Titus 2:1–10

2:1 In 1:10–11, Paul declared that the false teachers are “insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers. . . . They must be silenced.” In contrast, Titus is not to be like the false teachers: “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” The last phrase might even be translated as “healthy doctrine.” The doctrine is healthy not in terms of being free from physical sickness but in terms of being free from spiritual error. Sound doctrine is the life-blood of Christian faith. It is the life-giving, authoritative deposit of truth.

Paul does not command Titus merely to “teach sound doctrine.” He must “teach what accords with sound doctrine.” Any minister of the gospel who knows sound doctrine but is unable to instruct God’s people in how to live their lives in accord with such doctrine will not be an effective minister of the Word. Titus must be able to address believers in every station of life with practical instructions for godly living. Thus in the next verses Paul unpacks what it means for specific groups of people to live in accord with sound doctrine.

2:2 Older men are to be “sober-minded.” The men referenced here are not to be confused with those who hold the office of elder (cf. 1:5). The “older men” are those who literally have reached advanced age. These men must display several exemplary characteristics:

“Sober-minded” translates a term that means “very moderate in the drinking of an alcoholic beverage.” Its figurative extension here means to “be free fr. every form of mental and spiritual ‘drunkenness’, fr. excess, passion, rashness, confusion.” This is a call to be “restrained in conduct, self-controlled, level-headed” (BDAG, s.v. νηφάλιος and νήφω, emphases theirs).

“Dignified” refers to one “worthy of respect/honor, noble, dignified, serious” (BDAG, s.v. σεμνός, italics original). The dignified person is so self-possessed and in control of his temper and fears that he elicits admiration from those who know him.

Aristotle describes “self-control” as “avoidance of extremes and careful consideration for responsible action” (Nichomachean Ethics 3, 15; quoted in BDAG, s.v. σώφρων). For Aristotle, the “self-controlled” person is “intent on the what, the how, and the when of doing what should be done.”

“Sound” usually refers to being “healthy,” or free from sickness. The extension of that meaning here means “correct” or free from error. To be “sound” in faith, love, and endurance requires older men to believe in the right way, to love in the right way, and to endure in the right way.

2:3 “Likewise” means that older women are to be godly exemplars just as older men are, and Paul lists some very specific attributes. “Reverent in behavior” indicates behavior worthy of a holy woman.¹ There is a verbal link to that which “accords with sound doctrine” (v. 1). This descriptor calls for behavior “fitting with holiness.” Paul zeroes in on two very specific besetting sins that are not in accord with holy behavior:

“Not slanderers” prohibits the verbal assassination of someone’s character. Malevolent attempts to injure others with words is not in keeping with holiness. In fact, this term is one of the names the Bible uses of the Devil: diabolos. He is a slanderer. Slander is the Devil’s work and is completely at odds with holy behavior.

“Slaves to much wine.” The image of slavery is a vivid depiction of what too much drink can do to a person. This temptation can touch anyone, but perhaps Paul identifies a particular temptation for certain women whose vocation is at home and who therefore “have constant access to the food and drink of the household.”²

The older women are to “teach what is good.” Their steadiness and wisdom is to be a boon for younger women of the congregation.

2:4 “So train the young women.” To “train” renders the verb sōphronizōsin. In the surrounding verses, terms from the sōphr- word group appear three other times. In verses 2 and 5, older men and younger women, respectively, are to be sōphronas (“self-controlled”). In verse 6, younger men are called to sōphronein (“to be prudent, with focus on self-control”; BDAG, s.v. σωφρονέω). Each of these occurrences places an accent on self-control and prudence, the only characteristic applied to all four groups—older men, older women, younger women, and younger men. For this reason, the verb form applied to the older women in verse 4 likely has a similar denotation. Thus the older women must not only “train” the young women but must also instruct them in prudence and self-control with respect to their duties in the home. Chief among those duties is the obligation to “love their husbands and children.” Literally, the younger women must be husband-lovers and children-lovers. Learning prudence and self-control enables these women to love their own family well.

2:5 This verse begins with the virtue implied by the main verb of verse 4: “self-control.” Self-control enables the other virtues that follow. Some of these virtues are related specifically to women within the covenant of marriage. “Self-controlled” indicates “avoidance of extremes and careful consideration for responsible action” (Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics 3, 15; BDAG, s.v. σώφρων). As mentioned above, this term appears in connection with each of the age and gender groupings, but the rest of the characteristics mentioned in this verse relate uniquely to marriage. “Pure” denotes moral uprightness. In connection with women, the term often carries the idea of chastity (BDAG, s.v. ἁγνός). Sexual faithfulness requires chastity outside of marriage and fidelity within marriage.

