Titus
The Epistle of Paul to Titus, usually referred to simply as
Titus, is one of the three Pastoral Epistles (with 1 Timothy
and 2 Timothy), traditionally attributed to Saint Paul, and is
part of the New Testament. It describes the requirements and
duties of elders and bishops...
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Ti...
TITUS or TITIUS JUSTUS
(Titos or Titios Ioustos (Acts 18:7)): Titus or Titius--for
the manuscripts vary in regard to the spelling--was the
prenomen of a certain Corinthian, a Jewish proselyte
(sebomenos ton Theon). See PROSELYTE). His name seems also
to indicate that he was a Roman by birth. He is altogether a
different person from Titus, Paul's assistant and companion
in some of his journeys, to whom also the Epistle to Titus
is addressed.
Titus or Titius Justus was not the "host of Paul at Corinth"
(HDB, article "Justus," p. 511), for Luke has already
narrated that, when Paul came to Corinth, "he abode with"
Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:3). What is said of Titius
Justus is that when the Jews in Corinth opposed themselves
to Paul and blasphemed when he testified that Jesus was the
Christ, then Paul ceased to preach the gospel in the Jewish
synagogue as he had formerly done, and "he departed thence,
and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus,
one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the
synagogue" (Acts 18:7).
"Titius Justus was evidently a Roman or a Latin, one of the
coloni of the colony Corinth. Like the centurion Cornelius,
he had been attracted to the synagogue. His citizenship
would afford Paul an opening to the more educated class of
the Corinthian population" (Ramsay, Paul the Traveler and
the Rom Citizen, 256).
Paul's residence in Corinth continued for a year and a half,
followed without a break by another period indicated in the
words, he "tarried after this yet many days" (Acts
18:11,18), and during the whole of this time he evidently
used the house of Titius Justus, for the purposes both of
preaching the gospel and of gathering the church together
for Christian worship and instruction, "teaching the word of
God among them" (Acts 18:11).
Titius Justus, therefore, must have been a wealthy man,
since he possessed a house in which there was an apartment
sufficiently large to be used for both of these purposes;
and he himself must have been a most enthusiastic member of
the church, when in a period of protracted difficulty and
persecution, he welcomed Paul to his house, that he might
use it as the meeting-place of the church in Corinth.
Link: https://bible-history.com/isbe/T/TITUS,+...
ti'-tus (Titos (2 Cor 2:13; 7:6,13 ff; 8:6,16,23; 12:18;
Ga1:2:1,3; 2 Tim 4:10; Tit 1:4)):
1. One of Paul's Converts:
A Greek Christian, one of Paul's intimate friends, his
companion in some of his apostolic journeys, and one of his
assistants in Christian work. His name does not occur in the
Acts; and, elsewhere in the New Testament, it is found only
in 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 2 Timothy and Titus. As Paul
calls him "my true child after a common faith" (Tit 1:4), it
is probable that he was one of the apostle's converts.
2. Paul Refuses to Have Him Circumcised:
The first notice of Titus is in Acts 15:2, where we read
that after the conclusion of Paul's 1st missionary journey,
when he had returned to Antioch, a discussion arose in the
church there, in regard to the question whether it was
necessary that Gentile Christians should be circumcised and
should keep the Jewish Law. It was decided that Paul and
Barnabas, "and certain other of them," should go up to
Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.
The "certain other of them" includes Titus, for in Gal 2:3
it is recorded that Titus was then with Paul. The Judaistic
party in the church at Jerusalem desired to have Titus
circumcised, but Paul gave no subjection to these persons
and to their wishes, "no, not for an hour; that the truth of
the gospel might continue with you" (Gal 2:5). The matter in
dispute was decided as recorded in Acts 15:13-29. The
decision was in favor of the free promulgation of the
gospel, as preached by Paul, and unrestricted by Jewish
ordinances. Paul's action therefore in regard to Titus was
justified. In fact Titus was a representative or test case.
It is difficult and perhaps impossible to give the true
reason why Titus is not mentioned by name in the Acts, but
he is certainly referred to in 15:2...
Link: https://bible-history.com/isbe/T/TITUS/...
