Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Titus 2

The opening “you” contrasts Titus with the false teachers. He must show the difference by continuing to communicate orally “what is in accord with sound doctrine,” i.e., teaching that promotes spiritual health and requires conduct consistent with the teaching professed. Correct doctrine must result in good behavior.

The term “older men” (GK 4566) denotes age, not office. The senior male members are named first as natural leaders. The value of their example will depend on their moral character. Four qualifications are insisted on; they must be (1) “temperate” (GK 3767), basically meaning “abstaining from wine,” but having a wider meaning, such as “clearheaded”; (2) “worthy of respect” (GK 4948), revealing a personal dignity and seriousness of purpose that invite honor and respect; (3) “self-controlled” (GK 5409), possessing self-mastery in thought and judgment (cf. 1:8); and (4) “sound in faith, in love and in endurance,” revealing a Christian healthiness of heart and mind. In v.1 “sound” (GK 5617) is applied to doctrine, here to character. “Faith” may be objective, as the doctrinal content of the faith professed, but the following two items suggest that it is subjective, their personal faith in the Lord. They must be mature in their exercise of genuine “love,” not bitter and vindictive, and they must display active “endurance” (GK 5705), that steadfast persistence that bravely bears the trials and afflictions of life.

“Likewise” indicates that the same kind of deportment is expected of the “older women,” although the demands on them are related to their own station in life. The basic demand is that they “be reverent in the way they live.” Their conduct must reveal that they regard life as sacred in all of its aspects.

Their reverential behavior requires that they “not be slanderers or addicted to much wine.” As mature Christians, they must not be given to gossip, repeating vicious and unfounded charges against others, and must not overindulge in wine. The union of the two negatives suggests the close connection between a loose tongue and intoxicating drink.

Positively, the older women must “teach what is good.” By personal word and example, they must teach what is morally good, noble, and attractive. The reference is not to public instruction, but to their teaching function in the home.

The training of the younger women is the duty, not of Titus, but the older women, qualified to do so by position and character. “Train” (GK 5405) means to school in the lessons of sobriety and self-control (cf. vv.2, 5). “Younger” suggests a reference to the newly married. Paul then lists seven characteristics that must be commended to such women (vv.4healthiness of heart and mind.5a). “To love their husbands and children” forms a pair of instructions. It means “devoted to husbands and devoted to children.” Such domestic affection stands at the very heart of any Christian home.

“To be self-controlled [GK 5409] and pure [GK 54]” forms another pair. The former is a standing duty for all Christians (cf. 1:8; 2:2, 6); the latter denotes not only chastity in their sex life but also purity of heart and mind in all their conduct.

“To be busy at home, to be kind” designates a third pair. The first describes the many domestic activities of the housewife that she must willingly accept as part of her position as queen of the home. The devoted wife and mother finds her absorbing interest in the innumerable duties of the home (cf. Paul’s condemnation of idleness in 1 Timothy 5:13–14). These demand unsparing self-giving and may subject her to the temptation to be irritable and harsh in her demands on members of her household. She must therefore cultivate the virtue of being “kind” (GK 19), i.e., benevolent, heartily doing what is good and beneficial to others.

The seventh item for a younger married woman stresses her acceptance of the established relationship between husband and wife as her Christian duty. “To be subject to” (GK 5718) suggests the voluntary acceptance of the headship of the husband (cf. Ephesians 5:22–24). In declaring the spiritual equality of the woman before God (Galatians 3:28), Christianity immeasurably elevated her status but did not thereby abolish her functional position as the complement and support of her husband as the head of the home.

The concluding purpose clause apparently relates to all seven items. It is the first expression of Paul’s strong sense of a religious purpose behind these ethical demands. If Christian wives ignore these demands and flout the role their culture demanded of good wives, the Gospel will be maligned, criticized, and discredited by non-Christians. Christianity will be judged especially by the impact that it has on the women. It therefore is the duty of the women to protect God’s revelation from profanation by living discreet and wholesome lives. No lifestyle is justified that hinders the message of God’s salvation in Christ.