatically complex. By this means he emphasized the importance of an “overseer” (v. 7) being able to teach. The reason for this is clear from what follows (vv. 10-16).

1:10-11 The false teachers described here and in the following verses are very similar to those at Ephesus described in 1Tm 1:4-6. The elders were to be equipped and prepared to refute them. Paul’s description—they are ruining entire households . . . to get money dishonestly—recalls his words in 1Tm 6:5 and 2Tm 3:6.

1:12-13 Crete was known in the ancient world for its moral decadence. The ancient historian Polybius wrote that it was “almost impossible to find . . . personal conduct more treacherous or public policy more unjust than in Crete” (Histories, 6.47). Cicero also stated, “Moral principles are so divergent that the Cretans . . . consider highway robbery honorable” (Republic, 3.9.15).

1:14 On myths, see note at 1Tm 1:4. The specific content of the “myths” and commands Paul had in mind in the present verse is unstated, but the false teaching in Titus is more explicitly tied to a Jewish background (v. 10) than that referenced in 1 and 2 Timothy.

1:15 This statement echoes Jesus’s teaching (Lk 11:41) and Paul’s earlier writing (Rm 14:20). In light of the Jewish origin of the false teaching and contexts of the earlier use of similar wording by Jesus and Paul, the issue here was probably Jewish food laws. The false teachers seemed to be concerned with this ritual purity, but were nevertheless defiled by their own unbelief and sin.

1:16 The actions (works) of these people proved conclusively that they were unbelievers, although they claimed to know God. Paul was not hesitant to make such a judgment. The three descriptors at the end of the verse summarize the behavior that proved they did not know God.