Titus 1:7-14

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Titus 1:6-16

The apostle here gives Titus directions about ordination, showing whom he should ordain, and whom not. I. Of those whom he should ordain. He points out their qualifications and virtues; such as respect their life and manners, and such as relate to their doctrine: the former in the Titus 1:6, 7, 8, and the latter in the Titus 1:9. 1. Their qualifications respecting their life and manners are, (1.) More general: If any be blameless; not absolutely without fault, so none are, for there is none... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Titus 1:5-7

1:5-7a The reason why I left you in Crete was that any deficiencies in the organization of the Church should be rectified, and that you might appoint elders in each city as I instructed you. An elder is a man whose conduct must be beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, with children who are also believers, who cannot be accused of profligacy, and who are not undisciplined. For he who oversees the Church of God must be beyond reproach, as befits a steward of God. We have already studied... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Titus 1:7

1:7b He must not be obstinately self-willed; he must not be an angry man; he must not be given to drunken and outrageous conduct; he must not be a man ready to come to blows; he must not be a seeker of gain in disgraceful ways. Here is a summary of the qualities from which the elder of the Church must be free; and every one is described in a vivid word. (i) He must not be obstinately self-willed. The Greek is authades ( Greek #829 ), which literally means pleasing himself. The man... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Titus 1:8-9

1:8-9 Rather he must be hospitable, a lover of all good things and all good people, prudent, just, pious, self-controlled, with a strong grip on the truly reliable message which Christian teaching gave to him, that he may be well able to encourage the members of the Church with health-giving teaching, and to convict the opponents of the faith. The previous passage set out the things which the elder of the Church must not be; this one sets out what he must be. These necessary qualities... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Titus 1:10-11

1:10-11 For there are many who are undisciplined, empty talkers, deceivers. Those of the circumcision are especially so. They must be muzzled. They are the kind of people who upset whole households, by teaching things which should not be taught in order to acquire a shameful gain. Here we have a picture of the false teachers who were troubling Crete. The worst were apparently Jews. They tried to persuade the Cretan converts of two things. They tried to persuade them that the simple story... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Titus 1:12

1:12 One of themselves, a prophet of their own, has said: "The Cretans are always liars, wild and evil beasts, lazy gluttons." His testimony is true! No people ever had a worse reputation than the Cretans. The ancient world spoke of the three most evil C's--the Cretans, the Cilicians, and the Cappadocians. The Cretans were famed as a drunken, insolent, untrustworthy, lying, gluttonous people. Their avarice was proverbial. "The Cretans," said Polybius, "on account of their innate avarice,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Titus 1:13-16

1:13-16 For that very reason correct them with severity, that they may grow healthy in the faith and not pay attention to Jewish fables and to rules and regulations made by men who persist in turning their backs on the truth. "To the pure all things are pure." But to those who are defiled and who do not believe, nothing is pure, because their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny their profession by their deeds, because they are repulsive and... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Titus 1:13-16

When a man gets into this state of impurity, he may know God intellectually but his life is a denial of that knowledge. Three things are singled out here about such a man. (i) He is repulsive. The word (bdeluktos, Greek #947 ) is the word particularly used of heathen idols and images. It is the word from which the noun bdelugma ( Greek #946 ), an abomination, comes. There is something repulsive about a man with an obscene mind, who makes sniggering jests and is a master of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Titus 1:7

For a bishop must be blameless ,.... This shows that a bishop and an elder is the same; and the Syriac version here renders it, "an elder"; the character or qualification necessary to him is the same as before, and in like manner to be understood; unless it should more particularly refer to his faithfulness in the discharge of his office: since it follows, as the steward of God ; one appointed by God over his household and family, the church, to give to everyone their portion of meat in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Titus 1:8

But a lover of hospitality ,.... See Gill on 1 Timothy 3:2 . a lover of good men , or "of good"; the Syriac version renders it, "of good things"; as prayer, preaching, reading, meditation, spiritual conversation, and every religious exercise: or "of good men"; for such an elder or bishop has chiefly to do and converse with; and if he is not a lover of them, their company will be disagreeable to him, and he will be of no advantage to them; and if he does not love the souls of men, he... read more

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