ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Titus 1.2

Book: Titus · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV
  1. Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,

2. in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal;

  1. but in his own seasons manifested his word in the message, wherewith I was intrusted according to the commandment of God our Saviour; 4. to Titus, my true child after a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour. (Titus 1:1-4, ASV)
WEB
  1. Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s chosen ones, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,

2. in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began;

  1. but in his own time revealed his word in the message with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior; 4. to Titus, my true child according to a common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. (Titus 1:1-4, WEB)
KJV
  1. Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

2. In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; In: or, For

  1. But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour; 4. To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. (Titus 1:1-4, KJV)
YLT
  1. Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of the choice ones of God, and an acknowledging of truth that [is] according to piety,

2. upon hope of life age-during, which God, who doth not lie, did promise before times of ages,

  1. (and He manifested in proper times His word,) in preaching, which I was entrusted with, according to a charge of God our Saviour, 4. to Titus, true child according to a common faith: Grace, kindness, peace, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour! (Titus 1:1-4, 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 hope of eternal life is grounded not in the believer's steadiness but in the character of the promiser: ho apseudēs theos, the God who cannot lie. The adjective is rare and absolute; it does not say God chooses not to lie but that falsehood is foreign to him. The same move is made at Hebrews 6:18 and in Numbers 23:19. "Before times eternal" places the promise prior to any human party to it, so the guarantee cannot be forfeited by the failure of the one who receives it.

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.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

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.