§ 8 Personal Instructions and Greetings ( Titus 3:12–15 )
§8 Personal Instructions and Greetings (Titus 3:12–15)
In a typically Pauline fashion the letter closes with some final personal instructions (vv. 12–13; cf. Rom. 16:1–2; 1 Cor. 16:5–12; Col. 4:7–9), plus a “parting shot,” repeating the concern of the letter (v. 14; cf. Rom. 16:17–20a; 2 Cor. 13:11; Gal. 6:17), final greetings, including greetings from Paul and his companions to all believers in Crete (v. 15a; cf. most of the Pauline letters), and the final benediction (v. 15b; cf. all the letters).
One should compare these instructions and greetings with the two letters to Timothy. The First Letter to Timothy has none of this, except the benediction, indicating that although both letters (1 Timothy and Titus) tend to be “all business,” 1 Timothy is more so, despite its more frequent personal exhortations to Timothy. The Second Letter to Timothy is more personal in every way, including an opening thanksgiving (1:3–5) and a much longer conclusion, with personal instructions (4:9–18) and final greetings (4:19–22).
The information gleaned from verses 12–13 gives us some help in piecing together the history of this period in Paul’s life. As with 1 Timothy, but in sharp contrast to 2 Timothy, Paul is still ministering in the East, probably in Macedonia, directing the affairs of his churches. The casual way he invites Titus to rejoin him after Artemas or Tychicus comes to relieve him in Crete further indicates what has been observed throughout the letter—it simply lacks the urgency of the situation in Ephesus (1 Timothy). A pseudepigrapher who created these various settings, and consistently carried them through, pulled off a remarkable achievement indeed, and all the more so if trying to speak to a singular situation in his own day.
3:12 / Paul begins to bring the letter to a close with these personal words. Despite the directions to Titus in this letter, Paul apparently intends that soon after it is received, presumably brought by Zenas and Apollos (v. 13), Titus is to be replaced on Crete and is to return to Paul. This again reinforces our observation made throughout of the less urgent, more prophylactic, nature of this letter, which is more for the church than for Titus.
At the time of writing Paul has not yet decided on Titus’ replacement, Artemas (of whom nothing more is known) or Tychicus (cf. Acts 20:4; Col. 4:7; Eph. 6:21). On the basis of Paul’s eventually having sent Tychicus to Ephesus (2 Tim. 4:12) and of Titus’ departure for Dalmatia (2 Tim. 4:10), up the coast from Nicopolis, we may safely conjecture that the plan eventually materialized with the sending of Artemas.
As for Titus himself, Paul wants him to do his best (cf. 2 Tim. 4:9, 21) to come to Paul in Nicopolis, where he has decided to winter. The there verifies that Paul was not currently at Nicopolis, but it is quite impossible to know his location from the available information.
Nicopolis itself is considerably off the “beaten track,” by both land and sea. A newer city, founded by Augustus on the site of his camp after his victory (hence niko(s), “victory,” polis, “city”) over Mark Antony at Actium in 31 B.C., it is situated about two hundred miles northwest of Athens on the north side of the Ambracian Gulf near the Adriatic Sea.
It might he noted that several details in this verse put considerable strain on the hypothesis of pseudepigraphy: Paul’s “indecision” as to whom to send; the use of an otherwise unknown person (Artemas); the desire for Titus, to whose care the church has been “entrusted,” to leave Crete; the choice of Nicopolis as the place of rendezvous. It is hard to believe that a later author, who allegedly used Acts as his point of departure, would have done all of this, since none of it corresponds to any data in Acts.
3:13 / Titus is also to do everything he can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. These men presumably had been with Paul, and when he discovered that their travel plans would take them to Crete, he sent this letter along with them. Now in turn he reminds Titus of his Christian responsibility to assist them on their way. Such assistance for travelers was apparently a recognized Christian practice (see Acts 15:3; 21:5; Rom. 15:24; 1 Cor. 16:6, 11; 2 Cor. 1:16; 3 John 6, where the same verb, “to help on the way,” occurs in each instance).
Nothing further is known of Zenas the lawyer, whose designation probably means that he was a jurist (expert in Roman law) by profession. It is a Pauline touch to identify a professional by his title (cf. “Luke the physician,” Col. 4:14; “Erastus, the city treasurer,” Rom. 16:23). Apollos is assumed to be the well-known, eloquent Alexandrian of that name (Acts 18:24–19:1; 1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4–22; 16:12).
3:14 / The probability that Zenas and Apollos were the bearers of this letter is further supported by this unexpected intrusion into these final, personal greetings. Having mentioned their names and Titus’ need to assist them, Paul is also reminded of their destination and is thus prompted to give the Cretan believers themselves a final parting word: Our people too (there is an untranslated kai, “also, too,” in the text) must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good (cf. v. 8). The infinitive phrase, to devote themselves to doing what is good, is an exact repetition from verse 8. This is the recurring theme of the entire letter (1:16; 2:7, 14; 3:1, 8). In this instance the “good works” are qualified as for the purpose of providing for daily necessities (lit., “necessary needs”). Consequently, this final word lifts the concern above those attitudinal and behavioral “deeds” that stand basically in contrast to the arguments and quarrels of the false teachers.
It remains uncertain whether to provide for daily necessities reflects their need to work so as to supply their own everyday needs (so NIV, NEB, JB, NAB) or to help with the “urgent needs” (Kelly) of others (RSV, GNB, et al.). The context, of both verse 8 and verse 13, suggests the latter as the better alternative. The final purpose of such good deeds is that they may … not live unproductive lives (cf. Kelly, “otherwise they will be good for nothing”). Fruitful Christians are so as they minister to the needs of others.
3:15 / The letter closes with the final greetings, first to Titus from everyone with me (cf. 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; Phil. 4:22; cf. also Rom. 16:21–23 and Col. 4:10–14, where those with Paul are mentioned by name). Then he tells Titus to greet those who love us in the faith. This way of putting it is probably an indirect reference to the fact that some in Crete have proven themselves disloyal to Paul and his gospel.
For the final benediction, Grace be with you all, see discussion on 1 Timothy 6:21. Thus this letter to a longtime companion in ministry, born out of concern for the nascent churches in Crete but with considerably less urgency than that to Timothy in Ephesus, concludes with a benediction, praying for God’s grace to be on them all.
For examples of the formal closings of ancient letters, see F. X. J. Exler (The Form of the Ancient Greek Letter of the Epistolary Papyri), pp. 69–77 and 111–13.