The Meaning of Titus 1:2 Explained

Titus 1:2

KJV: In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

YLT: upon hope of life age-during, which God, who doth not lie, did promise before times of ages,

Darby: in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the ages of time,

ASV: in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

In  hope  of eternal  life,  which  God,  that cannot lie,  promised  before  the world  began; 

What does Titus 1:2 Mean?

Verse Meaning

God intended both prongs of Paul"s ministry, evangelism and edification, to bring individuals into the fullness of eternal life.
""Resting on" [1] is from the single Greek word epi. But it is better to understand this word as "with a view to," as in Ephesians 2:10. Thus Paul"s thought is that all of his ministry is "with a view to" eternal life." [2]
This hope was something God had promised from eternity past. [3] God had long since proved Himself consistently faithful to His promises. The unusual epithet "who cannot lie" (apseudes, free from falsehood) brings out the absolute trustworthiness of the hope just mentioned.
There is ancient evidence that Cretans considered lying culturally acceptable. [4]
"But a more specific pagan theology may be at the root. Paul"s reference to "the God who does not lie" could well lampoon the character of the Zeus of Cretan tales, who in fact did lie to have sexual relations with a human woman (taking the human form of her husband). This same Zeus was also held to be the epitome of virtue (defined by his possession of the cardinal virtues), a dimension of his character that will come more into focus later in the letter." [5]

Context Summary

Titus 1:1-9 - Appoint Fit Men Over The Churches
God's elect are known by their faith, and wherever they hear the voice of truth, which makes for godliness, they recognize and acknowledge it. They are also inspired by a great hope, and that hope cannot be disappointed, because it is founded on the promise and oath of the God who cannot lie, Hebrews 6:19. God's promise for us has been in His heart from all eternity, but it was hidden until the gospel was proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit. The germ-thought of eternity has been realized in Jesus and is unfolded in the gospel. Note the frequent recurrence in this Epistle of the phrase, God our Savior.
The ordering of these early churches was very important. The presiding officers must be godly and consistent men, and able to commend the gospel by their lives. These natural traits of a holy man should be pondered and appropriated by us all; and we must all hold fast to the Word of God, which has been found trustworthy by countless myriads. Many are the seducing voices in the present day that counsel slackening faith and relaxing grasp.
"If all the wiles that men devise beset our faith with treacherous art,
We'll call them vanity and lies, and bind the gospel to our heart." [source]

Chapter Summary: Titus 1

1  Paul greets Titus, who was left to finish the work in Crete
6  How those chosen as ministers ought to be qualified
11  The mouths of evil teachers to be stopped;
12  and what manner of men they be

Greek Commentary for Titus 1:2

God who cannot lie [ο απσευδης τεος]
“The non-lying God.” Old adjective (α — a privative and πσευδης — pseudēs), here only in N.T. See 2 Timothy 2:13. In Polycarp‘s last prayer. [source]
Promised [επηγγειλατο]
First aorist middle indicative of επαγγελλω — epaggellō Antithesis in επανερωσεν δε — ephanerōsen de (manifested) in Titus 1:3 (first aorist active indicative of πανεροω — phaneroō). Same contrast in Romans 16:25; Colossians 1:26. Before times eternal (προ χρονων αιωνων — pro chronōn aiōnōn). Not to God‘s purpose before time began (Ephesians 1:4; 2 Timothy 1:9), but to definite promises (Romans 9:4) made in time (Lock). “Long ages ago.” See note on Romans 16:25. [source]
Before times eternal [προ χρονων αιωνων]
Not to God‘s purpose before time began (Ephesians 1:4; 2 Timothy 1:9), but to definite promises (Romans 9:4) made in time (Lock). “Long ages ago.” See note on Romans 16:25. [source]
In hope of eternal life [ἐπ ' ἐλπίδι ζωῆς αἰωνίου]
Const. with Apostle, Titus 1:1. Ἑπὶ restingupon. [source]
God that cannot lie [ὁ ἀψευδὴς θεὸς]
Ἁψευδὴς N.T.oOnce in lxx, Wisd. 7:17. Comp. Romans 3:4; Hebrews 6:18. Paul expresses the idea positively, by ἀληθής truthful Romans 3:4. [source]
Before the world began [πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων]
Lit. before eternal times. Before time began to be reckoned by aeons. See on 2 Timothy 1:9, and additional note on 2 Thessalonians 1:9. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Titus 1:2

