Bible Commentaries
Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges
Titus 1
1. Παῦλος δοῦλος θεοῦ. St Paul does not use this expression elsewhere, and it is thus an unlikely expression to be used by a forger. Paul calls himself ‘the slave of Christ Jesus’ or ‘of Christ’ at Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Galatians 1:10, which is also the phrase used in 2 Peter 1:1; Judges 1:1. St James (James 1:1) uses the longer phrase ‘a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Cp. Acts 16:17; 2 Timothy 2:24 and Revelation 15:3.
ἀπόστολος δὲ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. δέ signifies and further &c., this additional specification of his office being specially desirable in an official letter like the present. See on 1 Timothy 1:1, and see the crit. note.
κατὰ πίστιν ἐκλεκτῶν θεοῦ, according to the faith of God’s elect. κατά cannot mean simply secundum (Vg.), for the standard of St Paul’s apostleship was something higher even than the faith of the elect. It seems, as in the somewhat similar phrase κατʼ ἐπαγγελίαν ζωῆς of 2 Timothy 1:1, to convey the idea of purpose, though not so strongly as there; cp. Romans 1:5. For St Paul’s use of the word ‘elect’ see on 2 Timothy 2:10.
καὶ ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας τῆς κατʼ εὐσέβειαν, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness. κατά, in this clause, does not convey any suggestion of purpose, but of concomitance and intimate connexion; it is only in a life of godliness (see on 1 Timothy 2:2 for εὐσέβεια) that the ‘knowledge of the truth’ can be fully learnt (see on 1 Timothy 6:3). For the expression ἐπίγνωσις ἀληθείας see on 1 Timothy 2:4. The purpose of St Paul’s apostolic mission was to perfect the knowledge of the truth, no less than to promote the faith of the elect, of God’s chosen.
2. ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ζωῆς αἰωνίου, in hope of life eternal. This is the hope in which the labours of the Apostolic ministry are cheerfully endured; cp. 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 Timothy 6:12, and for ἐπί with the dat. see on 1 Timothy 4:10; 1 Timothy 5:5.
ἣν ἐπηγγείλατο ὁ ἀψευδὴς θεὸς πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων, which (sc. ζωὴ αἰώνιος) God, Who cannot lie, promised before times eternal. The ‘promise of life’ occupies a prominent place in the salutation here, as at 2 Timothy 1:1; for the ‘life’ of which ‘godliness has the promise,’ see on 1 Timothy 4:8.
The adj. ἀψευδής only occurs elsewhere in the Greek Bible at Wisdom of Solomon 7:17; see Hebrews 6:18; Romans 3:4 for the thought of God’s abiding truth. Cp. also John 14:6, where He Who is the Truth declares Himself also to be the Life.
πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων has been understood by some commentators to mean simply ‘from ancient times,’ and the allusion would thus be to the dim revelations of ζωὴ αἰώνιος which had been vouchsafed in the centuries long precedent to the Incarnation. But it seems better to take the phrase as at 2 Timothy 1:9, before times eternal. The promise was made before time was, in the eternal purpose of God.
3. ἐφανέρωσεν δέ. We should expect but which (sc. the ζωή) He manifested; but the construction suddenly changes and the object of ἐφανέρωσεν is τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, the contrast being between the promise of life before times eternal, and the manifestation of the Divine Word in the fulness of time (cp. Ephesians 1:10).
For φανερόω see on 1 Timothy 3:16.
καιροῖς ἰδίοις, in its own, sc. appropriate, seasons. See the note on the same phrase at 1 Timothy 2:6 (cp. 1 Timothy 6:15). Here we render in its own seasons rather than (as at 1 Timothy 6:15) ‘in His own seasons’; because the point is not the freedom of the Divine choice, but the ‘seasonableness’ of the Divine Advent.
τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ. His word, sc. the saving message of the Gospel, and not the Incarnate Logos, as appears by the defining ἐν κηρύγματι which follows. See Additional Note on 1 Timothy 4:5.
ἐν κηρύγματι, in the message, sc. the content of the message, not the act of proclaiming it. See on 1 Timothy 2:7 for Paul’s office as κῆρυξ.
δ ἐπιστεύθην ἐγώ. St Paul continually repeats this thought, that the preaching of the Gospel is not a self-chosen occupation, but that he has been entrusted with it. See Galatians 2:7; 1 Timothy 1:11; 2 Timothy 1:11.
