Paul continues to define the Christian’s behavior and attitude toward people in general, including and especially non-Christians. This consists of four items, two negative and two positive.

Speak evil is literally “blaspheme,” for which see 1 Tim 1.13 and 20. In the New Testament the usual meaning of the verb is to speak evil against a spiritual being, as, for example, God, or the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it also means to insult and slander other people, which is the case in the present context. In many languages it will be expressed as “say bad (or, evil) things about.” No one coupled with all men at the end of the verse stresses the fact that Christians should act in an appropriate manner toward all people.

The word for avoid quarreling is a combination of a negative prefix and a word that comes from the verb “to fight, to quarrel,” either by words or by actions. This negative focus can be retained (as, for example, New English Bible “not to pick quarrels”); however, it is also possible to translate the word positively (for example, Good News Translation “peaceful,” New International Version “peaceable”). See further on “not quarrelsome” in 1 Tim 3.3.

For gentle see 1 Tim 3.3. The word describes a person who is not only gentle but fair, patient, and considerate in dealing with others (so Jerusalem Bible “courteous,” Phillips “reasonable”).

For show see 1 Tim 1.16, where it is translated “display.”

For perfect courtesy see 1 Tim 6.11, where the word is translated “gentleness.” There is an overlap of meaning between this and the preceding term gentle, as the following translations show, arranged according to Revised Standard Version equivalents of gentle – perfect courtesy:
“friendly – show a gentle attitude” (Good News Translation)
“considerate – show true humility” (New International Version)
“courteous – always polite” (Jerusalem Bible)
“show forbearance – show a consistently gentle disposition” (New English Bible)
“reasonable – showing every consideration” (Phillips)

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 .

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 .

The conjunction but accents and signals the contrast between the state of people before and after they have received God’s mercy and experienced God’s salvation. When translating this passage as prose, it will be necessary to retain this signal. However, when translating it as poetry, it is permissible to eliminate this signal, since it will not be natural in poetry to begin with a conjunction. It is possible, however, to retain but as an introduction to the intended poetic section.

Goodness is a quality that expresses itself in action, hence “kindness.” Loving kindness has a similar meaning in that it does not only refer to feeling or emotion but to positive acts of kindness toward others. The fact that these two are synonyms is clear from the various translation models, as for example goodness and loving kindness, “kindness and love” (Good News Translation), “how good and kind” (Contemporary English Version).

For God our Savior see 1 Tim 1.1.

For appeared see 2.11 and the related word in 2.13.

It may not be possible in some languages to talk about kindness or love appearing, in which case some restructuring will be necessary; for example, Good News Translation “was revealed.” It will also be possible to say “when God our Savior showed his love and kindness to us,” or even “when God our salvation giver became kind to us.”

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 .

Bid is not in the Greek text, which simply contains the infinitive form for “to be submissive.” However, a verb is needed in order to signal that these are still instructions to Titus and not direct admonitions to slaves. Translations therefore supply what they believe to be the appropriate verb; for example, “teach” (New International Version), “tell” (New Revised Standard Version); compare Phillips “Slaves should be told.” Good News Translation avoids the problem by using a third-person imperative form, “Slaves are to submit….”

For slaves see discussion on “slavery” in 1 Tim 6.1. Submissive also occurs in Titus 2.5 of this chapter, for which see discussion there. The Greek here can be either passive (so New International Version “be subject”) or more likely middle, hence reflexive (so Good News Translation “to submit themselves”).

For masters see 1 Tim 6.1 and 6.2.

To give satisfaction is literally “to be pleasing” (compare Good News Translation “to please”). As in verses 6-7, in every respect (literally “in everything”) can go either with the verb “to submit,” as the UBS Greek text has it (compare New American Bible, Revised “under the control of their masters in all respects,” also Translator’s New Testament, New Jerusalem Bible “obedient to their masters in everything,” Revised English Bible “respect their masters’ authority in everything”), or with “to be pleasing” (in addition to Good News Translation, also Phillips “to give them satisfactory service in every way,” Jerusalem Bible “always do what they want”). It is of course possible to relate “submit” to “please,” with submission being a specific way of pleasing (compare Contemporary English Version “please their owners by obeying them in everything”).

Refractory translates a verb that means “to speak against someone,” “to talk in opposition to someone,” “to answer back.” It would be very difficult for slaves to keep their peace, especially when they feel they are being treated unjustly by cruel and harsh masters.

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 .

The subject of this verse is the Holy Spirit, who is mentioned in the previous verse as the agent of renewal. Revised Standard Version keeps the form of the Greek text and renders this verse as part of the sentence that began in verse 4, with which referring to the Holy Spirit, and he referring to God. It may be more appropriate to start a new sentence here, as many translations have done (for example, Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version “This Spirit he poured…”).