1 Thessalonians 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons [περι δε των χρονων και των καιρων]
See both words used also in Titus 1:2. Χρονος — Chronos is rather an extended period and καιρος — kairos a definite space of time. [source]
2 Thessalonians 2:13 From the beginning [ἀπ ' ἀρχῆς]
Not elsewhere in Paul. His usual expressions are πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων beforethe ages (1 Corinthians 2:7): πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου beforethe foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4): ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων fromthe ages (Ephesians 3:9). Before eternal times ( πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων ) is found 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2. [source]
2 Thessalonians 1:9 Glory of his power [δόξης τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ]
For glory see on 1 Thessalonians 2:12. Ἱσχὺς powernot often in Paul. It is indwelling power put forth or embodied, either aggressively or as an obstacle to resistance: physical power organized or working under individual direction. An army and a fortress are both ἰσχυρὸς. The power inhering in the magistrate, which is put forth in laws or judicial decisions, is ἰσχὺς , and makes the edicts ἰσχυρὰ validand hard to resist. Δύναμις is the indwelling power which comes to manifestation in ἰσχὺς The precise phrase used here does not appear elsewhere in N.T. In lxx, Isaiah 2:10, Isaiah 2:19, Isaiah 2:21. The power ( δύναμις ) and glory of God are associated in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 19:1. Comp. κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ strengthof his glory, Colossians 1:11. Additional Note on ὄλεθρον αἰώνιον eternaldestruction, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 Ἁιών transliterated eon is a period of time of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle ( περὶ οὐρανοῦ , i. 9,15) says: “The period which includes the whole time of each one's life is called the eon of each one.” Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life ( αἰών ) is said to leave him or to consume away (Il. v. 685; Od. v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium; the mytho-logical period before the beginnings of history. The word has not “a stationary and mechanical value” (De Quincey). It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many eons as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal conditions of the several entities. There is one eon of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life. The length of the eon depends on the subject to which it is attached. It is sometimes translated world; world representing a period or a series of periods of time. See Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:40, Matthew 13:49; Luke 1:70; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; Ephesians 1:21. Similarly οἱ αἰῶνες theworlds, the universe, the aggregate of the ages or periods, and their contents which are included in the duration of the world. 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 11:3. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting. To deduce that meaning from its relation to ἀεί is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, ἀεί does not signify endless duration. When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always ( ἀεί ) liars (Titus 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts 7:51; 2 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Hebrews 3:10; 1 Peter 3:15. Ἁεί means habitually or continually within the limit of the subject's life. In our colloquial dialect everlastingly is used in the same way. “The boy is everlastingly tormenting me to buy him a drum.”-DIVIDER-
In the New Testament the history of the world is conceived as developed through a succession of eons. A series of such eons precedes the introduction of a new series inaugurated by the Christian dispensation, and the end of the world and the second coming of Christ are to mark the beginning of another series. See Ephesians 3:11. Paul contemplates eons before and after the Christian era. Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 10:11; comp. Hebrews 9:26. He includes the series of eons in one great eon, ὁ αἰὼν τῶν αἰώνων theeon of the eons (Ephesians 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes the throne of God as enduring unto the eon of the eons (Hebrews 1:8). The plural is also used, eons of the eons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively. Romans 16:27; Galatians 1:5; Philemon 4:20, etc. This plural phrase is applied by Paul to God only. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The adjective αἰώνιος in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, ἀΐ̀διος , which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to a given point of time in Judges 1:6. Ἁιώνιος means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods. Thus the phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα , habitually rendered forever, is often used of duration which is limited in the very nature of the case. See, for a few out of many instances, lxx, Exodus 21:6; Exodus 29:9; Exodus 32:13; Joshua 14:9; 1 Samuel 8:13; Leviticus 25:46; Deuteronomy 15:17; 1 Chronicles 28:4. See also Matthew 21:19; John 13:8; 1 Corinthians 8:13. The same is true of αἰώνιος . Out of 150 instances in lxx, four-fifths imply limited duration. For a few instances see Genesis 48:4; Numbers 10:8; Numbers 15:15; Proverbs 22:28; Jonah 2:6; Habakkuk 3:6; Isaiah 61:8. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material can not carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render αἰώνιος everlastingOf course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God as αἰώνιος , it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated. That God lives longer than men, and lives on everlastingly, and has lived everlastingly, are, no doubt, great and significant facts; yet they are not the dominant or the most impressive facts in God's relations to time. God's eternity does not stand merely or chiefly for a scale of length. It is not primarily a mathematical but a moral fact. The relations of God to time include and imply far more than the bare fact of endless continuance. They carry with them the fact that God transcends time; works on different principles and on a vaster scale than the wisdom of time provides; oversteps the conditions and the motives of time; marshals the successive eons from a point outside of time, on lines which run out into his own measureless cycles, and for sublime moral ends which the creature of threescore and ten years cannot grasp and does not even suspect. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