κατʼ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θεοῦ, according to the commandment of God our Saviour, i.e. God the Father. See for this interesting phrase on 1 Timothy 1:1.
4. Τίτῳ γνησίῳ τέκνῳ. To Titus, true child. See on 1 Timothy 1:2. It seems not improbable from the application of this phrase to Titus that he had been converted to the faith by St Paul; but we have no certain information on the point. See Galatians 2:1 ff.
κατὰ κοινὴν πίστιν, after a common faith, corresponding to ἐν πίστει of 1 Timothy 1:2. The κοινὴ πίστις is the sphere of their spiritual relationship; cp. κοινὴ σωτηρία in Judges 1:3.
Χάρις καὶ εἰρήνη. Cp. the critical note, and see on 1 Timothy 1:2.
ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς κ.τ.λ. See the critical note. The exact title Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν does not occur in the salutation of any other of the Pauline Epistles; and is only found elsewhere 2 Timothy 1:10; Titus 2:13; Titus 3:6; 2 Peter 1:1; 2 Peter 1:11; 2 Peter 2:20; 2 Peter 3:18. Cp. Philippians 3:20.
5. τούτου χάριν, for this cause, sc. the reason introduced by ἴνα. He reminds Titus of what he had previously explained to him.
ἀπέλιπόν σε. See the crit. note; the aorist seems to give better sense than the imperfect. καταλείπειν is used much oftener in the N.T. than ἀπολείπειν, and may have got into the text as more familiar to scribes; if there is any difference in meaning, καταλείπειν is the stronger verb of the two and indicates a more permanent ‘leaving behind.’
ἐν Κρήτῃ. This cannot have been on the occasion mentioned Acts 27:7 ff., which is the only visit of St Paul to Crete of which we have any account; we refer this visit therefore (see Introd. p. xxxii.) to the period of liberty between the Apostle’s two imprisonments at Rome.
ἵνα τὰ λείποντα ἐπιδιορθώση, that thou thyself shouldest further (ἐπί = insuper) set in order the things that are defective; i.e. as Bengel paraphrases “quae ego per temporis brevitatem non potui expedire.” ἐπιδιορθοῦν does not occur again in the Greek Bible; the use of the middle voice here (the true reading, see crit. note) perhaps implies that the needful corrections are to be made by Titus himself, and not through the agency of others.
καὶ καταστήσῃς κατὰ πόλιν πρεσβυτέρους, and appoint presbyters in every city. So it was said of Paul and Barnabas χειροτονήσαντες δὲ αὐτοῖς κατʼ ἐκκλησίαν πρεσβυτέρους (Acts 14:23); Clement uses the verb καθιστάναι in a similar context: κατὰ χώρας οὖν καὶ πόλεις κηρύσσοντες καθίστανον τὰς ἀπαρχὰς αὐτῶν, δοκιμάσαντες τῷ πνεύματι, εἰς ἐπισκόπους καὶ διακόνους τῶν μελλόντων πιστεύειν (§ 42). For the use of κατὰ cp. Luke 8:1; Acts 15:21; Acts 20:23. The injunction does not, of course, imply that there is to be only one presbyter in each city, but simply provides for the due establishment and organisation of the presbyterate in the Christian communities. In this work Titus is to take the initiative in Crete; it is his duty.
ὠς ἐγώ σοι διεταξάμην, as I gave thee charge, ὡς including the mode of selection of presbyters as well as the duty of establishing them in every city.
6. εἴ τις ἐστὶν ἀνέγκλητος. If any man has nought laid to his charge. No suggestion as to the scarcity of such persons can be founded on the form of the sentence εἴ τις κ.τ.λ.; cp. e.g. 2 Corinthians 11:20. The list of qualifications, negative and positive, which follows, should be compared with the list in 1 Timothy; see on 1 Timothy 3:2 ff.
μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἀνήρ. As at 1 Timothy 3:2, this is desirable because the ἐπίσκοπος is to be ἀνέγκλητος; see the note on that passage.
τέκνα ἔχων πιστά, having believing children; the emphasis is on πιστά. It is not the fact that the ἐπίσκοπος has children that is important, but that if he has children they should be professing Christians and of good behaviour. See 1 Timothy 3:4-5 and the notes thereon.
