         
- CLARKE'S COMMENTARY -
Chapter 2
- Sundry directions to aged men, 1,2.
- To aged
women, 3.
- To young women, 4,5.
- To young men, 6.
- Directions to Titus, relative to his own conduct,
7,8. Directions to servants, 9,10.
- What the Gospel
of the grace of God teaches all men, 11,12.
- The
glorious prospect held out by it; salvation from all sin,
and final glory, 13-15.
Verse 1. But speak thou the
things
This is a conclusion drawn from the
preceding chapter: the Judaizing teachers not only taught a
false doctrine, but they led an unholy life; Titus was to act
directly opposite; he must teach a sacred doctrine, and the
things which become it; he must proclaim the truth, and
illustrate that truth. The people must not only be well
instructed, but they must be holy in their lives. Principle
and practice must go hand in hand.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 2. That the aged men be
sober
It is very likely that the word
aged is to be taken here in its literal sense; that it
refers to advanced years, and not to any office
in the Church: the whole context seems to require this sense.
For an old man to be a drunkard, a light and trifling
person, and a glutton, and not to be sober, grave, and
temperate, is not only blamable but monstrous. Seneca
has well said: Luxuriosus adolescens peccat; senew
insanit. "A young man addicted to a life of luxury
transgresses; an old man thus addicted runs mad."
Verse 3. The aged women
likewise
I believe elderly women are
meant, and not deaconesses.
That they be in
behaviour
That
they be in their dress, gait, and general
deportment, such as their holy calling requires; that
they be not like the world, but like the Church, decent
without, and adorned with holiness within.
Not false accusers
Not devils; we have had the same
expression applied in the same way, 1 Timothy
3:11, where see the note.
Not given to much
wine
Not
enslaved by much wine, not habitual drunkards or
tipplers; habit is a species of slavery. Both
among the Greeks and Romans old women were generally reputed
to be fond of much wine; hence the ancient scholiast on Homer,
II. vi., speaking of old women, says:
At this age they delight in wine; which words Ovid
seems to have translated literally: Vinosior aetas
haec erat. It is likely, therefore, that it was customary
among the elderly women, both Greeks and Romans, to drink much
wine, and because it was inconsistent with that
moderation, which the Gospel requires, the apostle
forbids it: doubtless it was not considered criminal among
them, because it was a common practice; and we know that the
Greek philosophers and physicians, who denied wine to young
persons, judged it to be necessary for the aged. See Clarke on
1 Timothy
5:23.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 4. That they may teach the
young women to be sober
That it was natural
for the young to imitate the old will be readily allowed; it
was therefore necessary that the old should be an example of
godly living to the young. St. Jerome, taking it for granted
that drunkenness and impurity are closely
connected, asks this serious question: Quomodo potest
docere anus adolescentulas castitatem, cum, si
ebrietatem vetulae mulieris adolescentula fuerit
imitata, pudica esse non possit? "How can an elderly woman
teach young women chastity, when, if the young woman should
imitate the drunkenness of the matron, it would be impossible
for her to be chaste?"
To love their
husbands
The duties recommended in this and
the following verses are so plain as to need no comment; and
so absolutely necessary to the character of a wife, that no
one deserves the name who does not live in the practice of
them.
Verse 5. Keepers at
home
A woman who spends much
time in visiting, must neglect her family. The
idleness, dirtiness, impudence, and profligacy of the
children, will soon show how deeply criminal the mother was in
rejecting the apostle's advice. Instead of,
keepers of the house, or keepers at home,
ACD*EFG, and several of the Itala, have,
workers at home; not only staying in the house
and keeping the house, but working in the
house. A woman may keep the house very closely, and yet
do little in it for the support or comfort of the family.
That the word of God be not
blasphemed.
The enemies of the Gospel are
quick-eyed to spy out imperfections in its professors; and, if
they find women professing Christianity living an irregular
life, they will not fail to decry the Christian doctrine on
this account: "Behold your boasted religion! it professes to
reform all things, and its very professors are no better than
others! Our heathenism is as good as your Christianity." These
are cutting reproaches; and much they will have to answer for
who give cause for these blasphemies.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 6. Young men-exhort to be
sober-minded.
Reformation should begin with
the old; they have the authority, and they should give the
example. The young of both sexes must also give an account of
themselves to God; sober-mindedness in young men is a
rare qualification, and they who have it not plunge into
excesses and irregularities which in general sap the
foundation of their constitution, bring on premature old age,
and not seldom lead to a fatal end.
