CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Titus 1:10. Vain talkers.—Men of aimless speech, which is devoid of any good result. Men whose speech tendeth to poverty. Deceivers.—The word, which is peculiar to St. Paul, and perhaps coined by him (see Galatians 6:3), brings out the idea of subjective fancies (Lightfoot).
Titus 1:11. Whose mouths must be stopped.—The verb means “something must be put on their mouths”—they must be muzzled; but it afterwards came to mean, “to check speech.”
Titus 1:12. A prophet of their own.—Epimenides, the poet alluded to, was a contemporary of the seven wise men, and by some was reckoned as one of them. He was born in the sixth century B.C. The saying quoted by St. Paul is from a lost work. The Cretians are alway liars.—Chrysostom refers the words chiefly to the pretence that Jupiter lay buried amongst the Cretans; but in ancient times they were notorious for falsehood, so that “to Cretise” was equivalent to, “to lie and deceive.”
Titus 1:13. This witness is true.—Not only does a competent person attest it, but it agrees with fact. Rebuke them sharply.—With a sharply cut style, curtly, with thorough-going Sternness (Meyer).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Titus 1:10-14
The Mischief of Reckless Speech.
I. Reckless speech occasions great disorder.—“For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers … who subvert whole houses” (Titus 1:10-11). Excessive speech is always foolish, and is the index to a mind too full of conceit to have any room for wisdom. Churches and families are led into quarrels and divisions by reckless talkers. They indulge in unkind and calumnious words, perverse meanings are given to the sayings of those they dislike, bitter and provoking things are said of our neighbours’ characters, and, above all, they utter those evil, corrupt words that do the devil’s work, enticing others on to sin. Such vain talkers exult in the confusion and uproar they themselves create.
II. Reckless speech is morally degrading.—
1. Has no regard for the true gospel. “Specially they of the circumcision” (Titus 1:10). “Giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth” (Titus 1:14). Josephus tells us there were many Jews in Crete. The Jewish leaven remained in them after conversion, and they would become an easy prey to the advocates of a corrupted Judaism and an emasculated Christianity. The voluble Jewish talkers made sad havoc of the gospel.
2. Will say anything for gain. “Teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake” (Titus 1:11). They talked for a living, and were utterly unscrupulous as to what they said, so long as they got the money. Their chief object was gain, not profitable instruction.
3. Degenerates into lying and sensuality. “The Cretians are always liars.… This witness is true” (Titus 1:12-13). The quotation is from the Cretan writer Epimenides. He was sent for to purify Athens from its pollutions occasioned by Cylon, and was regarded as a diviner and prophet. “To Cretanise” was proverbial for “to lie,” as “to Corinthianise” was for “to be dissolute.” Lying and sensuality go together. Some people lie for the love of lying, and become almost incapable of speaking the truth. “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin” (Proverbs 10:19).
III. Reckless speech should be emphatically condemned.—“Whose mouths must be stopped” (Titus 1:11). “Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13). The inveterate talker is not easily cured. Gentle methods are of no avail in dealing with him: his perversity must be boldly attacked and sharply rebuked. If he is not silenced, others he has led astray may be reclaimed.
“Words are mighty, words are living,
Serpents with their venomous stings;
Or bright angels crowding round us,
With heaven’s light upon their wings.
“Every word has its own spirit,
True or false, that never dies;
Every word man’s lips have uttered
Echoes in God’s skies.”
Lessons.—Reckless speech—
1. Is a sign of pitiable ignorance.
2. Is mischievous both to speaker and listener.
3. Will meet with its just punishment.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Titus 1:10-12. The Vice of Aimless Talk.
I. The chief hindrances to religion are often in the Church itself.
II. Hindrances in the Church must be removed.—
1. Discipline must be exercised in love.
2. The prosperity of the Church must be considered before that of individuals.
3. Every age has its own obstructions to the truth.
III. Communities are affected by the conduct of individuals.—Aimless talk leads to—
1. Untruthfulness.
2. Sensuality.
3. Sloth.
Titus 1:13. Christian Reproof—
I. Should always be based on a certain conviction.
II. Should be thorough and effective.
III. Should be for the sinner’s good.
Titus 1:14. The Perverting Power of Trivialities.
I. By distracting attention from the essentials of religion.
II. By dissipating the strength of the mind.
III. By attributing to the human an authority belonging only to the Divine.—F. W.