For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,
Parallel Translations
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For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,
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For ther are many disobedient and talkers of vanite and disceavers of myndes namely they of the circumcision
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For there are many disobedient and vaine talkers and deceiuers of mindes, chiefly they of the Circumcision,
Cross-references (24)
Passages linked to Titus 1:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Timothy 1:6 from which things some, having missed the mark, have turned away to vain talking,
- 1 John 4:1 Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- Galatians 2:4 This was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage,
- Ephesians 4:14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
- Acts 11:2 When Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the circumcision contended with him,
- Romans 16:17-18 Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them. For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.
- Galatians 1:6-8 I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different “good news”, but there isn’t another “good news.” Only there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the Good News of Christ. But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.
- 1 Timothy 6:3-5 If anyone teaches a different doctrine, and doesn’t consent to sound words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, insulting, evil suspicions, constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such.
- 2 Timothy 3:13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
- James 1:26 If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
- Acts 20:29 For I know that after my departure, vicious wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
- 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from those who desire an occasion, that in which they boast, they may be found even as we. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles. And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
- Galatians 3:1 Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed among you as crucified?
- Galatians 4:17-21 They zealously seek you in no good way. No, they desire to alienate you, that you may seek them. But it is always good to be zealous in a good cause, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you— but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don’t you listen to the law?
- Galatians 5:1-4 Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is a debtor to do the whole law. You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.
- Philippians 3:2-3 Beware of the dogs; beware of the evil workers; beware of the false circumcision. For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh;
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
- 1 Timothy 1:4 and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes, rather than God’s stewardship, which is in faith—
- 2 Timothy 4:4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn away to fables.
- 2 Peter 2:1-2 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned.
- 1 John 2:18 Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour.
- Revelation 2:6 But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
- Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
- Acts 15:1 Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you can’t be saved.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (21 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 10 For there are many unruly. After having laid…
10 For there are many unruly. After having laid down a general rule, which ought to be everywhere observed, in order that Titus may be more attentive to adhere to it, he holds out to him the urgent necessity which ought to excite him more than all things else. He warns him that he has to deal with many obstinate and incorrigible persons, that many are puffed up with vanity and idle talk, that many are deceivers; and that therefore they ought to choose, on the other hand, such leaders as are qualified and well prepared to oppose them. For, if the children of this world, when dangers arise, increase their solicitude and watchfulness, it would be disgraceful for us, when Satan is using his utmost efforts to remain careless and inactive, as if we were in a state of peace.
Unruly Instead of (inobedientes) disobedient, which is the rendering in the old translation for ἀνυπότακτοι Erasmus translates it (intractabiles) incorrigible. He means those who cannot endure to be brought to obey, and who throw off the yoke of subjection. He gives the appellation of vain talkers, not only to the authors of false doctrines, but to those who, addicted to ambitious display, occupy themselves with nothing but useless subtleties. Ματαιολογία (vain talking) is contrasted with useful and solid doctrine, and therefore includes all trivial and frivolous speculations, which contain nothing but empty bombast, because they contribute nothing to piety and the fear of God. And such is all the scholastic theology that is found, in the present day, in Popery. Yet he calls the same persons deceivers of minds. It may be thought preferable to view this as relating to a different class of persons; but, for my own part, I think that it means the same class; for the teachers of such trifles entice and fascinate the minds of men, so as no longer to receive sound doctrine.
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Chiefly they who are of the circumcision. He says that they are chiefly of the Jews; for it is highly requisite that such plagues shall be known by all. We ought not to listen to those who plead that we should spare the reputation of this or that individual, when the matter in question is the great danger of the whole Church. And so much the greater danger was to be apprehended from that nation, because it claimed superiority above others on account of the sacredness of its lineage. This is therefore the reason why Paul reproves the Jews more sharply, in order to take from them the power of doing injury.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain An applying of the general proposition to a particular:…
An applying of the general proposition to a particular: The Cretans above all others need sharp reprehensions: both because their minds are naturally given to lies and slothfulness, and also because of certain covetous Jews, which under a color of godliness joined partly certain vain traditions, and partly old ceremonies with the Gospel.
Of the Jews, or rather of those Jews, which went about to join Christ and the Law together.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers…
10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
Ver. 10. For there are many unruly] Lawless, yokeless, masterless men, untractable, untameable, that refuse to be reformed, hate to be healed. God will hamper these Belialists, 2Sa 23:6.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain For there are many unruly and vain takers: we…
For there are many unruly and vain takers: we have had both of these words before; the first signifieth stubborn, unruly men; the second, idle, foolish, vain talkers: the apostle saith, that in that age there were many of these.
And deceivers; and such who were deceivers of other men’s souls, or had their own souls deceived.
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Specially they of the circumcision; especially (he saith) the Jews, who mixed the law with the gospel; pressed the necessary observance of their ceremonies, and taught that all the Jews should be saved: of these there were many in Crete, they at this time being scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain A reason is here subjoined by our apostle, why…
A reason is here subjoined by our apostle, why Titus should take such special care to fill the church with able guides, namely, because there was a multitude of false teachers dispersed abroad, and scattered up and down everywhere, particularly the judaizing doctors, those of the circumcision, mentioned Act 15:1 who would make Christianity nothing more that a supplement to the law of Moses. These he tells Titus must have their mouths stopped, not by force, for Titus had no power of the sword, but by confutation; he must take care to ordain such as might silence them, though not satisfy them. For mark the efficacy of error, and the power of seduction, they subvert whole houses, they make proselytes without number.
