Titus 1:5

Commission of Titus, generally, and in regard to Bishops or Presbyters

5. The salutation, which has laid down emphatically the principle of apostolical authority, is followed at once by an uncompromising assertion of the authority delegated to Titus, and its chief exercise by him in ordination. Notice how this is strengthened (1) by the right reading, I left thee behind, (2) by the compound that thou mightest further set in order, (3) by the using of the pronoun ego, as I myself gave thee charge - Ibegan it all; let none thwart youin continuing my work as my delegate."

As to the occasion of St Paul's visit to Crete here referred to, see Introduction, pp. 73 75.

thethings that are wanting Jerome paraphrases -rudimenta nascentis Ecclesiae." Cf. -dispensatio erga credentes ita ut et ad consensum instituerentur per ordinationes ecclesiasticas." Theod. Mops. Lat.

ordain elders in every city On the word -elders" see notes on 1 Timothy 3:1; -in every city," i.e. from town to town, in no way implying any direction as to there being one or more than one. R.V. alters -ordain" into -appoint" as the simple meaning of the Greek, without the modern special sense now attaching to ordain. The meaning of -ordain" in English of A.V. date is seen in 1 Kings 12:32; Psalms 7:13; Daniel 2:24, where the O.T. revisers give respectively -ordain," -prepare," -appoint." Cf. Hakluyt, Voyages, ii. 455, - He ordeineda boat made of one tree" (Bible Word-Book, p. 440).

as I had appointed thee Is misleading, being open to the interpretation -do you appoint othersas I have appointed you," whereas the sense intended was of course, as in the similar use of the same word Acts 7:44, -as he had appointed speaking unto Moses," i.e. -appointed for thee to do." Cf. also Acts 24:23, A.V. -he commanded a centurion," R.V. -he gave order to the centurion." In N.T. usage there is little if anything of the sense wished for by Bp Ellicott (after the Vulg. -disposui"), -not only bid but taught him how to do it."

The verbs -further set in order," and -gave thee charge," are in the middle voice, because the -ordering" and -arranging" is not literal and primary, as of chairs and tables, but secondary and transferred to mental thought, to moral action. Winer distinguishes these meanings as -physical" and -metaphysical," Gr. Pt. iii. § 38, 2, b. Cf. note on 1 Timothy 1:7.