It has been suggested that this qualification marks the fact that Christianity had been established for some time in Crete, as Christians of the second generation are contemplated, and that thus it corresponds (in a measure) to μὴ νεόφυτον of 1 Timothy 3:6. But this is to miss the point, which is merely a further provision that the ἐπίσκοπος shall be ἀνέγκλητος. We have no knowledge as to when the Gospel reached Crete; quite possibly it was carried there by some of those Cretans who heard it preached on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:11).
μὴ ἐν κατηγορίᾳ ἀσωτίας, who are not accused of dissoluteness. For ἀσωτία cp. Ephesians 5:18 and 1 Peter 4:4; the Prodigal Son lived ἀσώτως (Luke 15:13). The word signifies every kind of riotous and profligate living. ἄσωτος γὰρ, says Aristotle, ὁ διʼ αὑτὸν ἀπολλύμενος (Nic. Eth. IV. 1. 5).
ἢ ἀνυπότακτα, or insubordinate. See, for the reason of this, 1 Timothy 3:5 and the note thereon. For the word ἀνυπότακτος see on 1 Timothy 1:9.
7. δεῖ γὰρ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνέγκλητον εἶναι, for the ἐπίσκοπος must be ἀνέγκλητος. See Introd. chap. V. for the significance of the titles πρεσβύτερος and ἐπίσκοπος in the Pastoral Epistles. For the singular τὸν ἐπίσκοπον see on 1 Timothy 3:2.
ὡς θεοῦ οἰκονόμον, as God’s steward, as steward of the οἶκος θεοῦ (1 Timothy 3:15). The commission of the ἐπίσκοπος is, in the end, from God and not from man; he is God’s steward, the steward of His mysteries (1 Corinthians 4:1) and of His manifold grace (1 Peter 4:10), not, be it observed, the steward of the Christian community. It is to God, not to man, that he is responsible for the due discharge of his office.
μὴ αὐθάδη, not self-willed. αὐθάδης only occurs once again in N.T., viz. τολμηταί, αὐθάδεις (2 Peter 2:10); it signifies self-satisfied and so self-willed, arrogant. Field notes that Aristotle (Magn. Moral. I. 28) counts σεμνότης as the mean between αὐθάδεια and ἀρέσκεια, i.e. between arrogance on the one hand and over-complaisance of manner on the other, an interesting observation. σεμνότης is mentioned as one of the qualities of the ἐπίσκοπος at 1 Timothy 3:4 (see also on 1 Timothy 2:2).
μὴ ὀργίλον, not irascible, ‘not soon angry’ as the A.V. felicitously renders. ὀργίλος is a ἄπ. λεγ. in the N.T.; Aristotle reckons πραῢτης as the mean between ὀργιλότης and that incapacity for being roused to anger which he calls ἀοργησία (Nic. Eth. IV. 5); see on 2 Timothy 2:25. In the Didache (§ 3) we have the precept μὴ γίνου ὀργίλος.
μὴ πάροινον, μὴ πλήκτην. see on 1 Timothy 3:3.
μὴ αἰσχροκερδῆ. see on 1 Timothy 3:8, where μὴ αἰσχροκερδεῖς is a note of the διάκονοι. The corresponding qualification for the ἐπίσκοπος in 1 Timothy is ἀφιλάργυρον (see on 1 Timothy 3:3). See also on Titus 1:11 below.
8. ἀλλὰ φιλόξενον. We now come to the positive qualifications, the first-named of which, φιλοξενία, stands in sharp contrast to αἰσχροκέρδεια. see on 1 Timothy 3:2.
φιλάγαθον, a lover of good; whether ‘of good things’ or ‘of good persons’ is not clear, but probably it ought to be taken in its widest meaning, as including both. See note on ἀφιλάγαθοι, 2 Timothy 3:3.
σώφρονα. see on 1 Timothy 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:2.
δίκαιον, ὅσιον. These important qualifications are not mentioned in the corresponding list in 1 Timothy 3. From Plato onward δικαιοσύνη and ὁσιότης were counted as complementary to each other, the former being expressive (in its largest sense) of duty to our fellow men, the latter of duty to God, the two together including the sum of moral excellence. But anything like a sharp division between them, as if a man could discharge his duty to his neighbour in all its fulness, while neglecting his duty to God, or vice versâ, would be utterly foreign to the central thought of Christianity, which refuses thus to divorce the religious from the secular life. For the association of the two words or their cognates, as here, cp. Luke 1:75; Ephesians 4:24; 1 Thessalonians 2:10.