“Working at home.” The wife has the particular assignment to care for and manage the home. Whatever else she does, she cannot shirk her primary duty to care for the home and those who live in it. Does this mean that she can never leave the house or work outside the home? The analogy of Scripture would lead us to answer that question in the negative. The virtuous wife of Proverbs 31:10–31, for example, is a woman who “considers a field and buys it” (Prov. 31:16) and earns an income for her family. This virtuous woman engages in a wide range of activities, some of which take her out of the home. Nevertheless, no matter what she does, she never deserts her duty to love her husband and children and to care for the home. “Kind” probably has specific application to the wife’s relationships in the home. The term calls on her to have a “generous, sympathetic, . . . warm-hearted nature” (American Heritage Dictionary, s.v. “kind”).

“And submissive to their own husbands.” The term “submissive” requires one to recognize and follow the leadership and direction of a recognized authority. In this case, the wife is to submit not to all men but to one man—her “own” husband. It is important to notice what Paul does not say. He could have said, “Husbands, subject your wives to yourselves.” In other words, he might have spoken in such a way that called on husbands to compel or coerce submission from their wives. Even though that would have fit with the patriarchal context of the first-century Greco-Roman world, that is not how Paul writes. Instead he calls on wives to submit voluntarily to their husbands. The primary responsibility falls to the wives to submit themselves, not to the husbands explicitly to make them submit. “That the word of God may not be reviled” indicates that failure to carry out this role gives outsiders grounds to criticize God’s Word, which is something no Christian has permission to do.

2:6 “Likewise” indicates that young men are to exhibit a quality of “self-control” just like the other age and gender groups listed (cf. above) are to exhibit. Paul gives Titus the responsibility to “urge” them to be such: he has a duty to preach the Word of God in such a way that younger men understand what is required of them. Just like Paul commanded the older men, older women, and younger women, now he is commanding the younger men to be self-controlled. Paul tells each of these groups to pursue self-control, which means “to be prudent, with focus on self-control, be reasonable, sensible, serious, keep one’s head” (BDAG, s.v. σωφρονέω, italics original). The person with self-control is one who embodies all of the virtues previously named for the other age groups in this list.

2:7–8 Paul turns directly to Titus and says, in essence, “You are to be a model of all the virtues that you preach to the others in the congregation.” Titus cannot merely teach faithfully. He must live faithfully. If Titus cannot live faithfully as a Christian, he is not qualified to teach others what he himself cannot do. He must be able to say to his congregation, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).

Paul specifies three characteristics of Titus’s teaching by which he is to “show” himself to be a model: (1) “Integrity” means “incorruption” (BDAG, s.v. ἀφθορία). (2) “Dignity” indicates “seriousness, probity, holiness”; the Latin word for this is gravitas (BDAG, s.v. σεμνότης, italics original). (3) “Sound speech that cannot be condemned.” Although this “speech” (logos) is possibly a reference to Titus’s speech in general (cf. 1 Tim. 4:12), it refers most likely to his teaching in particular (cf. hygiainousin logois, 1 Tim. 6:3; hygiainontōn logōn, 2 Tim. 1:13). This teaching should have two characteristics. First, it must be “sound” or healthy in the sense of being uncorrupted and correct (BDAG, s.v. ὑγιής). Second, it must be “uncondemned.” This is not to say that Titus’s teaching may never be criticized or condemned. Rather, there must never be any proper basis for whatever condemnations may come. In short, a faithful minister of the Word must agree with the apostolic norm and must preach this Word with gravitas and weight.

The purpose of the preacher’s exemplary conduct and teaching is “so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” Titus must live and preach in such a way that there would be no just grounds for condemnation. The preacher’s reputation is not the only thing on the line: Paul refers to “having nothing evil to say about us”; Paul’s own reputation is also at stake in Titus’s ministry. A pastor cannot make himself immune from criticism, but he is to teach and preach in such a way that everyone can see that there is no basis for any such condemnation.

2:9–10 The word translated “bondservants” in the ESV is the Greek term doulos, the standard term for slaves used throughout the NT (cf. comment and excursus on 1 Tim. 6:1–2). Paul emphasizes four ways in which a bondservant might honor authority, and he arranges them chiastically. Two positive characteristics frame two negative ones: “they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith.”

“Well-pleasing” directs a slave to render “positive and winsome action in addition to passive submission.”³ “Not argumentative” precludes the possibility of gainsaying a master with arguments or resistance. “Not pilfering” prohibits stealing or “skimming off the top” to take that which does not belong to the worker. Slaves might be tempted to steal whatever may not be missed in “small quantities and . . . might justify their actions” by claiming that the stolen goods were owed to them.⁴ In contrast, the Lord’s worker is called to show “all good faith.” Christian witness depends in part upon Christian workers being faithful to work and to honor authority. They must work in this way “so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.” To “adorn” God’s doctrine means “to cause [it] to have an attractive appearance” (BDAG, s.v. κοσμέω).