# Titus 1.8

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-11-07 | updated: 2026-11-07 -->

**Book:** [Titus](/codex/titus/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 6. if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly. 7. For the bishop must be blameless, as God's steward; not self-willed, not soon angry, no brawler, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre;
>
> **8. but given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled;**
>
> 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, (Titus 1:6-10, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 6. if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, who are not accused of loose or unruly behavior. 7. For the overseer must be blameless, as God’s steward; not self-pleasing, not easily angered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain;
>
> **8. but given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober minded, fair, holy, self-controlled;**
>
> 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, (Titus 1:6-10, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 6. If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 7. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
>
> **8. But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; <sup>men: or, things</sup>**
>
> 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. <sup>as: or, in teaching</sup> 10. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: (Titus 1:6-10, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 6. if any one is blameless, of one wife a husband, having children stedfast, not under accusation of riotous living or insubordinate 7. for it behoveth the overseer to be blameless, as God's steward, not self-pleased, nor irascible, not given to wine, not a striker, not given to filthy lucre;
>
> **8. but a lover of strangers, a lover of good men, sober-minded, righteous, kind, self-controlled,**
>
> 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 (Titus 1:6-10, 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 qualifications of an elder or bishop (1:5-9). After the five things an overseer must not be (1:7), verse 8 gives the positive virtues.

## Theological reading

"but given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled;" (Titus 1:8, ASV)

**Given to hospitality.** In a church that met in homes and depended on travelling workers (3:13), an overseer's house had to be open. The same requirement stands in the parallel list for Ephesus: "given to hospitality, apt to teach" (1 Timothy 3:2).

**Virtues the whole church is asked for.** "Sober-minded" and "self-controlled" are not special clerical virtues. The next chapter asks sober-mindedness of aged men (2:2), young women (2:5) and younger men (2:6), and grounds it in the grace that teaches all believers to "live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world" (2:12). The elder is required to be already what the church as a whole is called to become, so that he can lead by example.

**Why character comes first.** An overseer is "God's steward" (1:7), managing a household that is not his own. The qualities listed are observable ones that the congregation can check. They also stand in deliberate contrast to the false teachers described next, who "profess that they know God; but by their works they deny him" (1:16). See [Titus 1.5-9](/codex/titus-1-5-9/), [Titus 1.6-9](/codex/titus-1-6-9/) and [Titus 1.7](/codex/titus-1-7/).

## 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.

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## Quoted in

**Concepts:**

- [Fivefold Ministry](/codex/fivefold-ministry/), via [Titus 1.5-9](/codex/titus-1-5-9/)
- [Pastor](/codex/pastor/), via [Titus 1.5-9](/codex/titus-1-5-9/)

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## 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.