In the Greek, we is clearly emphatic. The pronoun may either be exclusive or inclusive. If the former, it refers primarily to Paul and can therefore be changed to a singular first person pronoun. If the latter, then it refers to Paul and Titus, and perhaps even to a wider audience, since the letter is expected to be read not only to Titus but to the assembled church as well. Since the inclusive pronoun is used both before and after this verse, it seems best to take the pronoun here in the inclusive sense as well.
Were once signals the state or condition being discussed as something in the past and as no longer true in the present. What is clearly being referred to is the pre-Christian stage, that is, before these people came to trust in Christ and acknowledge him as Savior and Lord. This may be more true of Titus because of his Greek background; Jews did believe in God and adhered to strict ethical and moral standards.
Once refers to a previous time before they became Christians. Other ways to render once are “at an earlier time,” “previously,” “used to be,” or even “before we became Christians.”
What follows is another list of vices, but this time focusing on the general condition of people who have not yet heard or responded to the gospel message. This list bears some semblance with other lists of this nature in the New Testament (for example, Rom 1.29-31; 1 Cor 6.9-11).
There are six matters included in the list, the first three being single ones, and the last three containing two items each. Furthermore, the list seems to be organized in such a way that there is a logical progression starting with spiritual insensitivity and disobedience to God, then being deceived by spiritual forces, then being controlled by various self-serving desires, then a negative attitude toward others, and finally hatred as the controlling factor of one’s life.
For foolish see 1 Tim 6.9, where the word is translated “senseless.” The idea in focus here is spiritual stupidity, that is, the unwillingness to use one’s mental faculties in order to understand things related to God.
Unwillingness to understand results in failure to obey; for disobedient see 2 Tim 3.2, where the word is used to describe unwillingness to obey one’s parents. Here the focus is on not obeying God.
Led astray is literally “deceived,” for which see 2 Tim 3.13. Perhaps the deceivers here are spiritual forces, as, for instance, those mentioned in 1 Tim 4.1.
Slaves to translates a Greek participle of the verb “to serve,” “to be a slave of.” It is possible to combine this with the previous verb, as, for example, Jerusalem Bible “misled and enslaved….” Most translations, however, take these separately.
For passions see 1 Tim 6.9, where the word is translated “desires.” Pleasures overlaps in meaning with the previous one, since it can refer also to desire for physical and sexual pleasure; in the present context, however, it is better to take it as referring to that which produces enjoyment and is therefore pleasurable, but in a negative sense; hence “dissipation” (New Jerusalem Bible), “pleasures of every kind” (Revised English Bible), “all sorts of desires and pleasures” (Contemporary English Version).
Being enslaved by these passions and pleasures means being completely under their control, resulting in bondage and lack of freedom. This is of course in stark contrast to being enslaved by Christ, which produces not bondage but real freedom.
For passing our days see 1 Tim 2.2, where it is translated “lead … life.” The verb occurs only in these two places in the whole New Testament.
Malice translates a comprehensive term for evil or wickedness; it is therefore possible that malice is not an accurate translation of the Greek term. What is needed is a more generic term for evil; for example, “wickedness.”
For envy see 1 Tim 6.4. It describes a negative attitude that people have against someone whom they view as being in a more advantageous position than they are. This attitude is characterized by a feeling of resentment and an eager desire to possess whatever the other person has.
Hated by men is literally “hateful,” which can be understood as a generic quality. The next part of the expression, hating one another, can be interpreted as an explanation of the generic. A possible restructuring, then, is “we were full of hate; we hated others, and others hated us in return.”
The idea of “hate” may be expressed as “detest,” “despise,” “wish evil toward,” “treat as an enemy,” or in certain languages as “not like to look at,” or even figuratively, “have a heart that is not warm toward.”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• For we ourselves, before we became Christians, were foolish, disobedient to God, and led astray by evil. We were as it were the slaves of all sorts of desires and pleasures. We were always evil and were jealous of other people. We were hateful people; everyone hated us and we hated them.
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to Titus. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Titus 3.4-8a
Verses 4-7 are one sentence in the Greek. In them Paul explains God’s answer to the depraved human condition as outlined in the previous verse. The starting point, and to a certain extent the foundation of this response, is the nature of God as good, loving, and kind. The salvation that he bestows is not dependent on anything that people have done but is dependent solely on his loving kindness.
One further note: the UBS Greek New Testament indents verses 4-7 in such a way that they can be identified as poetic material. It is possible, therefore, to translate these verses as poetry, something which Contemporary English Version has done. For the purpose of doing this, the poem divides naturally into three stanzas. The first stanza consists of verses 4-5a, which describes the action of God. The second stanza is 5b, which describes the action of God’s Spirit. Finally, the third stanza consists of verses 6 and 7, which describes the action of Jesus Christ. For translating poetry see 1 Tim 3.16.
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to Titus. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .