target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#ulink_ed6ce376-04b4-5185-9979-cb3a29138568">115. See also 1 En. 20:1–7; 69:1–15; 71:3, 10; 72:1—75:9; 79:1–6; 82:5; 92:2; 108:2, 9, 15; 109:15.
116. Hegesippus (AD 180) mentions that the Essenes did not believe in Jesus as Messiah and some of the Apocrypha was “fabricated by certain heretics of his own day” (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.22 [7–9]). Ebionites, who rejected Paul’s writings (they used only Matthew’s Gospel or the Gospel according to the Hebrews) because they thought Paul was “apostate from the law,” according to Irenaeus, “circumcise themselves and continue in the practices which are prescribed by the law and by the Judaic standard of living” (Haer. 1.26.2).
117. Irenaeus, Haer. 1.28.
118. Haer. 1.23.2. Yamauchi concludes that there is “unanimous testimony” among the Church Fathers “that Simon is the first individual who was designated a Gnostic, and that Simonianism is the earliest form of Gnosticism recognized by the patristic sources” (1973: 59–60).
119. E.g., Rev 21:18, 21; Matt 27:59, gold or linen.
120. Acts 10:15; Mark 7:19; Rom 14:20.
121. Matt 8:2; 10:8; 11:5.
122. Miainō, e.g., John 18:28.
Titus 2
Teach What Is Consistent with Healthy Doctrine (2:1—3:11)
But you are speaking what is appropriate to healthy teaching (2:1). But (de) is a strong adversative here. Titus is emphasized.123 He, unlike the opponents (1:9), should be speaking what is appropriate to healthy teaching,124 described in 2:1—3:8, not the unhealthy teaching described earlier (1:10–16). Chapter 2 begins the second major section of the letter. The first major section is more negative, dealing with setting straight what was remaining to be done (1:5–16). This next major section is more positive, dealing with teaching what is consistent with healthy doctrine (2:1—3:11). The first subsection deals with specific groups in the churches, the second subsection deals with the churches as a whole, and the third subsection deals with Titus specifically.
Godly Behavior among the Elders, Youth, and Slaves (2:1–15)
Paul recommends Titus speak to five groups: male and female elders, female and male youth, and slaves: (Encourage) elders (males) to be sober, honorable, wise, healthy in faith, in love, in perseverance; (encourage) elders (females), likewise, to be in demeanor holy, not slanderous, and not enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, in order that they exhort the young (females) to be loving their husbands, loving their children, wise, pure, working at home, good, being subject to their own husbands, in order that God’s word not be blasphemed (2:2–5).
What is the relationship between the male (presbytēs [2:2]) and female (presbytis [2:3]) elders to the “elders” of chapter one (presbyteros [1:5])? All terms go back to the root presbys (an old person or elder). Presbyteros is the comparative of presbys,125 literally, “the older one” or “elder of two,” as in Luke 15:25. Presbytēs and presbytis are the masculine and feminine prose forms of presbys. Do the forms in Titus 2 refer to church leadership positions (male and female “elders”) or simply to age (“old men,” “old women”)? Many English translations render the latter.126 However, the former is also possible. Why? First, in ancient times deference was given to elders simply because of their age.127 Second, in the same way as presbyteros could refer to leadership positions or to age,128 presbytēs could refer to age or to leadership positions. Although the Bible does have several references where presbytēs refers simply to age,129 other references clearly refer to ambassadors or envoys, as the “elders” of the ruler from Babylon who visited Hezekiah (2 Chr 32:31; LXX) and elders representing the Jews to Sparta and to Rome (1 Macc 14:22; 15:17; LXX). Even the envoys from Rome are called “elders” (2 Macc 11:34; LXX). Elders (presbytēs) are also mentioned at the city gate where judgments were made in Israel (Job 29:7–8; Lam 5:14; LXX). When Paul calls himself presbytēs, some translators render it “ambassador” (REB, TEV), while others “old man”/ “aged” (NRSV, NIV, TNIV, KJV) (Phlm 9).
The feminine presbytis occurs only in Titus 2:3 in the Bible. Were women ever called “elder” implying a leadership position in ancient times? One heroic “aged” (gēraia) mother of seven sons was called by the author of 4 Maccabees an “elder” (presbytis) even though a woman (4 Macc 16:14).130 At Crete, a female, Sophia of Gortyn, is described on a plaque as “elder (presbytera) and ruler of the synagogue.”131 A woman, Mannine of Venosa, thirty-eight-years-old, is described as an “elder” in a cemetery in Italy. Brooten found six or seven Jewish women “elders” spread over a wide geographical area.132 In the early years after the New Testament, female elders had leadership in the church.
If presbytēs and presbytis in Titus 2 refer to leadership positions, how do they relate to the qualifications in 1:6–9? In the same way as Paul describes the ministers/deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8–10 in a general way first and then goes on to describe the female and male distinctive qualities (3:11, 12), also in Titus, Paul first describes the general qualities of an elder/overseer (1:6–9) and then goes on to highlight qualities on which the men (2:2) and the women (2:3) need to work. Another way to understand the passage is that, in the same way as everyone is encouraged to seek an overseeing office (episcopēs) in 1 Timothy 3:1, but then the distinctive qualities of overseer (episcopos) and minister/deacon (diakonos) are delineated in 3:2–13, so the elders, youth, and slaves are encouraged to seek positive qualities that would make them eligible to serve as Christian leaders.
Comparison of Qualities in Titus 2:2–10 with Those Needed for Elder and Minister/Deacon
| Male elders (presbytēs [2:2]) | Female elders (presbytis [2:3]) |
| 1. sober(elder, Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:2, 3;minister/deacon, 1 Tim 3:8, 11) | 1. in demeanor holy (elder, Titus 1:8) |
| 2. honorable(minister/deacon, 1 Tim 3:8) | 2. not slanderous(minister/deacon 1 Tim 3:11) |
| 3. wise (elder, Titus 1:8; 1 Tim 3:2) | 3. not enslaved to much wine(elder, Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:2, 3; minister/deacon 1 Tim 3:8, 11) |
| 4. healthy in:a. faith(elder, Titus 1:9; minister/deacon, 1 Tim 3:11) | 4. teaching what is good(elder, Titus 1:8; 1 Tim 3:2) |
| b. love | |
| c. perseverance(elder, Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3) |
Qualities for elders/overseers are evident throughout Titus 2:2–10: self-controlled limiting of consumption of intoxicating substances (elders), honor, wisdom (male elders, young women and men), faithfulness (male elders and slaves), love (male elders and young women), perseverance, holiness (female elders and young women), ability to teach (female elders), household-oriented, not being self-pleasing, not being disobedient, and not seeking selfish financial gain. Yet the male and female elders have distinctive aspects of their Christian walk to which they had to pay attention. Only women in these lists are challenged not to be slanderous (Titus 2:3; 1 Tim 3:11).
Paul highlights six qualities important for the male elder: to be sober, honorable, wise, healthy in faith, in love, in perseverance (2:2). A recurring topic at Crete and Ephesus is the necessity not to become intoxicated, but rather to remain sober.133 If one is sober, then the second quality is more likely—to be honorable or godly. Semnos has been translated by such diverse terms as “honorable, serious, dignified, and holy.”134 It describes the ideal minister/deacon (male and female, 1 Tim 3:8, 11), children (1 Tim 3:4), male elder (Titus 2:2), teaching (Titus 2:7), and