There are no specialties in this epistle which require any
very elaborate treatment distinct from the other Pastoral
Letters of St. Paul. It was written about the same time and
under similar circumstances with the other two i.e., from
Ephesus, in the autumn of 67 in the interval between Paul's
two Roman imprisonments.
Link: https://bible-history.com/smiths/T/Titus...
Our materials for the biography of this companion of St.
Paul must be drawn entirely from the notices of him in the
Second Epistle to the Corinthians, the Galatians, and to
Titus himself, combined with the Second Epistle to Timothy.
He is not mentioned in the Acts at all. Taking the passages
in the epistles in the chronological order of the events
referred to, we turn first to Ga 2:1,3 We conceive the
journey mentioned here to be identical with that (recorded
in Acts 15) in which Paul and Barnabas went from Antioch to
Jerusalem to the conference which was to decide the question
of the necessity of circumcision to the Gentiles. Here we
see Titus in close association with Paul and Barnabas at
Antioch. He goes with them to Jerusalem. His circumcision
was either not insisted on at Jerusalem, or, if demanded,
was firmly resisted. He is very emphatically spoken of as a
Gentile by which is most probably meant that both his
parents were Gentiles. Titus would seem on the occasion of
the council to have been specially a representative of the
church of the uncircumcision. It is to our purpose to remark
that, in the passage cited above, Titus is so mentioned as
apparently to imply that he had become personally known to
the Galatian Christians. After leaving Galatia., Ac 18:23
and spending a long time at Ephesus, Ac 19:1; 20:1 the
apostle proceeded to Macedonia by way of Troas. Here he
expected to meet Titus, 2Co 2:13 who had been sent on a
mission to Corinth. In this hope he was disappointed, but in
Macedonia Titus joined him. 2Co 7:6,7,13-15 The mission to
Corinth had reference to the immoralities rebuked in the
First Epistle, and to the collection at that time in
progress, for the poor Christians of Judea. 2Co 8:6 Thus we
are prepared for what the apostle now proceeds to do after
his encouraging conversations with Titus regarding the
Corinthian church. He sends him back from Macedonia to
Corinth, in company with two other trustworthy Christians,
bearing the Second Epistle, and with an earnest request,
ibid. 2Co 8:6,17 that he would see to the completion of the
collection. ch. 2Co 8:6 A considerable interval now elapses
before we come upon the next notices of this disciple. St.
Paul's first imprisonment is concluded, and his last trial
is impending. In the interval between the two, he and Titus
were together in Crete. Tit 1:5 We see Titus remaining in
the island when St. Paul left it and receiving there a
letter written to him by the apostle. From this letter we
gather the following biographical details. In the first
place we learn that he was originally converted through St.
Paul's instrumentality. Tit 1:4 Next we learn the various
particulars of the responsible duties which he had to
discharge. In Crete, he is to complete what St. Paul had
been obliged to leave unfinished, ch. Tit 1:5 and he is to
organize the church throughout the island by appointing
presbytery in every city. Next he is to control and bridle,
ver. 11, the restless and mischievous Judaizers. He is also
to look for the arrival in Crete of Artemas and Tychicus,
ch. Tit 3:12 and then is to hasten to join St. Paul at
Nicopolis, where the apostle purposes to pass the winter.
Zenas and Apollos are in Crete, or expected there; for Titus
is to send them on their journey, and to supply them with
whatever they need for it. Whether Titus did join the
apostle at Nicopolis we cannot tell; but we naturally
connect the mention of this place with what St. Paul wrote,
at no great interval of time afterward, in the last of the
Pastoral Epistles, 2Ti 4:10 for Dalmatia lay to the north of
Nicopolis, at no great distance from it. From the form of
the whole sentence, it seems probable that this disciple had
been with St. Paul in Rome during his final imprisonment;
but this cannot be asserted confidently. The traditional
connection of Titus with Crete is much more specific and
constant, though here again we cannot be certain of the
facts. He said to have been permanent bishop in the island,
and to have died there at an advanced age. The modern
capital, Candia, appears to claim the honor of being his
burial-place. In the fragment by the lawyer Zenas, Titus is
called bishop of Gortyna. Lastly, the name of Titus was the
watchword of the Cretans when they were invaded by the
Venetians.