Learn hence, That such is the strength of error, and the weakness and unsteadiness of many Christians, that whole households may be subverted by the most gross deceivers. If the apostle’s converts were thus easily and universally misled, no wonder if ours be so.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For there are many unruly,.... Persons who are not…
For there are many unruly,.... Persons who are not subject to the law of God, or Gospel of Christ; whose spirits are not subject to the prophets; and who will not submit themselves to them that have the rule over them, nor attend to the admonitions of the church, nor be brought into any regularity and order; and there were many of this sort, who were not sent forth by Christ, or his churches, but went forth of themselves, and were corrupters of the word; and therefore Christ's ministers ought to hold fast the faithful word, and convince such opposers by sound doctrine;
and vain talkers; who deliver out in their discourses empty, trifling, superficial, and frivolous things; which have no solidity and substance in them, nor do they tend to edification; only great swelling words of vanity, vain jangling and babbling about things to no profit.
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And deceivers; both of themselves and others; who lie in wait to deceive, and are deceitful workers; and by their good words, and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple; and so are dangerous persons, and of pernicious consequence:
especially they of the circumcision; or "of the Jews", as the Ethiopic version renders it; that is, not the unbelieving Jews, but such as professed Christianity, judaizing Christians, who joined Moses and Christ and blended the law and Gospel together; who taught that circumcision, and the observance of other ceremonies of the law, were necessary to justification and salvation; and hereby did a great deal of mischief among the churches.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain They of the circumcision - The Jewish converts.
They of the circumcision - The Jewish converts.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. There are many unruly] Persons who will…
Verse 10. There are many unruly] Persons who will not receive the sound doctrine, nor come under wholesome discipline.
Vain talkers] Empty boasters of knowledge, rights, and particular privileges; all noise, empty parade, and no work.
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Deceivers] Of the souls of men by their specious pretensions.
They of the circumcision] The Judaizing teachers, who maintained the necessity of circumcision, and of observing the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law, in order to the perfecting of the Gospel.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Tit 1:10-11. For there are many unruly — Subject…
Tit 1:10-11. For there are many unruly — Subject to no order; and vain talkers — Ματαιολογοι, persons who utter a multitude of foolish and trifling things, especially concerning genealogies and fables; and deceivers — Φρεναπαται, deceived in their own minds, or deceivers of the minds of others; who delude their disciples with false opinions, in order to reconcile their consciences to wicked practices; specially they of the circumcision — Namely, the Jewish teachers, who, though converted to Christianity, taught the necessity of observing the Jewish law, together with faith in Christ, Act 21:20. Whose mouths must be stopped — Namely, by conviction from reason and Scripture; who subvert whole houses — Overthrow the faith of whole families by their false doctrine, and as he seems to mean, carry them over to Judaism; teaching things which they ought not — Which are most false and mischievous; for filthy lucre’s sake — For the sordid purpose of drawing money from their disciples.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For there are many unruly and vain talkers and…
For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers - There are many persons who are indisposed to submit to authority (see the word unruly in Tit 1:6); many who are vain talkers - who are more given to talk than to the duties of practical religion (see the character of “Talkative,” in the Pilgrim’s Progress); and many who live to deceive others under the mask of religion. They make great pretensions to piety; they are fluent in argument, and they urge their views in a plausible manner.
Specially they of the circumcision - Jews, spoken of here as “of the circumcision” particularly, because they urged the necessity of circumcision in order that men might be saved; Notes, Act 15:1. This proves that there were not a few Jews in the island of Crete.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain For there are also many. St. Paul here alludes…
For there are also many. St. Paul here alludes principally to the Jews, who were of the circumcision, from whom St. Paul suffered much during the greater part of his life. They constantly enforced the necessity of the new converted Gentiles observing the law of Moses, and of their being circumcised, if they wished to be saved. There were many Jews of this description in Crete; to resist whom, St. Paul here tells Titus he ought to appoint bishops remarkable for their zeal and learning. (Josephus; Socrates, lib. ii. chap. 38. Hist. Eccles.) --- Especially they who are of the circumcision; which shews who were chiefly the false teachers. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain and--omitted in the oldest manuscripts. "There are many unruly…
unruly--"insubordinate."
and--omitted in the oldest manuscripts. "There are many unruly persons, vain talkers, and deceivers"; "unruly" being predicated of both vain talkers and deceivers.
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vain talkers--opposed to "holding fast the faithful word" (Tit 1:9). "Vain jangling" (Ti1 1:6); "foolish questions, unprofitable and vain" (Tit 3:9). The source of the evil was corrupted Judaism (Tit 1:14). Many Jews were then living in Crete, according to JOSEPHUS; so the Jewish leaven remained in some of them after conversion.
deceivers--literally, "deceivers of the minds of others" (Greek, Gal 6:3).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10–16. The unruly rival teachers are to be repressed
10–16. The unruly rival teachers are to be repressed
10. many unruly] Add men, leaving the pair of attributes to go together, as in the Pauline usage, empty talkers and deceivers of the mind. Both compounds occur only here in N.T.; but the substantive, meaning vaniloquentia, has occurred 1Ti_1:6, where the meaning is defined in what follows, ‘though they understand neither what they say, nor whereof they confidently affirm;’ and the verb, meaning seducit, is used Gal_6:3 and defined by the context ‘if a man thinketh himself to be something when he is nothing.’ Peile translates ‘self-deceivers,’ i.e. visionary enthusiasts, comparing Isa_44:20 and Jas_1:26.
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specially they of the circumcision] Judaizing Christians. Jews from Crete are named among the visitors to Jerusalem Act_2:11, and the Christianising of the island cannot have been quite recent, even from Tit_1:6, ‘having faithful children.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) For there are many unruly and vain talkers…
(10) For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers.—Nominally in the congregations of Christians, but in reality refusing all obedience, acting for themselves, factious, insubordinate. Titus would, alas, discover many such; these often would be found to be possessed of the gift of fluent and deceptive speech, and would deceive many. Professor Reynolds characterises such restless, uneasy spirits as loquacious, restless talkers, “who must say something, and who have broken the peace of many a home and shattered the prosperity of many a church; the multitude of teachers who have nothing true to say is the curse of the kingdom of God.”
