Passage

Titus 2.14

Book: Titus · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

12. instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world; 13. looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

14. who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.

These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no man despise thee. (Titus 2:12-15, ASV)

WEB

12. instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; 13. looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ;

14. who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.

Say these things and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no man despise you. (Titus 2:12-15, WEB)

KJV

12. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; ^{glorious: Gr. the appearance of the glory of the great God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ}

14. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. (Titus 2:12-15, KJV)

YLT

12. teaching us, that denying the impiety and the worldly desires, soberly and righteously and piously we may live in the present age, 13. waiting for the blessed hope and manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ,

14. who did give himself for us, that he might ransom us from all lawlessness, and might purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works;

these things be speaking, and exhorting, and convicting, with all charge; let no one despise thee! (Titus 2:12-15, 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

Two Old Testament terms are carried over. Lytrōsētai, redeem, is release secured by payment, and laon periousion, a people for his own possession, renders the Septuagint phrasing used of Israel at Exodus 19:5 and Deuteronomy 7:6. The self-giving of Christ is thus described in the vocabulary of the exodus and the covenant, and its stated aim is not merely acquittal but a purified people who are zēlōtēn kalōn ergōn, zealous of good works. Redemption terminates in a community, not only in individuals.

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

Quoted in

Concepts:

People:

Simon the Zealot

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.