ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Titus 1.12

Book: Titus · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

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.

  1. This testimony is true. For which cause reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14. not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. (Titus 1:10-14, ASV)
WEB

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.”

  1. This testimony is true. For this cause, reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14. not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. (Titus 1:10-14, WEB)
KJV

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.

  1. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; 14. Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. (Titus 1:10-14, KJV)
YLT

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!'

  1. this testimony is true; for which cause convict them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14. not giving heed to Jewish fables and commands of men, turning themselves away from the truth; (Titus 1:10-14, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul, who names himself "a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ" in the opening verse. The phrase doulos theou, servant of God, is unusual for him; he normally writes servant of Christ.
  • Audience: Titus, a Gentile co-worker whom Paul had declined to have circumcised (Galatians 2:1-3), addressed as "my true child after a common faith."
  • Location: Written to Titus on Crete, where Paul had left him "that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city." Paul's own location is not stated; he mentions only an intention to winter at Nicopolis (Titus 3:12).
  • Time period: Traditionally dated to about AD 62 to 66, after a first Roman imprisonment. Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles is disputed in critical scholarship, on vocabulary and church-order grounds; the letter presents itself as Paul's.

Theological reading

Paul quotes a Cretan source, and the attribution is genuinely traceable: ancient writers including Clement of Alexandria and Jerome assign the line to Epimenides of Knossos, a Cretan seer of the sixth century BC. The citation is the familiar logical curiosity, a Cretan asserting that Cretans always lie. Paul's use is the point: he cites a pagan author and affirms the judgment as true in verse 13, as he cites Greek poets at Acts 17:28. Truth stated by an outsider is still truth, and the letter is willing to say so.

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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

  • TBD
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Quoted in

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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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • 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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.