하나님나라를 꿈꾸며(Kingdom of God)

12 When I send Artemas or uTychicus to you, do your best to come to me vat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and wApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn xto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ybe unfruitful.

u See 2 Tim. 4:12

v [2 Tim. 4:10]

w See Acts 18:24

x ver. 8

y 2 Pet. 1:8; [Phil. 1:11; 4:17; Col. 1:10]

z See Col. 4:18

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 딛 3:12–15.

12 내가 아데마나 두기고를 네게 보내리니 그 때에 네가 급히 니고볼리로 내게 오라 내가 거기서 겨울을 지내기로 작정하였노라

13 율법교사 세나와 및 아볼로를 급히 먼저 보내어 그들로 부족함이 없게 하고

14 또 우리 사람들도 열매 없는 자가 되지 않게 하기 위하여 필요한 것을 준비하는 좋은 일에 힘 쓰기를 배우게 하라

15 나와 함께 있는 자가 다 네게 문안하니 믿음 안에서 우리를 사랑하는 자들에게 너도 문안하라 은혜가 너희 무리에게 있을지어다

 대한성서공회, 성경전서: 개역개정, 전자책. (서울시 서초구 남부순환로 2569: 대한성서공회, 1998), 딛 3:12–15.

12-15절은 바울서신의 전형적인 마지막 인사말에 해당한다. 바울은 여러 관련된 사역자들의 재배치에 대한 언급과 마지막 안부인사로 디도서를 마무리한다. 

 

12절) 바울은 디도에게 아데마와 두기고를 그레데로 보낼테니 그 때에 바울이 있는 니고볼리로 속히 올 것을 명한다. 

‘아데마’는 이곳에만 등장하는 인물로 바울의 동역자중 한 사람이다. 이 이름은 당시 흔한 이름으로 예수께서 파송한 70인 전도자(눅 10:1) 중의 하나로 루스드라 감독이었을 것이라는 썰이 있다. 

‘두기고’는 아시아 출신(행 20:4)로 바울의 친밀한 동역자중 한 사람이다. 그는 바울이 일차 로마 옥중 생활을 하고 있을때 에베소서, 골로새서, 빌레몬서를 가지고 오네시모를 동반하여 소아시아를 방문한 적이 있다.(엡 6:21; 골 4:7.9) 바울은 디도와 니고볼리에서 합류할 경우에 아데마나 두기고를 디도를 대신하여 그레데에 파송하여 디도의 역할을 대신 감당하게할려는 계획을 가지고 있었던 것이다. 그런데 이후 디모데후서를 통해 볼 때 실제 두기고는 에베소로 보내져 디모데를 대신하게 된다.(딤후 4:12) 

‘니고볼리’는 로마 초대 황제 옥타비아누스, 즉 아우구스투스가 BC 31년 악티움 해전에서 그의 정적 안토니우스와 클레오파트라를 물리치고 승리한 것을 기념하여 세운 도시로 ‘승리의 도시’라는 의미를 가지고 있다. 이곳은 그리스 북쪽 해안 에피루스에 위치하고 있는데 북서풍이 약해 겨울을 보내기에 좋은 휴양지이다. 이곳은 달마디아에서의 선교활동을 위한 전초기지였다. 바울의 명령에 따라 디도는 니고볼리에 도착했고 후에 달마디아로 돌아가서 거기서 얼마동안 선교사역을 감당한 것으로 추정된다.(딤후 4:10)

‘겨울을 지내기로’로 번역된 ‘파라케이마사이’의 원형 ‘파라케이마조’는 ‘~대항하여, 거슬러’란 의미의 전치사 ‘파라’와 ‘겨울, 풍랑’을 의미하는 명사 ‘케이몬’의 동사형인 ‘나쁜 날씨를 만나다’란 의미의 동사 ‘케이마조’의 합성어로 문자적으로 ‘나쁜 날씨에 대항하다’라는 의미이나 여기서는 ‘겨울을 지내다’라는 의미로 사용되었다. 

‘작정하였노라’로 번역된 ‘케크리카’는 원형 ‘크리노’의 완료 직설법 표현으로 그 결심이 이미 확고하게 서 있는 상태를 말한다. 디모데에게 보낸 편지에서처럼(딤후 4:12) 바울이 노년에 노쇠한 몸으로 겨울을 보낼 처소를 찾고 있는 심정을 엿볼 수 있다. 