Specially they of the circumcision.—Here St. Paul points out to Titus where he must look for the origin of this hostility. These unhappy men evidently did not belong to the stern and rigid Jewish party who hated with a bitter hate all the followers of the Nazarene, but were of the number of those sleepless opponents of St. Paul and his school—the Judaising Christians.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Unruly men for unruly and, A.V and T.R. Unruly…
Unruly men for unruly and, A.V and T.R. Unruly (anupotaktoi); see ver. 6. Vain talkers (mataiologoi); only here in the New Testament, not found in the LXX, and rare in classical Greek. (see mataiologia , 1Ti_1:6) Kenologov and kenologia are used in the same sense of "vain, empty, talking." Deceivers (frenapatai); here only in the New Testament, not found in the LXX or in classical Greek literally, soul-deceivers, or, as some take St, self-deceivers (compare frenapataw , Gal_6:3, and for the sense Jam_1:26; but in both these instances the idea of self-deceiving is imported by the context, eauto and kardian autou) Here the word means "deceivers," whoso character is described in 2Pe_2:14 as "beguiling unstable souls." They of the circumcision; Judaizing Christians, the most obstinate and difficult adversaries with whom St. Paul had to cope. (see Galatians passim; Php_3:2, 3, etc.)
Vers. 10-13. The character of the adversaries at Crete.
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They were within the communion of the Christian Church. It was, therefore, all the more necessary that the ministers should be holy, laborious, and uncorrupt.
I THE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE ADVERSARIES. "For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision.
1. They were refractory. Though standing in Church relationships, they refused all obedience, and pursued purely factious and divisive courses, that led to the subversion of discipline and the distraction of families. Such persons mar the prosperity of many a Church.
2. They were vain talkers. Corruption quickly makes its way from the heart to the lips, and flows forth in glib and empty babbling.
(1) There is no allusion here to heresy, for the vain talking is merely opposed to useful and solid doctrine. The teachers were fluent and superficial, speaking, perhaps, great swelling words of vanity, which were of no profit to the hearers.
(2) The tongue was made for speaking, but it is the Lord"s will that it should always he used for iris glory. It ought to be the utterer of the "wisdom that is from above," which is "first pure, then peaceable.
(3) Vain talkers are the pest of Churches and families, sowing the seeds of distrust and turning men"s minds against the gospel.
1. They were deceivers. They deceived others by their good words and fair speeches, their vain speculations and their dexterous arguments, and thus became very dangerous persons.
2. They were of the circumcision" party in the Church.
(1) They were members of the Church, and therefore in a position to do much mischief.
(2) They were Judaizing Christians, who blended the Law and the gospel, teaching that circumcision was necessary to salvation.
(3) They were the persistent enemies of the Apostle Paul through his whole life, and thwarted him in his labors in every part of Asia and Europe.
II THE EFFECT OF THEIR SEDUCTION. "Subverting whole houses." They pursued a process of sapping and mining, subverting the faith, (2Ti_2:18) and bringing whole families to disorder and ruin. It was not a case of mischief done to a few isolated individuals. Thus they undermined the peace and stability of the Church itself.
III THE MOTIVE OF THEIR TEACHING. "Teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre"s sake." The real root of the evil is laid bare by the apostle. It was a sordid love of gain. Therefore the teaching was such as would accommodate itself to the prejudices of men. These men had no regard for God"s honor, for the interest of Christ, or for the welfare of souls; they only sought to increase their worldly substance by gaining popular applause.
1. Money in itself is no evil, for it has no moral character. It is only a blessing or a curse according to the use that is made of it.
2. The love of money is the root of all evil? It leads men to dishonor God, to ignore the claims of truth, to sacrifice the peace of the Church. The Pharisees in our Lord"s time devoured widows" houses. How many people still sacrifice religion so far as they imagine it to conflict with their worldly advancement!
3. The motive of these Cretan adversaries was baser than if it had been mere fanaticism or the love of proselytism. (Mat_23:15)
IV THE JUSTIFICATION OF THE APOSTLE"S STRONG LANGUAGE CONCERNING THEM. "One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons." This testimony is true. These words refer not to "those of the circumcision," but to the inhabitants of Crete, who had generally welcomed the injurious teaching referred to.
1. The apostles quotation of a heathen poet, Epimenides, shows that it is not improper for Christians to study the literature of heathen nations. Classical studies were once, on moral grounds, discouraged by the Church. Calvin says that nothing learned ought to be rejected, even though it should proceed from "the godless.
2. The quotation is the unbiased judgment of a Cretan poet, held in high honor for so-called prophetical gifts. It represents the character of the Cretans in the darkest light, as if to justify a heathen proverb, "The three worst C"s in the world are Cappadocia, Crete, and Cilicia.
(1) "Cretans are always liars." This estimate is fully borne out by profane writers, as well as by the proverb that makes "Cretizing" synonymous with "deception.
(2) They were evil beasts. In allusion to their fierceness, their wildness, their cruelty.
(3) They were "idle gluttons." They were sensual and slothful, corpulent and idle, and therefore fit disciples of teachers whose "god was their belly," and were content to eat the bread of others without working.
3. The apostle endorses this heathen testimony, showing that the Cretans had not changed their national character in six hundred years.
V THE TRUE METHOD OF DEALING WITH THE CRETAN ADVERSARIES. "Whose mouths must be stopped.
1. This does not warrant civil persecution.
2. It warrants the use of cogent arguments to silence gainsayers, such as those by which our Lord silenced the Sadducees and the Pharisees, as well as the use of faithful and stringent discipline to repress ecclesiastical and moral disorders. The adversaries were to be opposed by reason, faithfulness, and love, above all, by the faithful preaching of the gospel in its positive as well as its negative aspects. T.C.
Vers. 10-14. The sins of the sect and the sins of the tribe.
"For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision," etc. In the preceding verses Paul stated one purpose for which he left Titus in Crete, viz. to set in order "the things that are wanting," and to ordain elders in every city. He recognized at once, not only the importance of order in the new community, but also the importance of appointing men who, intellectually and morally, were qualified for its establishment and continuance., In these verses he gives Titus directions as to his aggressive work in Crete. He was to do battle with sin. "For there are many unruly men and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre"s sake." The great work of the gospel minister is to do battle with sin. In the text, sin is referred to as appearing in two aspects, in religious sect and in national character.
