2 Timothy and Titus. Aída Besançon Spencer
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without a good cause, as from envy, which can be a precondition to murder. Anger is a violent emotion that can lead to a violent action. It disparages the listener. The opposite is reconciliation or peacemaking.63 Anger is also infectious. Simply being a companion to a person given to anger can encourage one to be irascible too (Prov 22:24–25).64
The components of aischrokerdēs (1:7) occur later in Titus (1:11, aischros kerdos) to describe those of the circumcision party who overturn whole households because of shameful gain. Aischrokerdēs is also used for “deacons” in 1 Timothy 3:8. Aphilargyros (the quality for an overseer in 1 Tim 3:3 and any believer in Heb 13:5) clearly refers to “not loving money.”65 Aischrokerdēs is a broader term.66 Josephus uses aischrokerdeia for deceitful financial gain (Life 13 [75]). Polybius sees the love for “shameful gain” (aischrokerdeia) and lust for wealth to prevail among the Cretans. They are “the only people in the world in whose eyes no gain is disgraceful” (Hist. 6.46.3–4). Because the state allows them to acquire as much land as they want, he accuses them of having an “ingrained lust of wealth” that causes “constant broils both public and private, and in murders and civil wars” (Hist. 6.46.9; 47.5). Thus, Paul’s requirement for an elder/overseer not to desire “shameful gain” would especially be significant in Crete. In contrast, for God’s stewards to be trustworthy, they must not shamelessly and deceitfully seek their own gain or profit.
Sitting long drinking wine (not given to getting drunk; paroinos)67 and fighting (not pugnacious; plēktēs, 1:7) are related words, because sometimes excessive drinking can lessen inhibitions that cover more hidden aggressive emotions, especially if a person is prone to anger anyway (orgilos). If the overseer begins with a foundation of pleasing oneself, instead of God, and to this foundation is added a tendency to be angry without good cause, impelled by intoxication and readiness to fight, no wonder the end would be shameless self-gain (aischrokerdēs).
In contrast, the trustworthy household manager is hospitable (philoxenos), loving what is good (philagathos) (not intoxicants or self-gain), is wise (sōphrōn), righteous (dikaios, dikaia), holy (hosios, hosia), and certainly self-controlled (1:8). Some of these positive qualities for an overseer/elder also appear in other ancient literature. Philo concludes that the lawgiver should especially have four virtues: love of humanity (philanthrōpos), love of justice (philodikaios), love of good (philagathos), and hatred of evil (misoponēros).68
Two additional key characteristics of God are righteousness and holiness. As early as the Pentateuch, Moses summarizes God’s character as great: “God is trustworthy (pistos) and has no unrighteousness; righteous (dikaios) and holy (hosios) is the Lord” (Deut 32:4), and, as late as Revelation, an angel describes God as “righteous, the One who is and the One who was, the Holy One” (Rev 16:5). Jesus too is described as “holy and righteous” (Acts 3:14).69 In the first century, dikaios could refer to people who observe societal rules.70 In the Bible, it refers to people who observe God’s rules, like Noah, a “righteous human,” pleasing to God (Gen 6:10) or Zechariah and Elizabeth “righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and regulations of the Lord” (Luke 1:6).
The opposite of righteous (1:8) is lawless and disobedient, godless, sinful, and unholy (Titus 2:12; 1 Tim 1:9), as the wild and disobedient child (Titus 1:6). Righteousness is a characteristic people may have and yet will pursue but never perfect (1 Tim 6:11; 2 Tim 3:16). Human works of righteousness cannot save; only Jesus, the perfect Righteous One, can die for the unrighteous to bring them to God (Titus 3:5–7; 1 Pet 3:18). Nevertheless, the new believer is instructed to live according to God’s likeness in “true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:24).
How is anyone to avoid self-pleasure, anger, drunkenness, fights, shameful gain but to pursue hospitality, loving what is good, acting wisely, righteously, and in a holy manner? Self-control is the key. Self-control (1:8), to have power over oneself,71 is one of the fruits of the Spirit, which is made possible by crucifying the flesh with its passions while being guided by the Spirit (Gal 5:23–25). It is a characteristic of winning athletes (1 Cor 9:25). The persons with power over themselves are guided by holding firmly to the trustworthy message they were taught (Titus 1:9). This is the godly truth proclaimed by Paul (not the circumcision party)—his healthy teaching (Titus 1:1–3, 10; 2:1).
Overseers/elders must be able to do two things: (1) encourage and (2) reprove: in order that (s)he may also be able to encourage healthy teaching and to reprove those who are opposing (1:9).72 While they encourage healthy teaching, they also discourage those who undermine healthy teaching. Both encouragement and reproving will come up again in the letter for the elder and for Titus (1:13; 2:6, 15). Here explicitly Titus is reminded that there are some people at Crete who oppose (antilegō) healthy teaching.73 They are not obedient to the truth. Paul had been opposed before by some of his Jewish compatriots (Acts 13:45; 28:19), as had been John the Baptist (Luke 2:34).74 Therefore, the overseers/elders are to be people who will work with Titus while he is there (Titus 3:12) to facilitate true teaching.
Sound Teaching (1:10–14)
Paul left Titus behind to set straight what was remaining to be done by appointing godly elders in every city (1:5–9). Why was this necessary? For there are many disobedient, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially the ones from the circumcision, who it is necessary to silence, who overturn whole households teaching what is not necessary because of shameful gain (1:10–11). Paul begins by listing three negative qualities that many people have at Crete: disobedience (anypotaktos), empty talk (mataiologos), and deception (phrenapatēs) (1:10). Children (1:6), and certainly the elders themselves, should not be people unable to subject themselves to healthy teaching (anypotaktos, 1:9; “knowledge of truth,” 1:1). Does empty talk refer simply to someone who is verbose (“a windbag”),75 or is it a stronger term? Mataiologia (mataios, empty; and logia/legō, to speak)76 is synonymous with heterodoxy, myths, and endless genealogies that promote speculations, teaching what is wrong in contrast to God’s “household management” whose goal is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith (1 Tim 1:3–7; Titus 1:7). Mataios in Titus describes the lack of value in discussing “foolish arguments and genealogies and contentions and battles pertaining to the law” (3:9). Mataios is used in the New Testament to describe the pagan gods, like Zeus, who do not have the ability and force to create the world (Acts 14:15) and the way Gentiles who believe in such gods live and think.77 Mataios can also refer to lack of truth or value or force,78 as faith without the historic resurrection has no value (1 Cor 15:17; also 1 Cor 3:20; Jas 1:26). In Titus 1:10, Paul describes those people whose words have no value most likely because their content is not in accordance with truth. Possibly, they go through a sequence of steps. First, they do not subject themselves to healthy teaching and teachers (anypotaktos), then their words become heterodox (mataiologos), and, finally, they deceive others (phrenapatēs).
Eve is an illustration of someone who sinned because of deception, unlike Adam who sinned knowingly (1 Tim 2:14; 2 Cor 11:3). In Ephesians, Paul warns his readers not to be deceived because of “empty words” (Eph 5:6). Deception is based on untruthful information.