# Titus 1.11 **Book:** [Titus](/codex/titus/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 9. holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers. 10. For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision, > > **11. whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.** > > 12. One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons. 13. This testimony is true. For which cause reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, (Titus 1:9-13, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 9. holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict those who contradict him. 10. For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, > > **11. whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake.** > > 12. One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons.” 13. This testimony is true. For this cause, reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, (Titus 1:9-13, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 9. Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. as: or, in teaching 10. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: > > **11. Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.** > > 12. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. 13. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; (Titus 1:9-13, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 9. holding, according to the teaching, to the stedfast word, that he may be able also to exhort in the sound teaching, and the gainsayers to convict; 10. for there are many both insubordinate, vain-talkers, and mind-deceivers, especially they of the circumcision > > **11. whose mouth it behoveth to stop, who whole households do overturn, teaching what things it behoveth not, for filthy lucre's sake.** > > 12. A certain one of them, a prophet of their own, said, 'Cretans! always liars, evil beasts, lazy bellies!' 13. this testimony is true; for which cause convict them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, (Titus 1:9-13, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** [Paul](/codex/paul-the-apostle/), who opens the letter as "a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ" (1:1). Authorship of the three Pastoral Epistles (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus) is disputed. Many critical scholars hold that a later follower wrote them in Paul's name, pointing to differences of vocabulary and style from the undisputed letters and to a more settled church order. Others defend Paul's authorship, among them William Mounce (Word Biblical Commentary, 2000) and Philip Towner (NICNT, 2006), citing the letter's personal details and travel plans (3:12-13). - **Audience:** Titus, "my true child after a common faith" (1:4). He was a Greek convert whom Paul took up to Jerusalem and who, "being a Greek", was not "compelled to be circumcised" (Galatians 2:1-3), and later Paul's envoy to Corinth, "my partner and my fellow-worker to you-ward" (2 Corinthians 8:23). Acts never names him. Paul had left him on Crete "that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city" (1:5). - **Location:** addressed to Titus on Crete. Paul's own location is not stated; he says only that he has decided to winter at Nicopolis (3:12). The note at the end of the letter in the KJV, naming "Nicopolis of Macedonia", is a later scribal subscription, not part of the original text. - **Time period:** on Pauline authorship, usually c. AD 62-66, after Paul's release from the Roman imprisonment that ends Acts. Acts records no mission on Crete; Paul passes the island only as a prisoner bound for Rome (Acts 27:7-13). Scholars who regard the letter as pseudonymous usually place it late in the first century or early in the second. The reading below does not depend on the choice. - **Literary context:** the description of the troublemakers on Crete (1:10-16), which explains why elders must be able "to convict the gainsayers" (1:9). ## Theological reading "whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake." (Titus 1:11, ASV) **Mouths stopped, by what means.** The letter gives Titus and the elders no power of coercion. The means is the one named two verses earlier, the elder holding "the faithful word" so that he can "exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers" (1:9), and the command that follows: "reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith" (1:13). Error is silenced by being answered, and the hoped-for result is the restoration of those in error. **Whole houses.** The early church met in homes (compare "the church in thy house", Philemon 2), so a teacher who unsettled a household could unsettle a congregation. The damage is described as overturning, not merely confusing. **For filthy lucre's sake.** The motive is money. The same phrase appears in the list of what an overseer must not be: "not greedy of filthy lucre" (1:7). The false teacher is the reverse image of the true elder. Compare 1 Timothy 6:5, men "supposing that godliness is a way of gain". See [Titus 1.10](/codex/titus-1-10/) and [Titus 1.12](/codex/titus-1-12/). ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet. ## Quoted in **Passages:** - [Titus 1.10](/codex/titus-1-10/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.