I IN RELIGIOUS SECT. "Specially they of the circumcision." These, undoubtedly, are Judaizing Christians, men who pretended to be converted to Christianity, men who sought not only to mingle Judaic elements with the new religion, but to inculcate and disseminate it in that form. Observe the description of sin as it appeared in this religious sect these men of the circumcision. Here is:
1. Factiousness. "Unruly." Not only would they not bow to the established order of the Church, but not to the spirit and principles of the new religion. They would not yield to the masterhood of Christ, the Author and Substance of the gospel; they were stir-willed. They would have a sect of their own.
2. Ostentation. "Vain talkers." Vain, not merely in the sense of proud, but in the sense of emptiness. In truth, as a rule, the emptiest men, intellectually, are at once the most conceited and loquacious. They talk, not for the edification of others, but for the gratification of themselves. Their fluency, whilst it wins the admiration of fools, deludes the ignorant, and disgusts the thoughtful.
3. Falsehood. "Deceivers." All merely nominal Christians are deceivers. They practically misrepresent the doctrines they profess to hold.
4. Mischievousness. "Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert overthrow whole houses." "The translation should ran, "seeing they subvert," etc. There was, indeed, grave cause why these men should be put to silence: the mischief they were doing in Crete to the Christian cause was incalculable. It was no longer individuals that their poisonous teaching affected, but they were undermining the faith of whole families. For an example how Titus and his presbyters were to stop the mouths of these teachers of what was false, comp. Mat_22:34-46, where the Lord, by his wise, powerful, yet gentle words, first put the Sadducees to silence, and then so answered the Pharisees " that neither durst any man from that day ask him any more questions (Dr. Ellicott).
5. Greed. "Teaching things which they ought not, ton filthy lucre"s sake." All the speeches they made, all the influence they exerted, sprang from sordid motives. Sin has a thousand branches and but one root, and that root is selfishness. How many, in what we call the religious world, are found teaching things which they ought not, for "filthy lucre"s sake things that gratify popular taste, that agree with popular prejudice, chime in with the popular thought! All this to fill their pews and to enrich their coffers. Now, these sins which are discovered, in the religious sect are prevalent outside of all religions; but they receive a peculiar color, shape, enormity, and mischievousness when we find them in the religious realm. The devil is less hideous amongst his fellows in hell than he is amongst the sons of God. Hence, to do battle with sin in these religious forms is the grand work of a true preacher; and truly, in this age, and here in England, he will find these sins on every hand. He will see factiousness building up sects, and little sects within sects; ostentation vain speaking, braggardism, sometimes cooing and sometimes bawling, everywhere; falsehood rogues robing themselves in the garb of sainthood, wolves in sheep"s clothing; mischievousness by their empty words and pernicious example subverting whole houses," filling the domestic air with poisonous cant; greed the gospel itself made a trade, and vested interests created in connection with doctrines and doings antagonistic to the life and spirit of him whom they call Master. Ah me! conventional religion is a calumny on the religion of Christ. Never was a Luther wanted in Christendom more than now. He is wanted to substitute the pure gospel of Christ for the denominationalized gospel.
II IN NATIONAL CHARACTER. "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies idle gluttons." There are three sins mentioned here which seem to have prevailed amongst the Cretans as a race.
1. Lying. "The Cretans are always liars." Who made this charge against the Cretans? Paul says, "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own." The quotation is from a poem on "Oracles," by Epimenides, of Phoestus, who flourished B.C. 600, lived to the age of a hundred and fifty, and was supposed to have been a sleeper in a cave for fifty-seven years. He appears to have deserved the title prophet in the fullest sense. Plato speaks of him as a Divine man. The Cretans were characterized by the sin of lying liars." This expression was quoted by Callimachus in his " Hymn to Zeus," and well known in antiquity. "The very word "to Cretize" (Kretizein), or to play the part of a Cretan, was invented as a word synonymous with "to deceive," "to utter a lie; "just as Corinthiazein, "to play the part of a Corinthian," signified "to commit a still darker moral offence." Some writers suggest that this despicable vice of lying was received as a bequest from the early Phoenician colonists.
2. Sensuality. "Evil beasts." Not only liars, but gross and sensual, living in animalism and for it. All men may be called "beasts" who attend to their animal appetites as means of gratification rather than of relief. He who seeks happiness from his senses rather than from his soul is a beast; he who seeks it from without rather than from within is not better than a beast. The happiness of a true man cannot stream into him from without; it must well up from the depths of his own high thinkings and pure affections. Gluttony. "Slow bellies idle gluttons." Their gluttony made them dull, heavy, and indolent. Such are what may be called tribal or national sins. They were not confined to the Cretans, but for them the Cretans were notorious. These are national. But are these sins extinct in England? Have we no lying here? Our social air is impregnated with falsehood. Have we no sensuality and gluttony? Yes, alas! tens of thousands are every day pampering themselves with luxuries, whilst millions are being starved to death. Here, then, are common sins with which the preacher has to do battle. He has to "rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.
CONCLUSION. A true preacher, then, has no easy task. He has to wage fierce battle with the sins that are around him the sins of the sect and. the sins of the tribe. He is not to pander to men"s tastes, nor to battle with mere opinions and theories, but with sins; he must "resist unto blood, striving against sin." "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain For there are many unruly and vain talkers and…
Tit_1:10-11
For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers--The conjunction for showeth that the words following contain a reason of the matter preceding, viz.
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, why the minister should be a man so qualified with able parts, both to maintain the truth and censure the falsehood. The reason is drawn from the description
1. Of teachers, in these two verses; and
2. Of hearers, in the twelfth.
The teachers are described by three arguments.
