Titus 2:5

to be sober-minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed:

Sober-minded... As noted above, this quality is actually to be manifested by all Christians. It means having all faculties under control, well-balanced, even tempered, and realizing the importance and seriousness of life.

Chaste ... The original word here may be translated "pure"; "but the ASV has done rightly in preferring the word which is relevant to sex. Paul used the same word in 2 Corinthians 11:2."[19]

Workers at home... The word from which this is derived may mean either "workers" or "keepers" at home. Some radical critics have gone so far as to say that "The only authority for this word is Soranus of Ephesus, a medical writer, not earlier than the second century";[20] the object of such an assertion, to be sure, being that of questioning the Pauline authorship of Titus. The allegation is false, of course, White pointing out that "The verb is found in Clement of Rome,"[21] who lived in the first century and was identified by Origen as Paul's companion mentioned in Philippians 4:3![22]

Kind ... This is one of the homely virtues that blesses mankind as much as any other.

Being in subjection to their own husbands... This is fully in keeping with the New Testament teaching that the husband is the head of the family; and, through the centuries, those societies in which women have honored this divine injunction have invariably elevated women to higher and higher places of honor, respect and protection. In many cultures where this ethic is dishonored, women have ultimately been reduced to the status of chattels, as they were in the pagan culture of Paul's day. The behavior here enjoined proved to be the way up for womankind; and the opposite of it will doubtless prove to be the way down.

In case the older women should not have been successful in inculcating these noble virtues in the younger women, as Paul admonished, the apostle was sure that the word of God would "be blasphemed." "So much depends on the women, in great part on the young women."[23] The world still judges Christianity by the character of the young women produced by the church.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Newport J. D. White, Expositor's Greek New Testament, Vol. IV (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 192.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Encyclopaedia Britannica (Chicago: William Benton, Publisher, 1961), Vol. 5, p. 793.

[23] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 913.