The word for poured out literally means “to pour,” “to spill.” The figure of the Holy Spirit being poured out is used in the book of Acts (see, for example, Acts 2.17-18, 33; 10.45), but it originates from the Greek translation of the book of Joel (2.28-30). This figure can of course be retained if it is appropriate in the receptor language. But if retaining the figure causes difficulties, then it can be dropped in favor of a more direct expression; for example, “gave,” “bestowed,” “sent.”

The bestowing of the Holy Spirit is described by the word richly or “abundantly” (Good News Translation), which is appropriate to the figure of liquid being poured out. This of course does not mean that we have received a large dose of the Holy Spirit, but that the Holy Spirit was given to us freely and generously, and that the Holy Spirit is always available to help us.

The means by which God poured out the Holy Spirit is Jesus Christ our Savior. This expression occurs only here in the whole New Testament. However, there are equivalent expressions identifying Jesus Christ as Savior, as for instance “our Savior Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 1.10); “Christ Jesus our Savior” (Titus 1.4); “great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2.13). For the term Savior see 1 Tim 1.1. In some languages the phrase through Jesus Christ our Savior will be expressed as an instrumental; for example, “God used Jesus Christ our Savior to freely give us…” or “God used Jesus Christ, the one who frees us from sin, to freely give us….” In other languages one may express this in a similar way to Contemporary English Version: “God sent Jesus Christ our Savior to give us….”

The ordering of the elements of this verse will vary from language to language. One possible order is represented by Good News Translation, with the agent, God, in initial position, and the instrument, Jesus Christ, in final position. It is also possible to begin with the instrument and end with the recipients, us.

As in the rest of the letter, us should be translated as inclusive.

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• God freely gave the Holy spirit to us [inclusive] through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Or:

• Through Jesus Christ our Savior, God, without reservation, caused his Spirit to live in us.

Or:

• God sent Jesus Christ our Savior to let us freely have the Holy Spirit.

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 .

But marks a contrast and clearly signals to Titus that, as he goes on with his ministry, there are certain things that he should not be doing, and one of these is following the example of the false teachers, especially in their interest in divisive theological issues that are of no value to the church.

Avoid translates a verb that refers to restraining oneself from participating in some activity. One may also say “Don’t have anything to do with.” For further discussion see 2 Tim 2.16.

What follows is a list consisting of four items, all of which are mentioned in the two letters to Timothy. For stupid controversies see 2 Tim 2.23. For genealogies see 1 Tim 1.4. For dissensions see 1 Tim 6.4. For quarrels see 1 Tim 6.4. There it is “disputes about words”; here it is quarrels over the law, which in this context probably refers to the Jewish Law or the Law of Moses. This would be expected, since many of the heretical teachers are Jewish converts to Christianity (see Titus 1.10). The law may also be expressed as “the law which Moses gave.”

All of these activities are to be avoided because they are unprofitable and futile. Unprofitable is the negative form of the word “profitable” in the previous verse. Futile comes from a verb that means “to be useless,” “to be worthless,” or “senseless” because of lack of content; hence “nonsense.” The point being stressed is that all this theological nonsense is the exact opposite of good deeds in so far as worth and usefulness are concerned.

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 .

After mentioning the teachings and actions of the heretical teachers, Paul now turns his attention to the teachers themselves, although in a subtle manner, referring to them by the expression a man who is factious. The word for factious appears only here in the whole New Testament; it is the word from which the modern word “heretic” is derived. The term is derived from the word that means “division” and therefore is used to describe the act of being divisive or causing divisions and splits within a certain group. King James Version has used the word “heretic” in this verse, which seems to be less than accurate, since “heresy” as it is now understood puts focus on wrong or false doctrines that are professed by people, whereas the focus here is on the negative behavior of these people that for whatever reason gives rise to divisions and splits. It has been appropriately remarked by one commentator that, in the present-day church, people who are so intent on getting rid of heretics (in the sense that they hold different theological views) are in fact the ones who are causing the greatest divisions within the body of Christ! (Another way of putting it is that it is the people who want to get rid of heretics [in the modern sense] who in fact are the heretics [in the biblical sense].)

Admonishing comes from a verb that refers to advising someone regarding the serious consequences of some action; hence “to warn,” “to admonish,” “to caution.” Once or twice may mean “at least two times” (so Good News Translation “Give at least two warnings”) or “no more than twice” (Translator’s New Testament; so also New Revised Standard Version “after a first and second admonition,” Revised English Bible “he should be allowed a second warning”). In languages that must give the content of the verb “admonish” or “warn,” one may translate “You must warn at least two times those who cause divisions in the church to stop doing that” or “You must say to those who cause people in the church to divide into groups, ‘Stop doing this!’ If you have to say this on two occasions and they won’t stop, don’t have….”

For the expression have nothing more to do with him, see 1 Tim 4.7, where a similar expression occurs; also 2 Tim 2.23. The expression may simply mean not to have any more dealings with the person so as to make them feel that they are no longer part of the Christian community, or less likely, to formally exclude the person from the church (hence excommunication). See further comments on 1 Tim 1.20.

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 .