Passage

Titus 1.15

Book: Titus · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

13. 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.

15. To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.

They profess that they know God; but by their works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. (Titus 1:13-16, ASV)

WEB

13. 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.

15. To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.

They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work. (Titus 1:13-16, WEB)

KJV

13. 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.

15. Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. ^{reprobate: or, void of judgment} (Titus 1:13-16, KJV)

YLT

13. 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;

15. all things, indeed, [are] pure to the pure, and to the defiled and unstedfast [is] nothing pure, but of them defiled [are] even the mind and the conscience;

God they profess to know, and in the works they deny [Him], being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work disapproved. (Titus 1:13-16, 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

The maxim "to the pure all things are pure" is aimed at the Jewish myths and commandments of verse 14, that is, at ritual purity rules being pressed on Gentile believers. The argument relocates defilement from objects to persons: what is corrupted is ho nous kai hē syneidēsis, the mind and the conscience. This is not a licence, since the following verse condemns those whose works deny their profession. It is a claim about where impurity actually resides.

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.

G3563 - nous, nous, Strong's G3563
G4893 - syneidesis, syneidesis, Strong's G4893
G3956 - pas, pas, Strong's G3956

Quoted in

Concepts:

Conscience

Lexicon:

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.