ἐγκρατῆ, continent, and generally, one who is master of himself. The distinction between the σώφρων and the ἐγκρατής, as presented in the Ethics of Aristotle, was that while the ἐγκρατής is able to endure pain which ought to be endured, the σώφρων is able as well to resist unlawful pleasure, a harder task. The distinction is between him who endures, and him who overcomes, for conscience’ sake. The σώφρων is moderate in the enjoyment of what is lawful; the ἐγκρατής refrains from what is unlawful. The word ἐγκρατής does not occur again in the N.T., but cp. 1 Corinthians 7:9; Galatians 5:23 for ἐγκρατεύεσθαι and ἐγκράτεια.
9. ἀντεχόμενον τοῦ κατὰ τὴν διδαχὴν πιστοῦ λόγου, holding by the faithful word which is according to the doctrine.
ἀντέχεοθαι is a difficult word; it is used of “holding to” one of two masters in Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13, and of “laying hold of” and so “supporting” the weak in 1 Thessalonians 5:14; and again in Proverbs 3:18 wisdom is said to be a tree of life τοῖς ἀντεχομένοις αὐτῆς “to them that lay hold upon her,” from which it seems that holding by is a legitimate rendering here.
The phrase πιστοῦ λόγου suggests the ‘Faithful Sayings’ of the Pastoral Epistles (see on 1 Timothy 1:15). κατὰ τὴν διδαχήν must mean ‘in accordance with the [Apostolic] doctrine,’ διδαχή being taken objectively, and not in the active sense of ‘teaching.’ Hence the whole clause indicates the function of the ἐπίσκοπος as the guardian of the ‘deposit of faith’ (cp. 1 Timothy 6:20).
ἵνα δυνατὸς ᾗ καὶ παρακαλεῖν, in order that he may be able both to exhort. For the distinction between διδασκαλία and παράκλησις see on 1 Timothy 4:13.
ἐν τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ τῇ ὑγιαινούσῃ. For this metaphor, often recurring in the Pastoral Epistles, see on 1 Timothy 1:10; ἐν indicates the sphere, as it were, in which the exhortation will take place. If the ἐπίσκοπος hold not by the ‘word which is faithful,’ his ‘doctrine’ will not be ‘wholesome’ and thus his ‘exhortation’ will be ill-founded and probably ineffective, if not misleading.
καὶ τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας ἐλέγχειν, and to convict the gainsayers. A firm grasp of the truth is the indispensable preparation for him who would undertake to dispel error. The ἀντιλέγοντες are cavillers at the truth, primarily the heretical teachers of Crete, but there are those in every age who satisfy themselves with like negations. Cp. 2 Timothy 4:2 ἕλεγξον … παρεκάλεσον.
10. εἰσὶν γὰρ πολλοὶ ἀνυπότακτοι. For (in reference to the precept τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας ἐλέγχειν) there are many insubordinate persons, sc. among the ἀντιλέγοντες. For ἀνυπότακτος see on 1 Timothy 1:9. See the critical note.
ματαιολόγοι καὶ φρεναπάται, vain talkers and deceivers. The word ματαιολόγος does not occur again in the Greek Bible; cp. the note on ματαιολογία at 1 Timothy 1:6. In like manner φρεναπάτης is ἄπ. λεγ., but we have φρεναπατᾷν, Galatians 6:3.
μάλιστα οἱ ἐκ τῆς περιτομῆς, specially they of the circumcision, sc. the Judaizing Christians in Crete. μάλιστα shews that the heretical troublers of Titus were not all from among these Judaizers, but that it was from them that he was to expect the most serious opposition. Titus, being an uncircumcised Greek, would probably be personally unwelcome to Jews, of whom there were large numbers in Crete (see Josephus Ant. XVII. 12. 1, Philo ad Caium 36); but quite apart from that, we have seen already (Introd. p. xlviii.) that the forms of heresy contemplated in the Pastoral Epistles had their roots in Judaism, and that therefore the ἀντιλέγοντες would naturally be ἐκ τῆς περιτομῆς. See crit. note.
11. οὓς δεῖ ἐπιστομίζειν, whose mouths must be stopped, the felicitous translation of Tyndale, followed by A.V. and R.V. ἐπιστομίζειν does not occur elsewhere in the true text of the N.T. (or the LXX.), but it is the reading at Luke 11:53 of three cursive manuscripts (for ἀποστοματίζειν), and was the reading followed by Jerome at that place and rendered by him os eius opprimere.
