Passage

Titus 2.7

Book: Titus · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

5. to be sober-minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed: 6. the younger men likewise exhort to be sober-minded:

7. in all things showing thyself an ensample of good works; in thy doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity,

sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of us. 9. Exhort servants to be in subjection to their own masters, and to be well-pleasing to them in all things; not gainsaying; (Titus 2:5-9, ASV)

WEB

5. to be sober minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that God’s word may not be blasphemed. 6. Likewise, exhort the younger men to be sober minded;

7. in all things showing yourself an example of good works; in your teaching showing integrity, seriousness, incorruptibility,

and soundness of speech that can’t be condemned; that he who opposes you may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say about us. 9. Exhort servants to be in subjection to their own masters, and to be well-pleasing in all things; not contradicting; (Titus 2:5-9, WEB)

KJV

5. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. 6. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. ^{sober: or, discreet}

7. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,

Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. 9. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; ^{answering: or, gainsaying} (Titus 2:5-9, KJV)

YLT

5. sober, pure, keepers of [their own] houses, good, subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be evil spoken of. 6. The younger men, in like manner, be exhorting to be sober-minded;

7. concerning all things thyself showing a pattern of good works; in the teaching uncorruptedness, gravity, incorruptibility,

discourse sound, irreprehensible, that he who is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say concerning you. 9. Servants, to their own masters [are] to be subject, in all things to be well-pleasing, not gainsaying, (Titus 2:5-9, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul, 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 instructions for different groups in the church (2:1-10). Having told Titus to exhort the younger men (2:6), Paul turns to Titus himself (2:7-8).

Theological reading

"in all things showing thyself an ensample of good works; in thy doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity," (Titus 2:7, ASV)

Teacher as example. Titus is to exhort the younger men to be sober-minded, but he must first show it. "Ensample" means a pattern or model to copy. Paul gives Timothy the same charge: "be thou an ensample to them that believe, in word, in manner of life, in love, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12). In both letters the life of the teacher is part of the teaching.

Doctrine with integrity. In his teaching Titus is to show "uncorruptness", purity of motive and content, in contrast to the false teachers who teach "for filthy lucre's sake" (1:11); "gravity", a seriousness that commands respect; and "sound speech, that cannot be condemned" (2:8).

Watched by outsiders. The purpose is stated plainly: "that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of us" (2:8). The whole passage keeps the onlooker in view, from "that the word of God be not blasphemed" (2:5) to "that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour" (2:10). A teacher's conduct is part of the church's defence of the gospel. See Titus 2.1 and Titus 2.10.

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.

Notes

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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.