1. From their indefinite number, there are many, not two or three, who are easily set down, but many.
2. By their adjuncts, which are two.
1. They are disobedient or refractory, such as will not submit themselves to the true doctrine and discipline of the Church.
2. They are vain talkers; that is, such as being given to ostentation and vanity, contemn the study and delivery of sound and profitable doctrine, and search out words and matters of wit and applause, both of them of more sweetness unto the flesh than soundness unto the soul and spirit.
3. By their most dangerous effects, and these also are two.
1. Their deceiving of minds; for which ungodly practice he especially brandeth them of the circumcision; that is, either by metonymy, the Jews themselves circumcised, or else Gentiles Judaising, embracing Jewish opinions, mixing the law and gospel, Moses and Christ, circumcision and baptism together, making indeed an hotchpotch of religion by confounding things that can never stand together. The second effect of them is their subversion of whole houses; that is, they poison and infect whole houses, yea, and where the grounds and foundation of religion hath been laid they overturn and overthrow all. This last effect is declared by two arguments.
1. From the instrumental cause of it, and that is by their false doctrine, teaching things which they ought not.
2. From the final cause of it, that is, covetousness, for filthy lucre sake. Now these teachers being so many, so dangerous and hurtful, their mouths must needs be stopped. Which is a common conclusion set between the two verses, as having reference unto them both, as a common remedy against all the mischief which anyway may be let in by them, and therefore those that are to be admitted into the ministry must be of ability to stop their mouths. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
Hindrances to religion
I. The chief hindrances to religion are often in the church itself. The persons alluded to were members and professed teachers.
1. Words without sincerity are vain.
2. Great attention may be paid to the letter of the law, while its spirit is violated--they of the circumcision.
3. The distinction between good and bad preachers--the former live to preach, while the latter preach to live.
II. Hindrances in the church must be removed. Whose mouths must be stopped.
1. Discipline must be exercised in love.
2. The prosperity of the Church of God must be considered before that of individuals.
3. Every age has its own obstructions to the truth--intemperance, covetousness, selfishness, the chief hindrances of the present.
III. Communities are affected by the conduct of individuals. The characters of men are transferred to their country; here the Cretians became a byword. So, drunken Englishmen abroad, compromise the character of their fellow countrymen. Four vices
1. Untruthfulness.
2. Passion--evil beasts.
3. Sensuality.
4. Slothfulness. (F. Wagstaff.)
The characteristics of false teachers
1. In that the first thing taxed in these false teachers by the apostle is disobedience, we learn that disobedience commonly is the ground of false doctrine. For
1. It is just with God to give up those to errors and delusion that receive not the truth in the love of it, for wheresoever it is received in love obedience cannot but be yielded unto it.
2. The nature of sin is ever to be excusing itself, and is loath to be crossed, although never so justly, but studieth how to defend itself as long as it can, even by wresting the Scriptures, and by taking up one error for the maintenance of another.
3. The tenor of Scripture joineth these two together (2Pe_2:1; 2Pe_2:10; 2Pe_2:12; Act_13:8; Act_13:10; 3Jn_1:9).
II. Preachers who themselves are disobedient unto the word, for most part become in their ministry no better than vain talkers.
1. In regard of themselves, being vain glorious persons, affect applause rather than godly edifying, which is a most vain thing.
2. In respect of their labour, which is all in vain, never attaining the end and right scope of the preaching of the gospel unto salvation; for he that soweth vanity what else can he look to reap?
3. In regard of the hearers, who also spend their pains in vain: they hear a great noise and pomp of words, and a glorious show of human wisdom, which may wrap the simple into admiration, but they are left without reformation; their ear is perhaps a little tickled, but their hearts remain untouched; neither are their souls soundly instructed nor fed with knowledge, but they go away as wise as they came.
These Paul calleth vain talkers and vain janglers (1Ti_1:6), and again, profane and vain babblers, and that justly.
1. Because their puffed discourses proceed from the profanity of their hearts.
2. They are as strange fire from the Lords altar, opposed to that which the Lord hath sanctified to the salvation of His people.
3. They are so far from the edifying of the Church that they cause men to increase unto more ungodliness and profaneness.
III. How did these false teachers deceive mens minds?
1. By suppressing the truth; for by their vain jangling and speaking, liker poets, philosophers, historians, than prophets, apostles, or any successors of theirs, they made a cleanly conveyance of the light from the people, and, withholding the truth and light, they led them from Christ, from the right knowledge of the Scriptures, from sound godliness and religion in judgment and practice, and so they remained as dark in their understanding, as erroneous in their judgments, as froward in their affections, and as wicked in their lives as ever before.
2. By flattery; for they would not deal directly against the sins of the age, as godly ministers do, but deceitfully, that they might not displease; herein imitating Satan himself, who was wont of old to answer in riddles, as he answered Cresus, that if he would transport himself over the river Halys he should overthrow a most mighty kingdom, namely, his own. But Micaiah will not deceive nor flatter with Ahab, although it stand upon his life.
3. By letting men see their estate in false glasses, so as they never see the truth of it, for people taught by fables and novelties think, and are borne in hand, that they are in heavens highway; their souls are brought on sleep, and coming from such frothy discourses, they sit down and please themselves in that they have done their task required, especially if they can bring home a jest or some witty sentence, when perhaps they scarce heard a word of Christ, of their justification, of their mortification, or of their glory.
4. By placing religion in bodily exercises, not in matters of spirit and truth (Col_2:20); thus did the Pharisees in their times, the Papists in these, and whosoever urge the decrees of men more than the commandments of God.