There is a word for everlasting if that idea is demanded. That αἰώνιος occurs rarely in the New Testament and in lxx does not prove that its place was taken by αἰώνιος . It rather goes to show that less importance was attached to the bare idea of everlastingness than later theological thought has given it. Paul uses the word once, in Romans 1:20, where he speaks of “the everlasting power and divinity of God.” In Romans 16:26he speaks of the eternal God ( τοῦ αἰωνίου θεοῦ ); but that he does not mean the everlasting God is perfectly clear from the context. He has said that “the mystery” has been kept in silence in times eternal ( χρόνοις αἰωνίοις ), by which he does not mean everlasting times, but the successive eons which elapsed before Christ was proclaimed. God therefore is described as the God of the eons, the God who pervaded and controlled those periods before the incarnation. To the same effect is the title ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων theKing of the eons, applied to God in 1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 15:3; comp. 2Timothy href="/desk/?q=2ti+1:9&sr=1">2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2), cannot mean before everlasting times. To say that God bestowed grace on men, or promised them eternal life before endless times, would be absurd. The meaning is of old, as Luke 1:70. The grace and the promise were given in time, but far back in the ages, before the times of reckoning the eons. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Ζωὴ αἰώνιος eternallife, which occurs 42 times in N.T., but not in lxx, is not endless life, but life pertaining to a certain age or eon, or continuing during that eon. I repeat, life may be endless. The life in union with Christ is endless, but the fact is not expressed by αἰώνιος . Κόλασις αἰώνιος , rendered everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46), is the punishment peculiar to an eon other than that in which Christ is speaking. In some cases ζωὴ αἰώνιος does not refer specifically to the life beyond time, but rather to the eon or dispensation of Messiah which succeeds the legal dispensation. See Matthew 19:16; John 5:39. John says that ζωὴ αἰώνιος is the present possession of those who believe on the Son of God, John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47, John 6:64. The Father's commandment is ζωὴ αἰώσιος , John 12:50; to know the only true God and Jesus Christ is ζωὴ αἰώνιος , John 17:3. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Bishop Westcott very justly says, commenting upon the terms used by John to describe life under different aspects: “In considering these phrases it is necessary to premise that in spiritual things we must guard against all conclusions which rest upon the notions of succession and duration. 'Eternal life' is that which St. Paul speaks of as ἡ ὄντως ζωὴ thelife which is life indeed, and ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ θεοῦ thelife of God. It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which time is not a measure. We have indeed no powers to grasp the idea except through forms and images of sense. These must be used, but we must not transfer them as realities to another order.”-DIVIDER-
Thus, while αἰώνιος carries the idea of time, though not of endlessness, there belongs to it also, more or less, a sense of quality. Its character is ethical rather than mathematical. The deepest significance of the life beyond time lies, not in endlessness, but in the moral quality of the eon into which the life passes. It is comparatively unimportant whether or not the rich fool, when his soul was required of him (Luke 12:20), entered upon a state that was endless. The principal, the tremendous fact, as Christ unmistakably puts it, was that, in the new eon, the motives, the aims, the conditions, the successes and awards of time counted for nothing. In time, his barns and their contents were everything; the soul was nothing. In the new life the soul was first and everything, and the barns and storehouses nothing. The bliss of the sanctified does not consist primarily in its endlessness, but in the nobler moral conditions of the new eon, - the years of the holy and eternal God. Duration is a secondary idea. When it enters it enters as an accompaniment and outgrowth of moral conditions. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
In the present passage it is urged that ὄλεθρον destructionpoints to an unchangeable, irremediable, and endless condition. If this be true, if ὄλεθρος isextinction, then the passage teaches the annihilation of the wicked, in which case the adjective αἰώνιος is superfluous, since extinction is final, and excludes the idea of duration. But ὄλεθρος does not always mean destruction or extinction. Take the kindred verb ἀπόλλυμι todestroy, put an end to, or in the middle voice, to be lost, to perish. Peter says, “the world being deluged with water, perished ” ( ἀπολοῦνται 2 Peter 3:6); but the world did not become extinct, it was renewed. In Hebrews 1:11, Hebrews 1:12quoted from Isaiah href="/desk/?q=isa+51:6&sr=1">Isaiah 51:6, Isaiah 51:16; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. Similarly, “the Son of man came to save that which was lost ” ( ἀπολωλός ), Luke 19:10. Jesus charged his apostles to go to the lost ( ἀπολωλότα ) sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:6, comp. Matthew 15:24. “He that shall lose ( ἀπολέσῃ ) his life for my sake shall find it,” Matthew 16:25. Comp. Luke 15:6, Luke 15:9, Luke 15:32. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
In this passage the word destruction is qualified. It is “destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, “ at his second coming, in the new eon. In other words, it is the severance, at a given point of time, of those who obey not the gospel from the presence and the glory of Christ. Ἁιώνιος may therefore describe this severance as continuing during the millennial eon between Christ's coming and the final judgment; as being for the wicked prolonged throughout that eon and characteristic of it, or it may describe the severance as characterizing or enduring through a period or eon succeeding the final judgment, the extent of which period is not defined. In neither case is αἰώνιος to be interpreted as everlasting or endless.sa180 [source]

