When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me. — But Titus is here reminded — perhaps with some reference to the question of the treatment of the factious or heretic persons just alluded to — that he is only the temporary ruler of the Cretan Church, on a special commission of the great missionary Apostle. Not improbably one of these two was intended to supply the place of Titus when this favourite and trusted assistant of St. Paul was recalled to his master’s side. Of Artemas nothing certainly is known. Tradition, however, makes him subsequently Bishop of Lystra. Tychicus is mentioned in five of the New Testament writings — in Acts 20:4; Colossians 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:12; and here. He seems to have been one of the most esteemed of St. Paul’s friends. He speaks of him as a beloved brother, a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord; and the importance of the missions with which he was entrusted by his master to distant churches shows us how high this disciple stood in the opinion of St. Paul.
To Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter. — There are several cities bearing this name — in Cilicia, in Thrace, and in Epirus; and considerable doubt prevails as to which the Apostle has been referring. On the whole, the Nicopolis in Epirus seems the most likely spot for the Apostle to have fixed on. This city was built by Augustus after the battle of Actium, whence it derived its name, “the City of Victory.”