教导纯正的教义

你的教导要符合纯正的教义。 劝年长的男子要节制、庄重、自律,有全备的信心、爱心和耐心。 劝年长的妇女要过敬虔的生活,不说长道短,不做酒的奴隶,要以身作则。 这样,她们就能教导年轻的妇女爱丈夫、爱儿女、 自制、贞洁,持家、和善、顺服丈夫,免得上帝的道被人毁谤。

劝勉年轻的男子要自制。 你自己要在各样的善行上做众人的榜样,在教导上要诚恳、认真、 言语纯全、无可指责,让那些反对的人无话可说、自觉羞愧。

劝勉做奴仆的要凡事顺服主人,让主人满意,不顶撞主人, 10 不偷拿主人的东西,为人要忠信可靠,好凡事尊崇我们救主上帝的教导。

11 因为上帝拯救世人的恩典已经显明了, 12 这恩典教导我们除掉不敬虔的心和世俗的私欲,在今世过自律、公义、敬畏上帝的生活, 13 怀着美好的盼望等候耶稣基督——我们伟大的上帝和救主的荣耀显现。 14 主耶稣为我们牺牲自己,要救赎我们脱离一切罪恶,并洁净我们,使我们做祂的子民,成为热心行善的人。

15 你要讲明这些事,运用各样权柄劝勉人、责备人,别让人轻看你。

Teach Sound Doctrine

But as for you, teach what accords with (A)sound[a] doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, (B)sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. (C)Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, (D)not slanderers (E)or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, (F)pure, (G)working at home, kind, and (H)submissive to their own husbands, (I)that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge (J)the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be (K)a model of good works, and in your teaching (L)show integrity, (M)dignity, and (N)sound speech that cannot be condemned, (O)so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. (P)Bondservants[b] are to be submissive to their own masters (Q)in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, (R)but showing all good faith, (S)so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For (T)the grace of God (U)has appeared, bringing salvation (V)for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and (W)worldly passions, and (X)to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in (Y)the present age, 13 (Z)waiting for our blessed (AA)hope, the (AB)appearing of the glory of our great (AC)God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 (AD)who gave himself for us to (AE)redeem us from all lawlessness and (AF)to purify for himself (AG)a people for his own possession who are (AH)zealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and (AI)rebuke with all authority. (AJ)Let no one disregard you.

Footnotes

  1. Titus 2:1 Or healthy; also verses 2, 8
  2. Titus 2:9 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

Doing Good for the Sake of the Gospel

You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.(A) Teach the older men(B) to be temperate,(C) worthy of respect, self-controlled,(D) and sound in faith,(E) in love and in endurance.

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers(F) or addicted to much wine,(G) but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women(H) to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled(I) and pure, to be busy at home,(J) to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands,(K) so that no one will malign the word of God.(L)

Similarly, encourage the young men(M) to be self-controlled.(N) In everything set them an example(O) by doing what is good.(P) In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.(Q)

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything,(R) to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior(S) attractive.(T)

11 For the grace(U) of God has appeared(V) that offers salvation to all people.(W) 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions,(X) and to live self-controlled,(Y) upright and godly lives(Z) in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing(AA) of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,(AB) 14 who gave himself for us(AC) to redeem us from all wickedness(AD) and to purify(AE) for himself a people that are his very own,(AF) eager to do what is good.(AG)

15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

Conduct Consistent with Sound Teaching

But as for you, communicate the behavior that goes with[a] sound teaching. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled,[b] sound in faith, in love, and in endurance.[c] Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good. In this way[d] they will train[e] the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be self-controlled,[f] pure, fulfilling their duties at home,[g] kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the message[h] of God may not be discredited.[i] Encourage younger men likewise to be self-controlled,[j] showing yourself to be an example of good works in every way. In your teaching show integrity, dignity, and a sound message that cannot be criticized, so that any opponent will be at a loss,[k] because he has nothing evil to say about us. Slaves[l] are to be subject to their own masters in everything,[m] to do what is wanted and not talk back, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith,[n] in order to bring credit to[o] the teaching of God our Savior in everything.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.[p] 12 It trains us[q] to reject godless ways[r] and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing[s] of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.[t] 14 He[u] gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his,[v] who are eager to do good.[w] 15 So communicate these things with the sort of exhortation or rebuke[x] that carries full authority.[y] Don’t let anyone look down[z] on you.

Footnotes

  1. Titus 2:1 tn Grk “say what is fitting for sound teaching” (introducing the behavior called for in this chapter.).
  2. Titus 2:2 tn Or “sensible.”
  3. Titus 2:2 sn Temperate…in endurance. See the same cluster of virtues in 1 Thess 1:3 and 1 Cor 13:13.
  4. Titus 2:4 tn Grk “that they may train” (continuing the sentence of 2:3).
  5. Titus 2:4 tn This verb, σωφρονίζω (sōphronizō), denotes teaching in the sense of bringing people to their senses, showing what sound thinking is.
  6. Titus 2:5 tn Or “sensible.”
  7. Titus 2:5 tn Grk “domestic,” “keeping house.”
  8. Titus 2:5 tn Or “word.”
  9. Titus 2:5 tn Or “slandered.”
  10. Titus 2:6 tn Or “sensible.”
  11. Titus 2:8 tn Or “put to shame.”
  12. Titus 2:9 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.
  13. Titus 2:9 tn Or “to be subject to their own masters, to do what is wanted in everything.”
  14. Titus 2:10 tn Or “showing that genuine faith is productive.” At issue between these two translations is the force of ἀγαθήν (agathēn): Is it attributive (as the text has it) or predicate (as in this note)? A number of considerations point in the direction of a predicate ἀγαθήν (e.g., separation from the noun πίστιν [pistin] by the verb, the possibility that the construction is an object-complement, etc.), though this is not usually seen as an option in either translations or commentaries. Cf. ExSyn 188-89, 312-13, for a discussion. Contextually, it makes an intriguing statement, for it suggests a synthetic or synonymous parallel: “‘Slaves should be wholly subject to their masters…demonstrating that all [genuine] faith is productive, with the result [ecbatic ἵνα] that they will completely adorn the doctrine of God.’ The point of the text, then, if this understanding is correct, is an exhortation to slaves to demonstrate that their faith is sincere and results in holy behavior. If taken this way, the text seems to support the idea that saving faith does not fail, but even results in good works” (ExSyn 312-13). The translation of ἀγαθήν as an attributive adjective, however, also makes good sense.
  15. Titus 2:10 tn Or “adorn,” “show the beauty of.”
  16. Titus 2:11 tn Grk “all men”; but ἀνθρώποις (anthrōpois) is generic here, referring to both men and women.
  17. Titus 2:12 tn Grk “training us” (as a continuation of the previous clause). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 by translating the participle παιδεύουσα (paideuousa) as a finite verb and supplying the pronoun “it” as subject.
  18. Titus 2:12 tn Grk “ungodliness.”
  19. Titus 2:13 tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”
  20. Titus 2:13 tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, theos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, sōtēr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.
  21. Titus 2:14 tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).
  22. Titus 2:14 tn Or “a people who are his very own.”
  23. Titus 2:14 tn Grk “for good works.”
  24. Titus 2:15 tn Or “reproof,” “censure.” The Greek word ἐλέγχω (elenchō) implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.
  25. Titus 2:15 tn Grk “speak these things and exhort and rebuke with all authority.”
  26. Titus 2:15 tn Or “let anyone despise you”; or “let anyone disregard you.”