Verse 7. In all things showing
thyself a pattern
As the apostle had given
directions relative to the conduct of old men, Titus
2:2, of old women, Titus
2:3, of young women, Titus
2:4, and of young men, Titus
2:6, the words which we translate in all
things, should be rather considered in reference to the
above persons, and the behaviour required in them: showing
thyself a pattern of good works to all these
persons-being, in sobriety, gravity,
temperance, what thou requirest others to be.
In doctrine showing
uncorruptness
Mixing nothing with the
truth; taking nothing from it; adding nothing to it; and
exhibiting it in all its connection, energy, and fulness.
Verse 8. Sound speech
Sound or healing doctrine.
Human nature is in a state of disease; and the doctrine
of the Gospel is calculated to remove the disease, and restore
all to perfect health and soundness. All false
doctrines leave men under the influence of this spiritual
disease; the unadulterated doctrine of the Gospel alone can
heal men.
He that is of the contrary
part
Whether this may refer to the
Judaizing teachers in general, or to some one who
might, by his false doctrine, have been disturbing the peace
of the Churches in Crete, we cannot tell.
Having no evil thing to say of
you.
Against a person who is sound in his
doctrine, and holy in his life, no evil can be justly alleged.
He who reports evil of such a person must be confounded when
brought to the test. Instead of of YOU, of US, is the reading of CDEFG, and about forty
others; with both the Syriac, all the Arabic,
Slavonic, Vulgate, Itala, and several of the primitive
fathers. This reading makes a better sense, and is
undoubtedly genuine.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 9. Exhort servants to be
obedient
The apostle refers to those who
were slaves, and the property of their masters;
even these are exhorted to be obedient, to
their own despots, though they had no right over
them on the ground of natural justice.
Please them well in all
things
They were to endeavour to do this in all
things, though they could not hope to succeed in every thing.
Not answering again
Not contradicting or
gainsaying. This is no part of a servant's duty; a
servant is hired to do his master's work, and this his master
has a right to appoint.
Verse 10. Not
purloining
Neither
giving away, privately selling, nor in any way
wasting, the master's goods. The word signifies, not
only stealing but embezzling another's property;
keeping back a part of the price of any commodity sold
on the master's account. In Acts
5:2, we translate it, to keep back part of the
price; the crime of which Ananias and Sapphira were
guilty. It has been remarked that among the heathens this
species of fraud was very frequent; and servants were so noted
for purloining and embezzling their master's property that
fur, which signifies a thief, was commonly used
to signify a servant; hence that verse in Virgil,
Eclog. iii. 16:-
Quid domini faciant, audent cum talia FURES?
"What may not masters do, when servants (thieves) are so
bold?"
On which Servius remarks: Pro SERVO FUREM
posuit, furta enim specialiter servorum
sunt. Sic Plautus de servo, Homo es trium
literarum, i.e. fur. "He puts fur, a
thief, to signify a servant, because servants are
commonly thieves. Thus Plautus, speaking of a servant,
says: Thou art a man of three letters, i.e. f-u-r, a
thief." And Terence denominates a number of
servants, munipulus furum, "a bundle of thieves." Eun.
4,7, 6. The place in Plautus to which Servius refers is in
Aulul., act ii. scene iv. in fine:-
-------------Tun', trium literarum homo, Me
vituperas? F-u-r, etiam fur trifurcifer. "Dost thou blame
me, thou man of three letters? Thou art a thief, and the most
notorious of all knaves."
