The Pulpit Commentary - Titus 1:8
Given to for a lover of, A.V.; good for good men, A.V.; sober-minded for sober, A.V. Given to hospitality ( φιλόξενον ); 1 Timothy 3:2 , note. A lover of good ( φιλάγαθον ) see 2 Timothy 3:3 , note on ἀφιλάγαθον . Only here in the New Testament, and only once in the LXX ., Wis. 7:22, where it seems to mean "a lover of that which is good," and where the long string of adjectives is very similar to that here; found occasionally in classical Greek. Sober-minded ... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Titus 1:7-9
The overseers. "For a bishop," etc. Here we have the moral qualification necessary for an overseer or bishop of the Churches. These bishops were to be an order by themselves, not, as Baxter would have them," Primus inter pares," or "first among equals." Each overseer who was naturally placed in a leading city ought, from his prominence as overseer of the district, to be a ministerial example to his brethren. The practical counsels here given apply equally to all aspects of the "overseer,"... read more