Titus1 is the first chapter of the Epistle to Titus in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The letter is traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle, sent from Nicopolis of Macedonia, addressed to Titus in Crete. There are charges that it is the work of an anonymous follower, after Paul's death in the first century AD. This chapter contains the greetings and instructions for Titus on dealing with deceivers.
The opening of the epistle to Titus is Paul's longest and most intricate, exceeding the openings of most other Pauline epistles.
Verse 1–3
Paul includes in this opening a summary of the gospel message, expounding the God's plan of salvation punctuated by the assertion that 'God never lies'.
Verse 4
"A true son" : Also "my genuine child", that is, "converted by my instrumentality".
"In our common faith" : Paul treated Titus as "a genuine son" in virtue of "the faith common to all the people of God", a common brotherhood of Gentiles as well as Jews, thus embracing Titus who is a Gentile.
"Grace, mercy, and peace" : The word "mercy" is omitted in some of the oldest manuscripts. But one of the best and oldest manuscripts supports it. There are many similarities of phrase in all 'Pastoral Epistles'.
The instructions for Titus run parallel to those for Timothy in 1 Timothy 3, but with some significant variations based on the distinct situation in Crete.
Verse 5
"Crete": an island in the Mediterranean which was mentioned in Acts 27, when Paul's ship sailed past on his way to Rome).
Instructions on Dealing with Deceivers (1:10–16)
Verse 12
"One of them, a prophet of their own": refers to Epimenides, who wrote the cited words in one of his poems. Paul called him "one of them", since Epimenides was a Cretian by birth, of the city of Gnossus, and according to a legend was sent by his father to his sheep in the field, when he at noon turned aside into a cave, and slept 57 years. The designation as a "prophet" is because in Crete there were prophets of Jupiter, and Epimenides might be one of them, but the word 'prophets' can also refer to the priests among other cults, for examples, Baal's priests were called the prophets of Baal, and the prophets of the groves. Epimenides was thought to be inspired by the gods in writing his poems that he is called by Apuleius, a famous fortune teller; and is said by Laertius to be very skilful in divination, and to have foretold many things which came to pass; also by the Grecians were supposed to be very dear to the gods; likewise, Balaam, the soothsayer and diviner, is called a prophet. Add to this, that the passage next cited stands in a poem of this writer, entitled, "Concerning Oracles"; and it is easy to observe, that poets in common were usually called "vates", or prophets; so that the apostle speaks here with great propriety.
"Cretans are always liars": Epimenides wrote of the living of the inhabitants of the Crete as a sin common to human nature, that lying was "always" a governing vice among them, for instances, for saying that Jupiter's sepulchre was with them, when it was the sepulchre of Minos his son, which they had fraudulently obliterated; and for which Callimachus charges them with lying, and uses these very words of Epimenides; though he assigns a different reason from that now given, which is, that Jupiter died not, but always exists, and therefore his sepulchre could not be with them, but more than that, seemingly the Cretians regard lying as their national sin; and beside Epimenides, also said by others. Crete is, by Ovid, called "mendax Creta", lying Crete. Hence, with the Grecians, to "cretize", is proverbially used for to lie; this is a sin, than which nothing makes a man more like the devil, or more infamous among men, or more abominable to God. The Ethiopian version, instead of Cretes, or Cretians, reads "hypocrites".
"Evil beasts": are meant beasts of prey, savage and mischievous ones, to distinguish them from other beasts, as sheep, and the like. Perhaps Crete might abound with such evil beasts; for the Cretans are said to excel in hunting; and to these they themselves are compared, by one of their own prophets, for their cruelty, and savage disposition: so cruel persecutors are compared to beasts, and the false teachers, who were cruel, if not to the bodies, yet to the souls of men, whom they poisoned and destroyed.
"Lazy gluttons" : This expression by Epimenides is partly for the intemperance, gluttony and drunkenness of the Cretans, whose god was their belly, not the Lord Jesus, and partly for their laziness, eating other people's bread without working.