Link: https://bible-history.com/smiths/T/Titus...
was probably written about the same time as the first
epistle to
Timothy, with which it has many affinities. "Both
letters were
addressed to persons left by the writer to preside
in their
respective churches during his absence. Both letters
are
principally occupied in describing the
qualifications to be
sought for in those whom they should appoint to
offices in the
church; and the ingredients of this description are
in both
letters nearly the same. Timothy and Titus are
likewise
cautioned against the same prevailing corruptions,
and in
particular against the same misdirection of their
cares and
studies. This affinity obtains not only in the
subject of the
letters, which from the similarity of situation in
the persons
to whom they were addressed might be expected to be
somewhat
alike, but extends in a great variety of instances
to the
phrases and expressions. The writer accosts his two
friends with
the same salutation, and passes on to the business
of his letter
by the same transition (comp. 1 Tim. 1:2, 3 with
Titus 1:4, 5; 1
Tim.1:4 with Titus 1:13, 14; 3:9; 1 Tim. 4:12 with
Titus 2:7,
15).", Paley's Horae Paulinae.
The date of its composition may be concluded from
the
circumstance that it was written after Paul's visit
to Crete
(Titus 1:5). That visit could not be the one
referred to in Acts
27:7, when Paul was on his voyage to Rome as a
prisoner, and
where he continued a prisoner for two years. We may
warrantably
suppose that after his release Paul sailed from Rome
into Asia
and took Crete by the way, and that there he left
Titus "to set
in order the things that were wanting." Thence he
went to
Ephesus, where he left Timothy, and from Ephesus to
Macedonia,
where he wrote First Timothy, and thence to
Nicopolis in Epirus,
from which place he wrote to Titus, about A.D. 66 or
67.
In the subscription to the epistle it is said to
have been
written from "Nicopolis of Macedonia," but no such
place is
known. The subscriptions to the epistles are of no
authority, as
they are not authentic.
Link: https://bible-history.com/eastons/T/Titu...
honourable, was with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch, and
accompanied them to the council at Jerusalem (Gal.
2:1-3; Acts
15:2), although his name nowhere occurs in the Acts
of the
Apostles. He appears to have been a Gentile, and to
have been
chiefly engaged in ministering to Gentiles; for Paul
sternly
refused to have him circumcised, inasmuch as in his
case the
cause of gospel liberty was at stake. We find him,
at a later
period, with Paul and Timothy at Ephesus, whence he
was sent by
Paul to Corinth for the purpose of getting the
contributions of
the church there in behalf of the poor saints at
Jerusalem sent
forward (2 Cor. 8:6; 12:18). He rejoined the apostle
when he was
in Macedonia, and cheered him with the tidings he
brought from
Corinth (7:6-15). After this his name is not
mentioned till
after Paul's first imprisonment, when we find him
engaged in the
organization of the church in Crete, where the
apostle had left
him for this purpose (Titus 1:5). The last notice of
him is in 2
Tim. 4:10, where we find him with Paul at Rome
during his second
imprisonment. From Rome he was sent into Dalmatia,
no doubt on
some important missionary errand. We have no record
of his
death. He is not mentioned in the Acts.
Link: https://bible-history.com/eastons/T/Titu...
frontTIMOTHY, EPISTLES TO.) Genuineness. Ignatius (Tralles,
3) uses "behaviour" (katasteema), in the New Testament found
only in Titus 2:3. Clement of Rome quotes it, Ep. ad Cor. 2
Irenaeus, i. 16, section 3, calls it Paul's epistle.
Theophilus (ad Autol. iii. 14) quotes it as Scripture.
Justin Martyr in the second century alludes to Titus 3:4
(Dial. contra Tryph. 47). Compare Clem. Alex. Strom. 1:350,
and Tertullian Praescr. Haer. 6. Time and place of writing.
