Verse 3
that aged women likewise be reverent in demeanor, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good;
As in "older men" above, the instruction here is to all older women in the congregation.
Reverent in demeanor... This is one of the most beautiful phrases in the New Testament, fittingly applied here to that class of godly older women in the Lord's church. Concerning the word here rendered "reverent," Tasker has this:
Dibelius gives parallels (of the word) meaning "consecrated as priestesses," an idea well captured by Lock, who gives the meaning, "they are to carry into daily life the demeanor of a priestess in a temple."[15]
Not slanderers... This means "not false accusers," and is translated from a word which is one of the names of the devil, who is called "the accuser" of the brethren.
Not enslaved to much wine... As Lipscomb said:
The women of Crete were given to wine drinking. Observe the fitness of the term "enslaved." The drunkard is thoroughly the slave of his appetite.[16]
Here is an indication of what is meant by the term "wine" as used in the New Testament; it was a drink that had the power to enslave, and this is impossible of application to mere grape juice.
Teachers of that which is good... As Tasker said, "This cannot refer to public teaching, which was in any case mainly the responsibility of the elders, but must refer to ministry in the home." [17]
[15] R. V. G. Tasker, op. cit., p. 192.
[16] David Lipscomb, New Testament Commentaries, Titus (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1976), p. 272.
[17] R. V. G. Tasker, op. cit., p. 193.
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