All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. All that are with me - He means his companions in the ministry.
Salute thee - Wish thee well, and desire to be affectionately remembered to thee.
Greet them that love us in the faith, - All that love us for Christ's sake, and all that are genuine Christians.
Grace be with you - May the Divine favor be your portion for ever.
Some MSS. read, The grace of the Lord be with you all; others, The grace of God be with you all; and one, Grace be with Thy spirit, as if the greeting was sent to Titus only, whereas the others send it to the whole Church at Crete.
Amen - This is wanting in ACD, and some others.
The subscriptions are, as usual, various. Those of the Versions are the following: -
The Epistle to Titus was written from Nicopolis; and sent by the hands of Zena and Apollo. - Syriac.
To the man Titus. - Aethiopic.
The end of the epistle: it was written from Nicopolis. Incessant and eternal praise be to the God of glory. Amen. - Arabic.
Written in Nicopolis, and sent by Artemas, his disciple. - Coptic.
The Epistle to Titus is ended, who was the first bishop of the Church of the Cretans: and it was written from Nicopolis of Macedonia. - Philoxenian Syriac.
There is no subscription in the Vulgate.
The Manuscripts are also various.
To Titus. - C, and Clarom.
That to Titus is completed: that to Philemon begins. - DEFG.
To Titus, written from Nicopolis. - A.
To Titus, written from Nicopolis of Macedonia. - of the Macedonians. - From Nicopolis, which is a province of Macedonia.
Paul the apostle's Epistle to Titus.
To Titus, ordained the first bishop of the Church of the Cretans: written from Nicopolis of Macedonia. - Common Greek Text.
To Titus, archbishop of Crete. - One of the Vienna MSS., written a.d. 1331.
There is not one of these subscriptions of any authority, and some of them are plainly ridiculous. We do not know that Titus was what we term bishop, much less that he was ordained bishop of Crete, as appointed to a particular see; and still less that he was the first bishop there. As to his being archbishop, that is the fiction of a time of deep darkness. That the epistle was written from some place near to Nicopolis, of Epirus, is very probable. That it was not written at Nicopolis is evident; and that this was not Nicopolis of Macedonia is also very probable. See the preface to this epistle for farther information on this point. And see a treatise by old Mr. Prynne entitled, The unbishoping of Timothy and Titus, 4to. Lond. 1636 and 1660, where, among many crooked things, there are some just observations.
Commentary on the Bible, by Adam Clarke [1831].