-  Nicopolis (Νικόπολις, Nikopolis). One of several Graeco-Roman cities by this name, likely the one known today as Smyrtoula, located in Epirus. Nicopolis, which means “city of victory,” was the largest city on the northwest coast of the Ambracian gulf, off the Adriatic Sea.

Nicopolis (Νικόπολις, Nikopolis) is mentioned in Titus 3:12. Paul tells Titus that as soon as Artemas or Tychicus arrives, Titus is to meet him at Nicopolis, where Paul plans to spend the winter. Thus, Paul has not yet arrived at Nicopolis (he uses ἐκεῖ, ekei; [“there”] instead of ὧδε, hōde; [“here”]). This may indicate that Paul is writing the letter to Titus sometime during the summer, which would give Titus enough time to make the journey from Crete to Nicopolis by winter. Nicopolis was a strategically ideal location for Paul to expand his gospel message westward.

Nicopolis is east of southern Italy, 200 miles northwest of Athens, and 200 miles east of Brindisi, Italy. The Via Appia runs straight from it to Rome. The city was founded by Octavian, later known as Augustus, in 31 bc, to celebrate his victory against Antony at Actium (Josephus, Antiquities 5.111.15). Under Augustus’ decree, many people—legionnaires, the Ambraciots and Anactorians, colonists of Corinth (Paus., Description of Greece 5.23.3), other freedmen, and people from the surrounding areas—came to live in the city.

• The city held the Actian games—founded by Augustus—which rivaled the Olympics.

• The city became the capital of Epirus in ad 67.

• The city became the home of Epictetus in ad 89, during his exile.

• Herod the Great became the chief financial promoter of the city’s major building projects (Josephus, Antiquities 16.5.3).

• The city housed public baths, a theater, stadium, and gymnasium.

• The city became the area’s most important trading and commercial fishing center.

• The city became home to five basilicas during the Christian era.

• Origen sojourned in Nicopolis (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 6.16).

The city was destroyed by the Goths in the fifth century, but later restored by Justinian. Nicopolis has been called “the best site to appreciate the Roman conqueror’s transforming hand on ancient Greece’s landscape” (Mee and Spawforth, Greece, 389).

 Michael E. Peach, “Nicopolis”, ed. John D. Barry기타, The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

 

 

-  3:12 do your best to come to me. Although Paul had left Titus in Crete in order to get the churches there properly established, he was not expected to stay there indefinitely. Artemas is not mentioned elsewhere in the NT. Tychicus is mentioned as an Asian who accompanied Paul on his third journey (Acts 20:4). In Eph. 6:21 and Col. 4:7 he is referred to as a “beloved brother and faithful minister” (see also 2 Tim. 4:12). Nicopolis was a port city in Epirus, on the west coast of the Greek peninsula and about 200 miles (322 km) northwest of Athens.

 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2351.

 

-  3:12 In this verse Paul lays plans for Titus to leave Crete and join him at Nicopolis for the winter. Ὅταν with the aorist subjunctive (here πέμψω) is used “when the action of the subordinate clause precedes that of the main clause” (BAGD s.v. 1b). Thus “whenever” either Artemas or Tychicus arrives to take Titus’s place, Titus should then leave to join Paul (με).

Apparently Paul had not decided which of the two men to send, nor exactly when he would send one of them. There is no other reference to Ἀρτεμᾶς** in the NT. Acts 20:4 indicates that Τύχικος** was from Asia, a coastal province of Asia Minor, and that he and Trophimus were the representatives from the church there who accompanied Paul with the gift for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. Paul relates in Eph. 6:21 and Col. 4:7 that Tychicus is a beloved brother and faithful minister who will tell those churches about how Paul is doing; apparently Tychicus was the one delivering those letters. Since from 2 Tim. 4:10, 12 we learn that Paul sent Tychicus to Ephesus and that Titus went to Dalmatia, which is just up the coast from Nicopolis (see below on the identification and location of Nicopolis), we may reasonably assume that the plan outlined here did materialize and that Artemas was apparently the one sent to Crete. The plan was for Titus, when replaced by one of the two men, to “make every effort” or to “make haste” to come (both meanings for the aorist imperative σπούδασον are possible and both appear elsewhere in the PE* [4x: 2 Tim. 2:15; 4:9, 21], although the former is more dominant in Paul as a whole [7x: also Gal. 2:10; Eph. 4:3; 1 Thes. 2:17]; see BAGD).