Paul wrote this epistle on his way to Nicopolis, where he
intended wintering, and where he was arrested shortly before
his martyrdom A.D. 67. The tone so closely resembles (See 1
TIMOTHY that if the latter, as appears probable, was written
at Corinth the epistle to Titus must have been so too, the
epistle to Timothy shortly after Paul's arrival at Corinth,
the epistle to Titus afterwards when he resolved on going to
Nicopolis.
The bearers of his epistles to Ephesus and Crete
respectively would have an easy route from Corinth; his own
journey to Nicopolis too would be convenient from Corinth.
Seeds of Christianity may have been carried to Crete shortly
after the first Pentecost by Peter's hearers (Acts 2:11).
Paul doubtless furthered the gospel cause during his visit
there on his way to the hearing of his appeal to Caesar,
before his first imprisonment at Rome (Acts 27:7), etc. He
visited Crete again after his first imprisonment, probably
on his way to Miletus, Colosse, and Ephesus, from which
latter Alford thinks he wrote to Titus; thence by Troas to
Macedon and Corinth (2 Timothy 4:20), the more probable
place of writing the epistle to Titus; thence to Nicopolis
in Epirus.
Titus in his missions for Paul to Corinth had
probably thence visited Crete, which was within easy reach.
He was thus suited to superintend the church there, and
carry on Paul's work by completing the church's
organization. Paul in this epistle follows up the
instructions he had already given by word of mouth. Paul's
visit to Crete may possibly also have been from Corinth, to
which he in that case would return. Doctrine. The Pauline
doctrines of the grace of God providing the atonement in
Christ (Titus 2:10-13), free justification (Titus 3:5-7)
producing holiness of life by the regenerating and renewing
Spirit, and expectancy of Christ's coming in glory, are
briefly but emphatically put forward. The abruptness and
severity of tone, caused by the Cretan irregularities, are
tempered by a loving and gracious recognition of our high
privileges which flow from the grace of "God our Saviour."
As the Father is nowhere said to "give Himself for us," and
as ONE Greek article binds together "the great God" and "our
Saviour" (Titus 2:13, "the glorious appearing of Him who is
at once the great God ceded our Saviour") Jesus must be God.
Link: https://bible-history.com/faussets/T/Tit...
Paul's companion in missionary tours. Not mentioned in Acts.
A Greek, and therefore a Gentile (Galatians 2:1; Galatians
2:3); converted through Paul (Titus 1:4), "mine own son
after the common faith." Included in the "certain other of
them" who accompanied the apostle and Barnabas when they
were deputed from the church of Antioch to consult the
church at Jerusalem concerning the circumcision of Gentile
converts (Acts 15:2), and agreeably to the decree of the
council there was exempted from circumcision, Paul resisting
the attempt to force Titus to be so, for both his parents
were Gentile, and Titus represented at the council the
church of the uncircumcision (contrast TIMOTHY who was on
one side of Jewish parentage: Acts 16:3.) He was with Paul
at Ephesus (Acts 19), and was sent thence to Corinth to
commence the collection for the Jerusalem saints, and to
ascertain the effect of the first epistle on the Corinthians
(2 Corinthians 7:6-9; 2 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians
12:18); and there showed an unmercenary spirit.
Next, Titus went to Macedon, where he rejoined Paul
who had been eagerly looking for him at Troas (Acts 20:1;
Acts 20:6; 2 Corinthians 2:12-13); "Titus my brother" (2
Corinthians 7:6; 2 Corinthians 8:23), also "my partner and
fellow helper concerning you." The history (Acts 20) does
not record Paul's passing through Troas in going from
Ephesus to Macedon, but it does in coming from that country;
also that he had disciples there (Acts 20:6-7) which accords
with the epistle (2 Corinthians 2:12): an undesigned
coincidence confirming genuineness. Paul had fixed a time
with Titus to meet him at Troas, and had desired him, if
detained so as not to be able to be at Troas in time, to
proceed at once to Macedon to Philippi, the next stage on
his own journey. Hence, though a wide door of usefulness
opened to Paul at Troas, his eagerness to hear from Titus
about the Corinthian church led him not to stay longer
there, when the time fixed was past, but to hasten on to
Macedon to meet Titus there...
Link: https://bible-history.com/faussets/T/Tit...