IV. But whose minds are deceived.
1. First their own and then others, for they are blind leaders of the blind, deceiving, and being deceived, and although our apostle expresseth not here who they be that are deceived, yet elsewhere he doth, as Rom_16:18, they deceive the hearts of the simple, and 2Ti_3:6, they lead captive simple women, and 2Pe_2:14, they beguile unstable souls, whence we see that ignorant, inconstant, and unsettled souls, which hand over head receive any doctrine without examination or trial, whose simplicity disableth them to judge between truth and falsehood, and whose levity makes them like shaken reeds, these are the carouses on which such vultures do seize. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
Danger from false teachers
Herodotus tells of a Scythian river having marvellous sweetness till a little bitter mingles with it, and gives it ever after an uncommon bitterness. So evil counsel, in some emergencies of the soul, will poison the whole current of its existence. You may poison a well from which a neighbourhood drinks, and yet be less guilty than to contaminate the flow of eternal thought. There are times when the greatest trust which one human being can repose in another is the confidence of wise direction. Confiding in the integrity of others, men sometimes commit their credit, their wives and children, to their keeping, and are guided by them through fiery coursers over the land, or by steam vessels over the seas; but when a man goes with his soul, and trusts that to what a fellow being may direct, the trust is as momentous as eternity itself. Yet this is done, for as by man came death, so by man comes life. Oh, ye who watch for souls, as every Christian should, see to it that you ask of God that which is profitable to direct, before you point out the way for a deathless mind to travel in. Example is said to speak louder than words. Whose mouths must be stopped
Faithful teachers must oppose seducers
The duty of every faithful minister is, when occasion is offered, timely to oppose himself against seducers, and stop the mouths of false teachers, wherein also the Church ought to back and strengthen him. For
1. The example of Christ must be our precedent, who most bodily and freely vindicated the law from the corrupt glosses and expositions of the Pharisees, and that in His first sermon.
2. In regard of the particular members of the Church, that they may be preserved in soundness from starting away and forsaking of the truth. And this is made one end of the precept; the madness of the false apostles must be made manifest, that they may prevail no longer.
3. In regard of the false teachers themselves; fools, saith Solomon, must be answered, lest they be wise in their own conceit; neither shall the labour be wholly lost upon them, for it shall be a means either to convert them and bring them to the knowledge of the truth, or else so to convince them as they shall be made excuseless. And further, the Church must strengthen every ministers hands in this contending for the faith, and so manifest herself to be the ground and pillar of truth, which is committed to her trust and safe keeping, against all gainsayers. This ministerial duty requireth a great measure of knowledge, and a man furnished with gifts of variety of reading and soundness of judgment.
(1) He must be well read and skilful in the Scriptures, that by them in the first place he may be able to shut the mouth of the adversary.
(2) To all this knowledge is required a sound judgment, that he may be able to infer good and necessary consequence upon the granting of the truth he standeth for, and on the contrary, the absurdities and inconveniences which necessarily follow his adversaries false positions. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
The silencing of evil talkers
Whose mouths must be stopped, does not mean that you are to throw them into an inquisition and gag their mouths, as was, and is, the practice of the Papacy. The heathen persecutors adopted the same method of dealing with the faithful martyrs of the Lord; for, in order to prevent them speaking of His grace, they cut out their tongues. The Moslems have the same bloody principle from their Koran; so that the Pope, the heathen, the grand Turk, are, on principle, persecutors. This is neither taught in our text, nor in any other part of the New Testament. On the contrary, the saints are persecuted, but they never persecute; they are to follow their Lord and Master to the cross, not the example of those who crucified Him. But their mouths must be stopped in a quite different manner from gagging; they must be opposed by reason, faithfulness, and love; their influence must be destroyed by the faithful preaching of the gospel; and if they be members of the Church, they must be silenced by discipline, and if still refractory, cast out of the communion of the faithful. (W. Graham, D. D.)
Stopping foolish speech
The heights and recesses of Mount Taurus are said to be much infested with eagles, who are never better pleased than when they pick the bones of a crane. Cranes are prone to cackle and make a noise (Isa_38:14), and particularly so while they are flying. The sound of their voices arouses the eagles, who spring up at the signal and often make the talkative travellers pay dearly for their impudent chattering. The older and more experienced cranes, sensible of their besetting foible and the peril to which it exposes them, take care before venturing on the wing to pick up a stone large enough to fill the cavity of their mouths, and consequently to impose unavoidable silence on their tongues, and thus they escape the danger. Persons troubled with unruly tongues may learn a lesson from the elder cranes. All Christians ought to bridle their tongues by watchfulness and prayer. The Psalmist formed a noble resolution: I said, I will take heed to my way, that I sin not with my tongue.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 10–13. There are many unruly and vain talkers. The…
10–13. There are many unruly and vain talkers. The last sentence suggests to Paul to speak of the Cretan errorists. The allusions to the false teachers show that the Epistle belongs to the closing years of the apostle's life. Of the circumcision. Jews, perhaps Judaizing Christians who had so troubled the Gentile churches. See the Galatian letter.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Tit_1:10. Vain talkers.—Men of aimless speech, which is devoid…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Tit_1:10. Vain talkers.—Men of aimless speech, which is devoid of any good result. Men whose speech tendeth to poverty. Deceivers.—The word, which is peculiar to St. Paul, and perhaps coined by him (see Gal_6:3), brings out the idea of subjective fancies (Lightfoot).
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Tit_1:11. Whose mouths must be stopped.—The verb means “something must be put on their mouths”—they must be muzzled; but it afterwards came to mean, “to check speech.”
Tit_1:12. A prophet of their own.—Epimenides, the poet alluded to, was a contemporary of the seven wise men, and by some was reckoned as one of them. He was born in the sixth century B.C. The saying quoted by St. Paul is from a lost work. The Cretians are alway liars.—Chrysostom refers the words chiefly to the pretence that Jupiter lay buried amongst the Cretans; but in ancient times they were notorious for falsehood, so that “to Cretise” was equivalent to, “to lie and deceive.”
Tit_1:13. This witness is true.—Not only does a competent person attest it, but it agrees with fact. Rebuke them sharply.—With a sharply cut style, curtly, with thorough-going Sternness (Meyer).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Tit_1:10-14
The Mischief of Reckless Speech.