Paul wants Titus to join him at Νικόπολις** (a NT hapax; see J. M. Houston, ZPEB IV, 436; G. L. Borchert, ISBE III, 534f.). Although several places were known by that name (see Zahn, Introduction II, §35, n. 3), the capital of Epirus best fits the time framework of the letter and the reference in 2 Tim. 4:10 to Titus being in Dalmatia, which was just up the coast from Epirus. Nicopolis was on the west coast of Greece about two hundred miles northwest of Athens on the the gulf of Ambracia (now known as Arta) near the Adriatic Sea (cf. Strabo 7.7.5). It was founded and named by Augustus in 31 b.c. and established as a Roman colony (cf. Dio Cassius 51.1; Strabo loc. cit.).

Titus is to come “because” (γάρ) Paul “has decided” (κέκρικα, from κρίνω) “to winter there,” the perfect tense expressing a settled decision. The infinitive παραχειμάσαι** with ἐκεῖ, “to spend the winter” “there,” indicates the decision that Paul has reached. He is not yet at Nicopolis, since he refers to Nicopolis as “there” (ἐκεῖ, “in that place,” BAGD; cf. Rom. 15:24), not “here.” Thus the subscriptions (see NA26) that say that the letter was written from Nicopolis are not accurate.

Travel on the sea was difficult or impossible during the winter (cf. 2 Tim. 4:21), and Paul’s experiences (Acts 27:12; 28:11) made him keenly aware of the need to make plans for the season. Use of παραχειμάζω by Paul or in connection with Paul (the Acts passages just mentioned; 1 Cor. 16:6) shows that he sought to spend his winters with Christians in strategic locations for gospel ministry. His choice of Nicopolis put him and Titus one step further west of the area where most of his labors had been concentrated and was most likely taken with a view to fulfilling his desire to go where the gospel had not been preached and, ultimately, to Spain (cf. Rom. 15:20–24).

BAGD W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, tr. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. 2nd ed. rev. and augmented by F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker from Bauer’s 5th ed. (1958), Chicago, 1979.

BAGD W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, tr. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. 2nd ed. rev. and augmented by F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker from Bauer’s 5th ed. (1958), Chicago, 1979.

ZPEB M. Tenney, et al., eds., The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible I–V. Grand Rapids, 1975–76.

ISBE G. W. Bromiley, et al., ed., International Standard Bible Encyclopedia I–IV. Grand Rapids, 1979–88.

BAGD W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, tr. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. 2nd ed. rev. and augmented by F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker from Bauer’s 5th ed. (1958), Chicago, 1979.

NA K. Aland and B. Aland, eds., Novum Testamentum Graece. 26th ed., Stuttgart, 1979.

26 K. Aland and B. Aland, eds., Novum Testamentum Graece. 26th ed., Stuttgart, 1979.

 George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles: a commentary on the Greek text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1992), 356–357.

 

13절) ‘율법교사’로 번역된 ‘노미콘’의 원형 ‘노미코스’는 ‘율법에 박식한 자로 율법의 해석자나 교사’를 가리키는 말이다. 영어로는 ‘laywer’로 표현되는데 율법 전문가 혹은 로마법 전문가를 지칭하는 것이다. ‘세나’는 ‘세노도로스’의 약칭으로 ‘제우스의 은사’라는 의미의 로마식 이름으로 로마법의 전문가, 변호사였을 가능성이 있다. 아마도 그는 이방 출신 그리스도인 변호사로 순회 전도자 활동을 한 것으로 추측된다. 

