Titus 3

Titus 3 is the third and final chapter of the Epistle to Titus in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The letter is traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle, sent from Nicopolis of Macedonia (Roman province), addressed to Titus in Crete. Some scholars argue that it is the work of an anonymous follower, written after Paul's death in the first century AD. This chapter contains the author's instruction for the church as a community with responsibilities in the public realm, towards the government and also towards individuals, concluded with some personal requests for Titus before the final benediction.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 15 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

Living as the church in the world (3:1–8)

Verses 1–8 address the responsibilities of the church as a community within wider society, from consideration for rulers and authorities to demonstrating "perfect courtesy" or "gentleness" in relation to "all people". The author calls on Titus to "remind them" of their obligations of right conduct; A. E. Humphreys notes that "them" must refer to "the Cretan Christians" generally.

Verse 3

"Sometimes" is best read as "previously" rather than "occasionally". Humphreys refers to an "old sense" of "sometime".

Verse 8

"This is a faithful saying" : this phrase is a formula assuming 'general acceptance' and is stated 5 times in the Pastoral Epistles.

Disciplining the opponents in the church (3:9–11)

Verses 9–11 concern relationships between Titus and some members in the community who "indulge in controversy and argument", with an instruction that Titus should ignore them to their own condemnation.

Verse 9

Paul lists four "deceptively dangerous things" to be avoided :

"Foolish disputes": or "foolish controversies" for frivolous and incompetent theological inquiries which produce no worthwhile results
"Genealogies": likely refers to 'a Jewish type of interpretation' based on the Old Testament or extracanonical biblical heroes accounts and 'speculation based on family trees'
"Contentions, and strivings": or "arguments, dissensions, quarrels" depicting the "chaos produced by controversies and speculative debates".

Final remarks and farewell (3:12–15)

The closing section of the epistle contains some personal details from the author regarding some co-workers, with a final instruction to "maintain good works" before the closing benediction. The form is a kind of travelogue, which is not unusual as Paul also mentioned his travel plans in other epistles.

Verse 12

"Tychicus": from the province of Asia, traveled with Paul on his third missionary journey, but nothing is known about Artemas.
"Come to me at Nicopolis": Artemas and Tychicus are sent to 'fill in for Titus', showing the author's concern for the succession in ministry. As soon as relief has arrived, Titus was to go to Nicopolis, where the author planned to stay throughout the winter.
"Nicopolis" : or 'Nicopolis of Achaia' There are several imperial settlements with this name to commemorate a military victory, but this particular city was built on the isthmus of the Bay of Actium, across from the southern tip of the Italian peninsula, to commemorate the naval victory of Augustus over Mark Antony in 31 BCE. The port city was "a natural site of maritime transportation between Achaia and Italy, a commercial center and the site of quadrennial athletic games", as well as "a natural place for a person to pass the winter here before a sea voyage in the early spring" when travel conditions became better.

Verse 13

"Apollos": is known from 1 Corinthians 1:12, 3:4-6, 22, 4:6 and Acts 18:24, 19:1, as an Alexandrian who was versed in the Scriptures, catechized by Aquila and Priscilla in the ways of the Lord. In one occasion, Paul tried to send Apollos to visit the Corinthian community again, but Apollos was reluctant to go.
"Zenas the lawyer" is unknown, and does not appear elsewhere in the New Testament. The name is a contraction of . According to the Greek menologies, Zenas was the first bishop of Diospolis of Lydda in Palestine, and according to tradition, wrote a letter to Titus.
"Sent... on their journey with haste": is translated from Greek:, meaning 'earnestly equip', recalling the words in the previous verse: and . The compound form in this verse has the meaning of both 'send on one's way' and 'prepare for a journey' by providing food, money, means of travel, companions or anything else required for the trip.
"That they may lack nothing" : can be paraphrased as ' that they lack nothing that they need' which in combination with the word can form a translation: "Get Zenas the lawyer and Apollos ready and send them on their way".

Verse 14

"Our people : in a narrow epistolary context can be about Zenas and Apollos.
"Good works" : can be rendered "good deeds" or "honest trades", as in 'honest lawful employment of life' as a good work, or also 'a secularized euphemism for the proclamation of the gospel in word and in work'. Jewish teachings also state
"That they may not be unfruitful": or "so that they are not ineffective", in the good works and in the knowledge of Christ, for good works are fruits of righteousness, because without them are like trees without fruit, which is useless and unprofitable. The imagery of growth and fruit is often used in the early church in its kerygmatic discourse, and evokes the positive effect of the gospel proclamation.

Verse 15

"Grace be with you all": is a benediction to end the letter, with the difference to other benedictions in and only in the addition of "all" which extends the blessing to the churches that Titus was caring at the time.

Subscription

A subscription or 'codicil' appeared at the end of the Epistle of Titus, first in the Codex Coislinianus and later in most manuscripts of Byzantine tradition, stating:
Minuscule 81 has an alternative addition: "Written to Titus from Nicopolis in Crete", whereas Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Porphyrianus have a simple notation, "written from Nicopolis".