οἴτινες, inasmuch as they, ‘quippe qui’; cp. 1 Timothy 1:4.
ὅλους οἴκους ἀνατρέπουσιν, subvert whole households. For ἀνατρέπειν see on 2 Timothy 2:18, and for οἷκος used as equivalent to ‘household’ cp. 1 Timothy 3:4; 2 Timothy 2:16.
διδάσκοντες ἅ μὴ δεῖ, teaching things which they ought not. In the N.T. we generally have οὐ in relative sentences with the indicative, even where the classical language would require μή; this verse is an exception to the general rule512.
αἰσχροῦ κέρδους χάριν, for sake of base gains. Tyndale’s “filthy lucre,” which has been followed in all our English versions, does not seem to bring out the exact point here, which is not that money is a despicable thing in itself, but that to teach ἃ μὴ δεῖ for the sake of money is disgraceful and dishonourable, a prostitution of the high gifts of a teacher, and that all ‘gain’ so acquired is ‘base.’ See 1 Timothy 3:8 for αἰσχροκερδής.
In like manner the heretical teachers of 1 Timothy 6:5 ‘suppose that godliness is a way of gain’: and no doubt greed for his wages is a mark of the hireling shepherd always (John 10:12). But there may have been special reason for mentioning it in a letter to the Chief Pastor of Crete. Livy (XLIV. 45) speaks of “Cretenses spem pecuniae secuti,” and Plutarch (Paul. Aemil. 23) and Polybius (VI. 46) bear similar testimony to their love of money.
12. εἶπέν τις ἐξ αὐτῶν ἴδιος αὐτῶν προφήτης, one of themselves, sc. the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said. The philosopher here quoted by St Paul is Epimenides, a Cretan who flourished about 600 B.C.; Plato calls him θεῖος ἀνήρ, and Diogenes Laertius (I. X. 11) reports that the Cretans used to offer sacrifice to him ὡς θεῷ.
For the gen. αὐτῶν after ἴδιος, which might be thought redundant (but the usage is classical), cp. Acts 24:23; 2 Peter 3:3; 2 Peter 3:16.
Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται, κακὰ θηρία, γαστέρες ἀργαί. This hexameter comes from the περὶ χρησμῶν of Epimenides; it is quoted by Callimachus in his Hymn to Zeus, and (as Farrar observes) was a well-known verse in antiquity, because it gave rise to the syllogistic puzzle known as ‘the Liar’ (Farrar, St Paul, p. 661).
The Cretans had a bad reputation and were reckoned among the τρία κάππα κάκιστα of the Greek world, the Cappadocians and Cilicians being associated with them in this unenviable notoriety. Polybius (VI. 47. 5) speaks of their mendacity; indeed, κρητίζειν was a euphemism for ‘to lie,’ as Suidas records.
γαστέρες ἀργαί, idle gluttons. Tyndale’s rendering “slow bellies,” which has been reproduced in many English versions, does not indicate the true sense of ἀργαί, idle, as at 1 Timothy 5:13 (see note thereon). Cp. “venter tardus” of Juvenal (Sat. iv. 107).
St Paul elsewhere quotes Aratus (Acts 17:28) and Menander (1 Corinthians 15:33), but it is plain that these references, along with the one before us, are quite insufficient to establish the wide acquaintance with Greek literature which some have claimed for him in consequence. It is by no means improbable that he was a man of liberal education, as well as large experience and profound intellect, but two or three hackneyed quotations will not go far to prove it. The skilful application of the quotations in each case is the interesting point to notice.
13. ἡμαρτυρία αὕτη ἐστὶν ἀληθής. This witness is true. St Paul deliberately assents to the truth of the proverbial judgement upon the Cretan character. It was a serious thing to say, and especially significant in a letter which became part of the Canonical Scriptures received at a later date by the Cretan Church.
διʼ ἥν αἰτίαν ἔλεγχε αὐτοὺς ἀποτόμως. For which cause, sc. on account of these evil traits of character, rebuke them sharply, sc. not, to be sure, the Cretans generally, but the heretical teachers described in Titus 1:9 as οἱ ἀντιλέγοντες.
ἀποτόμως only occurs again in the Greek Bible 2 Corinthians 13:10; Wisdom of Solomon 5:22 (cp. Romans 11:22).