‘아볼로’는 ‘아폴로니오스’의 약칭으로 ‘성경과 말씀에 능했던 자’로 통한다. 그는 알렉산드리아 출신의 유명하고도 탁월한 유대인으로 에베소에서 아굴라와 브리스길라로부터 복음에 대하여 가르침을 받고 고린도에서 교사로 활동했었다.(행 18:24; 19:2; 고전 1:12; 16:12) 

바울은 이들을 니고볼리로 급히 먼저 보내라고 명령한다. 한글 번역에서는 매우 긴급하게 보낼 것을 서두르라는 뉘앙스를 보인다. 하지만 ‘급히’로 번역된 ‘스푸다이오스’는 ‘서둘러’라는 의미도 있지만 ‘근면하게’라는 의미를 가지고 있다. 또한 ‘먼저 보내어’로 번역된 ‘프로펨프손’의 원형 ‘프로펨포’는 ‘전에, 앞에’라는 의미의 전치사 ‘프로’와 ‘보내다’란 의미의 동사 ‘템포’의 합성어로 ‘앞서 보내다’라는 의미이지만 많은 경우 여행이나 공무 수행에 필요한 사람이나 옷가지, 여비를 공급하여 보낸다는 의미로 사용되어 ‘전송하다’로 번역되는 표현이다.(행 20:38; 21:5; 요삼 1:6) 따라서 본절은 바울이 디도에게 세나와 아볼로를 급히 보낼 것을 명한다고 볼 수도 있고 그들에게 필요한 것을 잘 챙겨서 파송할 것을 부탁하는 것으로 이해할 수도 있다. 이후에 그들로 부족함이 없게 하고라는 표현이 등장하기에 선교 여행을 위해서 필요한 물품을 잘 챙겨서 보낼 것을 의미하는 것으로 해석하는 것이 더욱 타당하다. 

 

 

-  3:13 Paul knows that two men will be going through Crete and commends them and their needs to Titus and the Christians there. They are probably coming from Paul and carrying the letter with them.

Ζηνᾶς** is not mentioned elsewhere in the NT. Here he is designated by his profession as τὸν νομικόν, “the lawyer,” just as Paul mentions the professions of others on occasion (Rom. 16:23; Col. 4:14). The term is most likely used here of an expert in Roman law rather than Jewish law (so Spicq and Ridderbos; Lock regards it as indicating here an expert in Jewish law as in Matthew and Luke; cf. BAGD s.v. 2; Mason, Greek Terms, s.v.; on the training and duties of νομικοί in the Greco-Roman world see Taubenschlag, “Legal Profession”).

It is quite likely that Ἀπολλῶς** is the Apollos referred to elsewhere by Paul and in Acts (Acts 18:24; 19:1; 1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4, 5, 6, 22; 4:6; 16:12). Acts 18:24ff. identifies him as a Jewish Christian from Alexandria who “was mighty in the scriptures” and “fervent in spirit” and speaks of his desire to go to other places to minister (v. 27). Therefore, it is not surprising to find Apollos going through Crete to his next field of labor. Since Zenas and Apollos are mentioned in the same breath and are both to be helped on their way and since we know that Apollos was a Christian worker, it may be assumed that Zenas his associate was also.

Paul commands that these men be σπουδαίως πρόπεμψον. πρόπεμψον is aorist imperative of προπέμπω,** which is used twice in the NT in the sense of “accompany” or “escort” (Acts 20:38; 21:5). It is used here, however, as is borne out by the following ἵνα clause, with the meaning “help on one’s journey” by various means, including money, as it is predominantly elsewhere (cf. Acts 15:3; Rom. 15:24; 1 Cor. 16:6, 11; 2 Cor. 1:16; 3 Jn. 6). The journey thus spoken of in the NT is always related to Christian ministry, and those to be aided are those involved in such ministry (cf. especially 3 Jn. 7–8; all the other passages relate to Paul and his fellow workers and have the same implicit perspective).

The adverb σπουδαίως,** as was the case for the related verb σπουδάζω in v. 12, can mean either “with haste,” in the sense of special urgency (Phil. 2:28), or “diligently, earnestly,” in the sense of “do your best” (RSV) or “do everything you can” (NIV). As with the verb the slight preponderance of usage falls in the second category (Lk. 7:4; 2 Tim. 1:17), and that is the preferred meaning here (BAGD s.v. 2).

The ἵνα clause gives the purpose for such help being given to Zenas and Apollos. Paul wants these two men to “lack” or “fall short of” (λείπω,** Lk. 18:22; Tit. 1:5; Jas. 1:4, 5; 2:15; here in the intransitive sense; see BAGD s.v. 2) “nothing.” The verb is used here with regard to the necessities of life, as in Jas. 2:15 (and as is indicated by εἰς τὰς ἀναγκαίας χρείας in Tit. 3:14); “nothing” (μηδέν) recalls the reference to appropriate Christian generosity in 3 Jn. 6, which speaks of sending such workers on their way “in a manner worthy of God” (!) since they have accepted “nothing” (μηδέν) from Gentiles.