I. Reckless speech occasions great disorder.—“For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers … who subvert whole houses” (Tit_1:10-11). Excessive speech is always foolish, and is the index to a mind too full of conceit to have any room for wisdom. Churches and families are led into quarrels and divisions by reckless talkers. They indulge in unkind and calumnious words, perverse meanings are given to the sayings of those they dislike, bitter and provoking things are said of our neighbours’ characters, and, above all, they utter those evil, corrupt words that do the devil’s work, enticing others on to sin. Such vain talkers exult in the confusion and uproar they themselves create.
II. Reckless speech is morally degrading.—
1. Has no regard for the true gospel. “Specially they of the circumcision” (Tit_1:10). “Giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth” (Tit_1:14). Josephus tells us there were many Jews in Crete. The Jewish leaven remained in them after conversion, and they would become an easy prey to the advocates of a corrupted Judaism and an emasculated Christianity. The voluble Jewish talkers made sad havoc of the gospel.
2. Will say anything for gain. “Teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake” (Tit_1:11). They talked for a living, and were utterly unscrupulous as to what they said, so long as they got the money. Their chief object was gain, not profitable instruction.
3. Degenerates into lying and sensuality. “The Cretians are always liars.… This witness is true” (Tit_1:12-13). The quotation is from the Cretan writer Epimenides. He was sent for to purify Athens from its pollutions occasioned by Cylon, and was regarded as a diviner and prophet. “To Cretanise” was proverbial for “to lie,” as “to Corinthianise” was for “to be dissolute.” Lying and sensuality go together. Some people lie for the love of lying, and become almost incapable of speaking the truth. “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin” (Pro_10:19).
III. Reckless speech should be emphatically condemned.—“Whose mouths must be stopped” (Tit_1:11). “Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Tit_1:13). The inveterate talker is not easily cured. Gentle methods are of no avail in dealing with him: his perversity must be boldly attacked and sharply rebuked. If he is not silenced, others he has led astray may be reclaimed.
“Words are mighty, words are living,
Serpents with their venomous stings;
Or bright angels crowding round us,
With heaven’s light upon their wings.
“Every word has its own spirit,
True or false, that never dies;
Every word man’s lips have uttered
Echoes in God’s skies.”
Lessons.—Reckless speech—
1. Is a sign of pitiable ignorance.
2. Is mischievous both to speaker and listener.
3. Will meet with its just punishment.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Tit_1:10-12. The Vice of Aimless Talk.
I. The chief hindrances to religion are often in the Church itself.
II. Hindrances in the Church must be removed.—
1. Discipline must be exercised in love.
2. The prosperity of the Church must be considered before that of individuals.
3. Every age has its own obstructions to the truth.
III. Communities are affected by the conduct of individuals.—Aimless talk leads to—
1. Untruthfulness.
2. Sensuality.
3. Sloth.
Tit_1:13. Christian Reproof—
I. Should always be based on a certain conviction.
II. Should be thorough and effective.
III. Should be for the sinner’s good.
Tit_1:14. The Perverting Power of Trivialities.
I. By distracting attention from the essentials of religion.
II. By dissipating the strength of the mind.
III. By attributing to the human an authority belonging only to the Divine.—F. W.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The False Teachers Characterized and the Question of How…
The False Teachers Characterized and the Question of How to Deal with Them Discussed.
v. 10. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision,
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v. 11. whose mouths must be stopped; who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
v. 12. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
v. 13. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith,
v. 14. not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
v. 15. Unto the pure all things are pure; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
v. 16. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient and unto every good work reprobate.
The term "objectors" or "gainsayers" used by the apostle in the previous paragraph was not a general term, which might cover almost any form of heresy that Titus chose to connect with it, but Paul wanted it applied to a certain class of people, who, indeed, bore the distinguishing characteristics common to the heretics of all times. He writes: For there are many insubordinate people, vain talkers, and seducers, for the most part they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped. There were difficulties to battle with in Crete which resembled those that were troubling Timothy in Ephesus, 1Ti 1:4-7. There were certain Judaistic teachers that professed adherence to the Christian religion and therefore had little difficulty in entering the congregations. Their number was by no means small, and that fact probably accounts for the boldness which they displayed. They were disobedient, insubordinate, to their Pharisaic minds the simple truths of the Gospel were not sufficiently strict, they refused to acknowledge the authority of the apostolic doctrine. This conviction of theirs they, moreover, did not keep for themselves, but took every opportunity to spread it by loose and vain talk, by empty arguments, with a great show of wisdom. In doing so, they displayed the dangerous ability of presenting falsehood in the garb and guise of truth, a proceeding which naturally resulted in their deceiving many people that did not penetrate the disguise. Very likely these men claimed to have just as much right to teach as Paul himself, and their efforts to introduce Jewish rites and ceremonies into the Christian congregations could well arouse apprehension in the mind of the apostle. He therefore insists upon using only one method of dealing with them, namely, that of stopping their mouths, of continuing the rebuke of their false position so long until they no longer were able to answer and would keep the peace for the sake of their own peace of mind. The same method ought to be applied in similar cases also in our days, lest the pernicious activity of such disturbers of the peace harm the work of the Lord.
The apostle now substantiates his recommendation of such a radical suggestion: Who are subverting entire households, since they teach what they ought not, for the sake of gain. If these false teachers, who made a specialty of insinuating themselves into individual families, would continue in their pernicious activity unmolested, the omission of proper reproof would soon result in a most deplorable condition. For entire households had given car to their seductive talk, dissension had been eon-n in the midst of families, and the end promised to be still worse. This situation was the result of their teaching such doctrines as should not be taught at any time. They pretended that their empty tall; was sound Gospel-truth. What made the entire matter SO extremely sordid and disgusting was the fact that they were active along the lines just indicated only for the sake of filthy gain; their avowed object was to make money. Note: Even today people will become the ready dupes of similar enthusiasts, readily paying the false teachers great sums of money, as the history of various recent sects shows, while the Church of the pure confession is almost invariably battling with financial difficulties.