ἵνα ὑγιαίνωσιν ἐν τῇ πίστει, in order that they may be sound in the faith. ἡ πίστις is here, plainly, used objectively, as equivalent to ‘the Christian faith’ (see on 1 Timothy 1:19); for the metaphor of ‘soundness,’ ‘wholesomeness,’ as applied to doctrine, see on 1 Timothy 1:10.
14. μὴ προσέχοντες Ἰουδαϊκοῖς μύθοις, not giving heed to Jewish fables. see on 1 Timothy 1:4 and Introd. chap. IV.
καὶ ἐντολαῖς ἀνθρώπων ἀποστρεφομένων τὴν ἀλήθειαν, and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. As the next verse shews, these commandments were probably of a ceremonial or ritual character (cp. 1 Timothy 4:3, and the note at that place, and Colossians 2:16; Colossians 2:22). Such ἐντολαὶ ἀνθρώπων (Isaiah 29:13) must not be permitted to usurp the authority of Divine revelation or of the moral law (cp. Matthew 15:9). To pay undue attention to questions of this kind tends to distract the mind from the contemplation of the great problems of life.
15. πάντα καθαρὰ τοῖς καθαροῖς. For the pure all things are pure. τοῖς καθαροῖς is a dat. commodi, and conveys the sense not that all things are pure in the judgement of the pure, but that all things are pure for their use. St Paul had said the same thing before, Romans 14:20 (the whole chapter is a commentary on its meaning), πάντα μὲν καθαρά, ἀλλὰ κακὸν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ διὰ προσκόμματος ἐσθίοντι; cp. also 1 Timothy 4:4; Matthew 15:11 and Luke 11:41.
τοῖς δὲ μεμιαμμένοις καὶ ἀπίστοις οὐδὲν καθαρόν, but for the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure. If it is true omnia munda mundis, it is also true omnia immunda immundis. “Honi soit qui mal y pense.” See again Romans 14:23 and the other references given in last note.
The intimate connexion between moral purity and soundness in the faith (cp. Acts 15:9, τῇ πίστει καθαρίσας τὰς καρδίας αὐτῶν), which is so often assumed in the Pastorals (see esp. on 1 Timothy 1:5), is here again indicated; the ‘defiled and unbelieving’ form one class, not two, as the absence of the article before ἀπίστοις shews. Cp. 1 Timothy 4:3.
ἀλλὰ μεμίανται αὐτῶν καὶ ὁ νοῦς καὶ ἡ συνείδησις, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. See for νοῦς and συνείδησις the notes on 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Timothy 6:5.
16. θεὸν ὁμολοῦσιν εἰδέναι. They confess that they know God. There is here no hint of Gnostic pretensions to esoteric knowledge of deity. It was ever the boast and the pride of Judaism that it was the religion of the One True God, in contrast to the religions of τὰ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ εἰδότα τὸν θεόν (1 Thessalonians 4:5; cp. also Galatians 4:8; 2 Thessalonians 1:8). And so far the heretical Judaisers at Crete were right; their confession, so far, was a ‘good confession’ (1 Timothy 6:12).
τοῖς δὲ ἔργοις ἀρνοῦνται, but they deny Him by their works; they acted as if this Supreme Being was a mere metaphysical abstraction, out of all moral relation to human life, as if He were neither Saviour nor Judge. Cp. 2 Timothy 2:12, and see note on 1 Timothy 2:10.
βδελυκτοὶ ὄντες, being abominable.
βδελυκτός is not found again in the N.T.; in Proverbs 17:15 (LXX.) the man who perverts moral distinctions is described as ἀκάθαρτος καὶ βδελυκτὸς παρὰ θεῷ (cp. Sirach 41:5; 2 Maccabees 1:27 for other occurrences of the word).
καὶ ἀπειθεῖς. Cp. Romans 11:32; Titus 3:3. The two ideas of disobedience to Jehovah and abominableness in His sight go together in Judaism; these Judaisers, putting in the forefront of their teaching the Unity of God and claiming for themselves a special knowledge of God as His peculiar people, were yet disobedient to His word and so abominable in His sight.
καὶ πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἀδόκιμοι, and unto every good work reprobate. For the form of the expression cp. 2 Timothy 3:17; Titus 3:1; for ἀδόκιμος see on 2 Timothy 3:8.
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