Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Titus 1:1-9, Elders in every town, and God's steward
Paul greets Titus, whom he left in Crete to put in order what was unfinished and to appoint elders in every town, and lists what an elder must be: blameless, faithful to his wife, with believing children, a steward of God's household, hospitable and able to hold to sound teaching.
Titus 1:1-9, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul greets Titus, whom he left in Crete to finish organizing the churches and to appoint elders town by town. He lists what an elder must be: of good reputation, faithful in marriage, whose children are believing and well behaved, and free of arrogance, temper, drink, violence and greed. As God's steward he must be welcoming, self-controlled and devoted to good, keeping a firm grip on reliable teaching so he can encourage others and refute opponents.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/elders\/","n":"Elders","s":"Older men respected for wisdom led Israel's villages in the Old Testament and still led Jewish communities and synagogues in the first century, usually as a group. The first churches took over the pattern, calling their elders overseers too, with deacons beside them.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/the-household\/","n":"The household and its head","s":"A household gathered family, slaves, freed slaves and workers under one head, and it was expected to follow that head's religion. When the head turned to a new god, the house often came too.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/hospitality\/","n":"Hospitality to travelers","s":"Taking in travelers was one of the great virtues of the ancient Mediterranean, above all among Jews. Messengers could travel light because they expected to be housed.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/sexual-morality-in-greek-cities\/","n":"Sex, wine and Greek city ways","s":"Greek and Roman men were expected to have sex outside marriage, with slaves or prostitutes, and the law allowed it. Jews and Christians called all of it porneia, sexual immorality; drunkenness at banquets and in taverns went with it, and the port of Corinth had an old name for it.","r":""}
On who wrote the letter, see the note on 1 Timothy 1:1-11. Wright and Bird give the style argument some weight, especially for Titus, and Wright's biography finds it hard to place in Paul's travels, while the ESV Study Bible holds that its claim, theology and fitting style favor Paul. Carson, Moo and Morris note that "Acts puts Paul neither in Crete nor in Nicopolis", so most place the letter after a release from Rome, in the mid 60s; Robinson dates it AD 57, with Titus sent to Crete as Paul left for Jerusalem; those who deny Paul usually date it to the second century. Titus, a Greek, had been a test case in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:1-3). Paul followed the pattern of synagogue elders, leaders for each town's house churches (Keener and his notes), and Wright and Carson, Moo and Morris take elder and overseer here as the same or overlapping office. These young churches could not insist on tested leaders (Keener and his notes), and whether the children must be believers or faithful is read both ways (the ESV Study Bible). Crete was known for drunkenness and for the drunken cult of Dionysus (Keener and his notes).
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, introduction to Titus (Authorship, Situation), and on Titus 1:5, 1:6 and 1:7, and on 1 Timothy 3:6-7
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Titus 1:6 and 1:7, and on 1 Timothy 3:10
- ESV Study Bible, Introduction to Titus, Author and Title, and study note on Titus 1:6
- N. T. Wright, Paul: A Biography, ch. 14, From Caesarea to Rome, and Beyond?
- N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, The New Testament in Its World, ch. 23, The Pastoral Epistles, Authorship, option 1 i, and The Argument of Titus, section 1
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 15, The Pastoral Epistles: The Ecclesiastical Organization; Titus, Provenance and Date, and note 49
- N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Pastoral Letters, comment on Titus 1:5-9