It was necessary, therefore, that the apostle should be so
very particular in his directions to servants, as they
were in general thieves almost by profession.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 11. The grace of God that
bringeth salvation hath appeared to all
men
Literally translated, the words stand thus:
For the grace of God, that which saves, hath shone
forth upon all men. Or, as it is expressed in the margin
of our authorized version: The grace of God, that bringeth
salvation to all men, hath appeared. As God's
grace signifies God's favour, any benefit
received from him may be termed God's grace. In this
place, and in Colossians
1:6, the Gospel, which points out God's infinite
mercy to the world, is termed the grace of God; for it
is not only a favour of infinite worth in itself, but
it announces that greatest gift of God to man, the incarnation
and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Now it cannot be said,
except in a very refined and spiritual sense, that this Gospel
had then appeared to all men; but it may be well said
that it bringeth salvation to all men; this is its
design; and it was to taste death for every man that
its author came into the world. There is a beauty and energy
in the word επεφανη, hath shined out, that is
rarely noted; it seems to be a metaphor taken from the
sun. As by his rising in the east and shining
out, he enlightens, successively, the whole world;
so the Lord Jesus, who is called the Sun of
righteousness, Malachi
4:2, arises on the whole human race with healing in his
wings. And as the light and heat of the sun are
denied to no nation nor individual, so the grace of the Lord
Jesus, this also shines out upon all; and God designs
that all mankind shall be as equally benefited by it in
reference to their souls, as they are in respect to
their bodies by the sun that shines in the firmament of
heaven. But as all the parts of the earth are not
immediately illuminated, but come into the solar light
successively, not only in consequence of the earth's
diurnal revolution round its own axis, but in consequence of
its annual revolution round its whole orbit; so this Sun of
righteousness, who has shined out, is bringing every
part of the habitable globe into his Divine light; that light
is shining more and more to the perfect day; so that
gradually and successively he is enlightening
every nation, and every man; and, when his great year
is filled up, every nation of the earth shall be brought into
the light and heat of this unspotted, uneclipsed, and eternal
Sun of righteousness and truth. Wherever the Gospel comes, it
brings salvation-it offers deliverance from all
sin to every soul that hears or reads it. As freely as the
sun dispenses his genial influences to every inhabitant of the
earth, so freely does Jesus Christ dispense the merits and
blessings of his passion and death to every soul of man. From
the influences of this spiritual Sun no soul is
reprobated any more than from the influences of the
natural sun. In both cases, only those who wilfully shut their
eyes, and hide themselves in darkness, are deprived of the
gracious benefit. It is no objection to this view of the
subject, that whole nations have not yet received the Divine
light. When the earth and the sun were created, every part of
the globe did not come immediately into the light; to
effect this purpose fully there must be a complete revolution,
as has been marked above, and this could not be effected till
the earth had not only revolved on its own axis, but passed
successively through all the signs of the zodiac. When its
year was completed, and not till then, every part had
its due proportion of light and heat. God may, in his infinite
wisdom, have determined the times and the
seasons for the full manifestation of the Gospel to the
nations of the world, as he has done in reference to the solar
light; and when the Jews are brought in with the fulness of
the Gentiles, then, and not till then, can we say that the
grand revolution of the important YEAR of the Sun of
righteousness is completed. But, in the meantime, the
unenlightened parts of the earth are not left in total
darkness; as there was light
"----------------------ere the infant sun Was rolled
together, or had tried his beams Athwart the gloom profound;"
light being created, and in a certain measure dispersed, at
least three whole days before the sun was formed; (for
his creation was a part of the fourth day's work;) so,
previously to the incarnation of Christ, there was
spiritual light in the world; for he diffused his
beams while his orb was yet unseen. And even now, where
by the preaching of his Gospel he is not yet manifested, he is
that true light which enlightens every man coming into the
world; so that the moral world is no more left to absolute
darkness, where the Gospel is not yet preached, than the earth
was the four days which preceded the creation of the sun, or
those parts of the world are where the Gospel has not yet been
preached. The great year is rolling on, and all the
parts of the earth are coming successively, and now
rapidly, into the light. The vast revolution
seems to be nearly completed, and the whole world is about to
be filled with the light and glory of God. A heathen poet,
apparently under the inspiration of God (for God has his
witnesses every where) speaks of those glorious times in
words and numbers which nothing but the Spirit
of God can equal. It gratifies myself to refer to them, and it
will gratify my reader to find them entered here:-
Ultima Cumaei venit jam carminis aetas: Magnus ab integro
saeclorum nascitur ordo.- Talia saecla suis dixerunt, currite,
fusis Concordes stabili fatorum numine Parcae.- Aspice convexo
nutantem pondere mundum, Terrasque, tractusque maris,
coelumque profundum: Aspice, venturo laetentur ut omnia
saeclo!
The last great age, foretold by sacred rhymes,
Renews its finish'd course; Saturnian times Roll round
again; and mighty years, begun From their first orb, in
radiant circles run. Majestic months, with swift but
steady pace, Set out with him on their appointed race.- The
Fates, when they their happy web have spun, Shall bless the
clew, and bid it smoothly run.- See labouring nature calls
thee to sustain The nodding frame of heaven and earth and
main; See, to their base restored, earth, seas, and air, And
joyful ages from behind appear In crowding ranks. DRYDEN.
Hasten the time, thou God of ages! Even so. Amen. Come,
Lord Jesus!
Verse 12.
Teaching us, that, denying, Instructing us as
children are instructed. Christ is the great teacher;
and men, in order to learn, must become his disciples-must put
themselves under his tuition, and learn of him.
Denying ungodliness
All things contrary to God; whatever would lead
us to doubt his being, deny any of his essential attributes;
his providence or government of the world, and his influence
on the souls of men. Every thing, also, which is opposed to
his true worship; theoretical and practical atheism, deism,
and irreligion in general.