BAGD W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, tr. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. 2nd ed. rev. and augmented by F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker from Bauer’s 5th ed. (1958), Chicago, 1979.

RSV Revised Standard Version

NIV New International Version

BAGD W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, tr. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. 2nd ed. rev. and augmented by F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker from Bauer’s 5th ed. (1958), Chicago, 1979.

BAGD W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, tr. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. 2nd ed. rev. and augmented by F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker from Bauer’s 5th ed. (1958), Chicago, 1979.

 George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles: a commentary on the Greek text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1992), 357–358.

-  3:14 Paul again, prompted by the particular need he has just spoken of, calls on Titus to remind the Christians on Crete of the necessity of doing good deeds. The definite article οἱ with the first person plural possessive pronoun ἡμέτεροι implies that the pronoun qualifies an understood noun, so that the reference is to “our people,” i.e., those who “belong” to Paul and Titus as fellow Christians (BAGD; cf. Rom. 15:4), those of whom Paul has used the first person plural pronoun ἡμεῖς in this letter (1:3, 4; 2:8, 10, 13, 14; 3:3, 4, 5, 6) and elsewhere in the PE. Perhaps Paul uses this construction to distinguish those who follow him and Titus from the false teachers and their followers as well as from non-Christian neighbors.

Paul wants the Christians to keep on “learning” (μανθανέτωσαν, present active imperative; see 1 Tim. 5:14) through the activity of doing (cf. the similar sense in Heb. 5:8). The infinitive following indicates the activity (for other examples see BAGD s.v. 4). What they are to learn is “to engage in good deeds,” καλῶν ἔργων προΐστασθαι, which is repeated from v. 8 (see the comments there). This is an obvious attempt to drive the general lesson home with this concrete case. Thus they are to learn “also” (καί) with reference to this pressing need as well as in the more normal routines of life.

They are to learn this εἰς τὰς ἀναγκαίας χρείας. εἰς here either means “because of” (Dana-Mantey, Grammar, 103f.) or more likely has a purposive sense (MHT III, 266; NIV: “in order that”; RSV: “so as to”). τὰς ἀναγκαίας χρείας are literally “necessary needs,” i.e., what is “pressing, urgent, and real” (χρείας; see especially Acts 2:45; 4:35; Eph. 4:28; Phil. 4:16; 1 Jn. 3:17).

BAGD W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, tr. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. 2nd ed. rev. and augmented by F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker from Bauer’s 5th ed. (1958), Chicago, 1979.

BAGD W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, tr. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. 2nd ed. rev. and augmented by F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker from Bauer’s 5th ed. (1958), Chicago, 1979.

MHT J. H. Moulton, W. F. Howard, and N. Turner, A Grammar of New Testament Greek I–IV. Edinburgh, 1908–76.

NIV New International Version

RSV Revised Standard Version

 George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles: a commentary on the Greek text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1992), 358–359.

-  ἀσπάζομαι (aspazomai), 동사. 문안하다, 평안을 빌다, 안부를 묻다.

1. 인사하다 — 누군가 만날 때 인사를 표현하다.

롬 16:3 Ἀσπάσασθε Πρίσκαν καὶ Ἀκύλαν τοὺς συνεργούς μου

빌 4:21 Ἀσπάσασθε πάντα ἅγιον ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.

골 4:10 Ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ συναιχμάλωτός μου, καὶ

딛 3:15 Ἀσπάζονταί σε οἱ μετʼ ἐμοῦ πάντες.

요삼 15 ἀσπάζονταί σε οἱ φίλοι.

2. 작별 인사를 하다† — 작별할 때 인사하거나 호의를 표하다.

행 20:1 καὶ παρακαλέσας, ἀσπασάμενος ἐξῆλθεν

• 출 18:7; 에 D:12; 토비 5:10; 1마카 7:29; 3마카 1:8

† 현재 의미를 포함하여 나오는 현 원형의 모든 용례.

 Rick Brannan, 편집자, Lexham 헬라어 성경 어휘사전 (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020).