Since the false teachers of whom Paul speaks were Jews by descent, but Cretans by nationality, St. Paul adds a sentence for their benefit: There said one of them, their own prophet: Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. The apostle here places deceivers and deceived into one category, reminding them of the saying of one of their own poets, Epimenides, of the sixth century before Christ, who was regarded by the Cretans themselves as a prophet. The Cretans as a people are represented as liars, as men who deliberately made use of hypocritical, shady methods. Like evil beasts they are, that lie in wait to pounce upon unsuspecting men. Lazy gluttons they are, that shun the work and yet want to live profligate lives. It was not vindictiveness which caused Paul to quote this remark, which certainly is anything but flattering, but the desire to work a consciousness and knowledge of their national weaknesses in the Cretans, and thus probably lay the foundation for the proper remedy.
For the Holy Spirit here confirms the judgment contained in the ancient verse: This testimony is true. The divine inspiration declares that the remark agrees with the situation. For that reason Paul urges his young coworker: On this account rebuke them sharply, that they may show wholesomeness in the faith. No consideration should induce them to identify themselves with the morbid methods of the errorists. With the most emphatic sharpness Titus was to impress upon the Christians the need of wholesome saneness in all matters of faith. They had accepted the Word of Reconciliation, but they were not yet steadfast and certain in their faith. They were like a convalescent person, who is on the way to recovery, but is still in danger of a relapse.
The apostle points out the specific danger and the manner in which faith should overcome it: Not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth. Both the Jewish traditions and fables concerning genealogies and the Jewish precepts taken from the ceremonial law mere doctrines of men which could under no circumstances be coordinated with the Gospel-teaching. Just as today many people find it extremely interesting to speculate about many things concerning which the Bible is silent, as, for instance, the youth of Christ, so the Judaizing teachers, following the lead of the rabbinical doctors, placed their empty speculations above the Word of God and in its stead. They still wanted to be regarded as members of the Christian congregations, but had, as a matter of fact, already turned from the sound and wholesome truth of the Gospel to their own foolish ideas.
The apostle continues to characterize the false teachers by adding: All is pure to the pure: But for the polluted and unbelieving nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are polluted. As with the Pharisees, so with these false teachers all the thoughts of men revolved about the terms "pure" and "impure. " Mat 15:1-11; Mat 18:23; Mat 16:1-28; Mat 17:1-27; Mat 18:1-35; Mat 19:1-30; Mat 20:1-34; Mat 21:1-46; Mat 22:1-46; Mat 23:1-39; Mat 24:1-51; Mat 25:1-46; Mat 26:1-75; Mat 27:1-66; Mat 28:1-20. But in the New Testament this distinction is no longer valid. The purity of the soul and of the body does not depend upon eating or rejecting certain foods, but the condition of the heart in the sight of God is the deciding factor. He that comes into contact with, and makes use of, God’s creatures with a heart purified by faith, is free from all legal prejudice and sees in all things only pure creatures of Almighty God. But the opposite is true in the case of the polluted and unbelievers. The very people that insist most loudly upon the fulfillment of the Ceremonial Law and of many other precepts that men have devised, are often suffering with impurity of heart and mind. Their unbelief will not permit them to accept the true purity of the heart. They cannot get rid of their evil conscience, because they reject the purifying power of the Gospel. Even things that are in themselves pure and holy are contaminated by the attitude of these people. They are conscious always of acting under false pretenses, and therefore they always pollute their mind and their conscience anew.
The most objectionable feature of their behavior, however, is this, that they have the temerity to insist upon being considered teachers: They profess to know God, but with their works they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and unfit for every good work. They confess boldly, with a deceitful pretense that they know God. Their declaration of loyalty to Christ was intentionally brief and general, lest someone might hold them to a clear statement. At the same time such people deny the Lord with their works: their works mark their words as lies. It is not necessary to think of flagrant transgressions and crimes, for it is altogether sufficient to know that they sow dissension in the congregations. Detestable such people are: they are an abomination in the eyes of God; they deserve that God and men should turn from them as nauseous and offensive. Disobedient they are: they refuse to yield to the truth, they do not want to fulfill the will of God. And so they are finally unfit for any good work, they are of no use in the Christian congregation. Nothing that they do flows from the fear and love of God. Therefore the warning contained in these words, bidding Christian congregations be very careful about receiving members that are not fully approved, is altogether timely, also in our days.
Summary
After the salutation and address the apostle gives instructions regarding the qualifications of bishops, adding a few hints regarding the treatment of false teachers and their followers.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Because of those that would oppose God's word, Paul gives Titus reasons to preach God's word and warns him about false teachers.
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rebellious people
These are rebellious people who oppose Paul's gospel message.
empty talkers and deceivers
This phrase describes the rebellious people mentioned in the previous phrase. Here "empty" is a metaphor for useless, and "empty talkers" are people who say useless or foolish things. AT: "people who say useless things and deceive others" (See: Metaphor)
those of the circumcision
This refers to the Christian Jews who taught that men must be circumcised in order to follow Christ. (See: Metonymy)
It is necessary to stop them
"They must be prevented from spreading their teachings" or "They must be stopped from influencing others by their words"
what they should not teach
These are things that are not proper to teach regarding Christ and the Law because they are not true.
for shameful profit
This refers to profit that people make by doing things that are not honorable.
are upsetting whole families
"are ruining whole families." The issue was that they were upsetting families by destroying their faith. This may have caused the members of the families to argue with one another.
translationWords
circumcise
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:10-16 In a native population of troublemakers, Titus would…
1:10-16 In a native population of troublemakers, Titus would need to exercise a firm hand to rid these Christian communities of corruption and make them healthy in the faith (1:13-16).
1:10 rebellious people: The same Greek word is used of children in 1:6. • those who insist on circumcision for salvation (literally those of the circumcision): This probably refers to Jewish Christians; the Greek phrase leaves open whether or not they required circumcision of Gentiles. The Jewish flavor of this false teaching is suggested in 1:14-15 and 3:9.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.