Worldly lusts
Such desires, affections, and appetites, as men are
governed by who have their portion in this life, and live
without God in the world. Gluttony, drunkenness,
lasciviousness, anger, malice, and revenge; together with the
immoderate love of riches, power, and fame.
We should live
soberly
Having every temper, appetite, and
desire, under the government of reason, and reason
itself under the government of the Spirit of God.
Righteously
Rendering to every man his due, injuring no person in his
body, mind, reputation, or property; doing unto all as we
would they should do to us; and filling up the duties of the
particular stations in which it has pleased God to fix us,
committing no sin, omitting no duty.
And godly
Just the reverse of what is implied in
ungodliness. See above.
In this present
world
Not supposing that any thing will be
purified in the world to come that is not cleansed in this.
The three words above evidently include our duty to God, to
our neighbour, and to ourselves. 1. We are to live
soberly in respect to ourselves. 2.
Righteously in respect to our neighbour. And 3.
Godly, or piously, in respect to our Maker.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 13. Looking for that blessed
hope
Expecting the grand object of our
hope, eternal life. See Titus
1:2. This is what the Gospel teaches us to expect, and
what the grace of God prepares the human heart for. This is
called a blessed hope; those who have it are
happy in the sure prospect of that glory which shall be
revealed.
The glorious
appearing
This clause, literally
translated, is as follows: And the appearing of the glory of
the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ. On this passage
I must refer the reader to the ESSAY ON THE GREEK ARTICLE, by
H. S. Boyd, Esq., appended to the notes on the Epistle to the
Ephesians, where both the structure and doctrine
of this passage are explained at large.
Some think that the blessed hope and glorious
appearing mean the same thing; but I do not think so. The
blessed hope refers simply to eternal glorification in
general; the glorious appearing, to the
resurrection of the body; for when Christ appears he will
change this vile body, and make it like unto his GLORIOUS
BODY, according to the working by which he is able even to
subdue all things to himself. See Philippians
3:20,21.
Verse 14. Who gave himself for
us
Verse 15. These things
speak
- 1. FEW portions of the New Testament excel this chapter. It
may well form the creed, system of ethics, and text book of
every Christian preacher. Does any man inquire what is the
duty of a Gospel minister! Send him to the second chapter of
the Epistle to Titus for a complete answer. There he will find
what he is to believe, what he is to practise,
and what he is to preach. Even his congregation
is parcelled out to him. The old and the young
of both sexes, and those who are in their employment, are
considered to be the objects of his ministry; and a plan of
teaching, in reference to those different descriptions of
society, is laid down before him. He finds here the
doctrine which he is to preach to them, the
duties which he is required to inculcate, the
motives by which his exhortations are to be
strengthened, and the end which both he and his people
should have invariably in view.
- 2. The Godhead of Jesus Christ is here laid down in
a most solemn and explicit manner: He is the great God our
Saviour, human language can go no higher,
and the expressions are such, and are so placed, that it is
impossible either to misunderstand or to misapply them. HE who
is the great God, higher than the highest, is our
Saviour; he who is our Saviour is the great
God; but Jesus Christ is our Saviour, and Jesus Christ is
here stated to be the great God.
- 3. The extent of human redemption is here also
pointed out. The saving grace of this great God hath
shone out upon every man; none has been passed by, none left
uninfluenced, none without the first offer of life
eternal, and a sufficiency of grace to qualify him for the
state.
- 4. The operation of Divine grace in preparing the
soul for glory is next referred to. It cleanses us from all
unrighteousness, it purifies us unto God, and makes us fervent
and abundant in good works. This system is worthy of God, and
is properly suited to the state and necessities of man. These
are truths which must be preached, which are not preached
enough, and which cannot be preached too often. Awake,
pastors! and do not the work of the Lord carelessly. Awake,
people! and believe to the saving of your souls. How shall
he who is styled a minister of the Gospel, and who
neither knows, feels, nor heartily inculcates these things,
give an account in the great day, of himself, his calling, and
his flock, to God? And when this Gospel is preached faithfully
and zealously, how shall the people escape who neglect
so great a salvation? Neglect, in such a case, is the
highest contempt which man can offer to his Maker.
Surely such conduct must expect judgment without mixture of
mercy. Reader, lay this to heart.
• CLARKE Top
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Copyright Statement
The Adam Clarke Commentary is a derivative of an
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Bibliography
Information
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary
on Titus 1". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
<http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=tit&chapter=002>.
1832.
|