-  3:15 ἀσπάζομαι is the verb used for greetings in the conclusions of Greek letters (BAGD s.v. 1a; Exler, Form, 69–77, 111–13), including most of Paul’s letters (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, and Philemon) and Hebrews, 1 Peter, and 2 and 3 John. Those whose greetings Paul conveys, οἱ μετʼ ἐμοῦ πάντες, may be either his fellow workers or all the Christians where he is. The exact phrase is not used elsewhere by Paul or in the NT, but πάντες in similar phrases refers both to all Christians (Phil. 4:22; 2 Cor. 13:12) and to Paul’s “brothers,” i.e., his fellow workers (1 Cor. 16:20; cf. the distinction between ἀδελφοί and ἅγιοι in Phil. 4:21–22). The one other occurrence in such phrases of “with me” (with σύν; μετʼ is used here) is used in regard to the “brothers” (Phil. 4:21), so here, too, Paul may be referring to his fellow workers (so also Gal. 1:2 [σύν]; 2 Tim. 4:11 [μετʼ]). Paul’s closing greetings are directed to singular σε only, as we would expect, in letters directed to individuals (here; 2 Tim. 4:21; Phm. 23; 1 Timothy has no such greetings). The “you” is, of course, the addressee of the letter, Titus.

Titus is directed to “greet those who love us in the faith.” The recipients of this greeting are those who remain in the bonds of brotherly love in that “faith” (cf. Tit. 1:4; 1 Tim. 1:2) and are distinguished by this designation from others who are disloyal to Paul and his gospel. Paul uses the same verb, φιλέω, “love,”** in an even more forthrightly negative statement in the conclusion of 1 Cor. 16:22: “If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed.” He implies here that Titus is to make an appraisal of others with regard to their relationship to Paul himself, since only Titus knows the situation where he is and how individuals there stand with regard to Paul. That the apostle himself often made such appraisals of Christians, loving them because they were brothers in the faith and because their reciprocal love showed this reality, is seen in his repeated use of ἀγαπητός, especially in the plural and in the phrase ἀδελφοὶ ἀγαπητοί (1 Cor. 10:14; 15:58; 2 Cor. 7:1; 12:19; Phil. 2:12; 4:1; 1 Thes. 2:8; cf. 1 Tim. 6:2; Jn. 13:34–35; 15:12, 17; Eph. 6:24).

Paul’s concluding benediction is “Grace be with you all.” The letter thus ends, as it began (1:4), with God’s grace (χάρις), since Paul is persuaded that grace alone brings salvation (2:11) and produces godly lives (2:12). χάρις is, indeed, used in the first and last chapter of every letter of Paul’s, as also in 1 and 2 Peter and Revelation and at the beginning of 2 John and the end of Hebrews. The word expresses God’s unmerited favor in Christ in its soteriological significance for the believer, saving, sanctifying, and empowering him or her (cf. the full discussion at 1 Tim. 1:2 and the very informative usages in Tit. 2:11; 3:7, where the significance of χάρις in the believer’s life is explicated). Here Paul asks that this “grace” continue its work in the life of all in the church on Crete (for a discussion of what verb should be understood and what significance should be given to the benediction see the full discussion at 1 Tim. 6:21).

Here at the conclusion of a letter addressed to an individual, Paul concludes with plural πάντων ὑμῶν, “all of you,” addressing all the Christians on Crete, to whom he has been speaking throughout the letter in the instructions he has given them through Titus. Plural ὑμῶν is used in this way in the concluding benedictions of each of the PE and in Philemon (see the comments on 1 Tim. 6:21). But here only in the PE does Paul add πάντων, “all,” for clarity and emphasis (cf. πάντων in 1 Cor. 16:24; 2 Cor. 13:13; Eph. 6:24; 2 Thes. 3:18; Heb. 13:25; Rev. 22:21). The concluding ἀμήν “is absent from a variety of early and diverse witnesses” (TCGNT; see NA26) and was probably added by a copyist early in the history of transmission.

BAGD W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, tr. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. 2nd ed. rev. and augmented by F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker from Bauer’s 5th ed. (1958), Chicago, 1979.

TCGNT B. M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. New York, 1971.

NA K. Aland and B. Aland, eds., Novum Testamentum Graece. 26th ed., Stuttgart, 1979.

26 K. Aland and B. Aland, eds., Novum Testamentum Graece. 26th ed., Stuttgart, 1979.

 George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles: a commentary on the Greek text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1992), 359–360.