1 Timothy 2:5 One God []
These Epistles deal much with the divine attributes. See 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:13, 1 Timothy 6:15, 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 Timothy 3:15; 1 Timothy 4:10; 2 Timothy 2:13; Titus 1:2. [source]
1 Timothy 2:10 Professing [ἐπαγγελλομέναις]
In the sense of professing only in the Pastorals. In Titus 1:2, and everywhere else in N.T. it means promise. See Acts 7:5; Romans 4:21; Galatians 3:19, etc. [source]
2 Timothy 1:9 Before the world began [πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων]
See additional note on 2 Thessalonians 1:9. In Pastorals the phrase only here and Titus 1:2. Not in Paul. Lit. before eternal times. If it is insisted that αἰώνιος meanseverlasting, this statement is absurd. It is impossible that anything should take place before everlasting times. That would be to say that there was a beginning of times which are from everlasting. Paul puts the beginnings of salvation in God's purpose before the time of the world (1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Peter 1:20); and Christ's participation in the saving counsels of God prior to time, goes with the Pauline doctrine of Christ's preexistence. The meaning, therefore, of this phrase is rightly given in A.V.: before the world began, that is, before time was reckoned by aeons or cycles. Then, in that timeless present, grace was given to us in God's decree, not actually, since we did not exist. The gift planned and ordered in the eternal counsels is here treated as an actual bestowment. [source]
2 Timothy 1:9 Purpose [προτεσιν]
See note on Romans 9:11; Ephesians 1:11 for προτεσιν — prothesin Which was given (την δοτεισαν — tēn dotheisan). First aorist passive articular participle agreeing with χαρις — charis (grace), a thoroughly Pauline expression (1 Corinthians 3:10; Romans 12:3, Romans 12:6, etc.), only here in Pastoral Epistles. Before times eternal See note on Titus 1:2. [source]
2 Timothy 1:9 Before times eternal [προ χρονων αιωνιων]
See note on Titus 1:2. [source]
Titus 3:7 According to the hope of eternal life [κατ ' ἐλπίδα ζωῆς αἰωνίου]
Const. of eternal life with heirs, and rend. heirs of eternal life according to hope. Comp. Romans 4:18; Romans 5:2; Romans 8:24; Galatians 5:5; Colossians 1:5, Colossians 1:27; Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 3:2, 1 John 3:3. [source]
1 John 1:1 Of life [τῆς ζωῆς]
Lit., the life. See on John 1:4. The phrase ὁ λόγος τῆς ζωῆς , the Word of the Life, occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The nearest approach to it is Philemon 2:16; but there neither word has the article. In the phrase words of eternal life (John 6:68), and in Acts 5:20, all the words of this life, ῥήματα is used. The question is whether λόγος is used here of the Personal Word, as John 1:1, or of the divine message or revelation. In the four passages of the Gospel where λόγος is used in a personal sense (John 1:1, John 1:14), it is used absolutely, the Word (compare Revelation 19:13). On the other hand, it is often used relatively in the New Testament; as word of the kingdom (Matthew 8:19); word of this salvation (Acts 8:26); word of His grace (Acts 20:32); word of truth (James 1:18). By John ζωῆς oflife, is often used in order to characterize the word which accompanies it. Thus, crown of life (Revelation 2:10); water of life (Revelation 21:6); book of life (Revelation 3:5); bread of life (John 6:35); i.e., the water which is living and communicates life; the book; which contains the revelation of life; the bread which imparts life. In the same sense, John 6:68; Acts 5:20. Compare Titus 1:2, Titus 1:3. Though the phrase, the Word of the Life, does not elsewhere occur in a personal sense, I incline to regard its primary reference as personal, from the obvious connection of the thought with John 1:1, John 1:4. “In the beginning was the Word, - in Him was life.” “As John does not purpose to say that he announces Christ as an abstract single idea, but that he declares his own concrete historical experiences concerning Christ, - so now he continues, not the Logos (Word), but concerning the Word, we make annunciation to you” (Ebrard). At the same time, I agree with Canon Westcott that it is most probable that the two interpretations are not to be sharply separated. “The revelation proclaims that which it includes; it has, announces, gives life. In Christ life as the subject, and life as the character of the revelation, were absolutely united.”-DIVIDER-
[source]

What do the individual words in Titus 1:2 mean?

in [the] hope of life eternal which promised - who cannot lie God before time eternal
ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι ζωῆς αἰωνίου ἣν ἐπηγγείλατο ἀψευδὴς Θεὸς πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων

ἐλπίδι  [the]  hope 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: ἐλπίς  
Sense: expectation of evil, fear.
ζωῆς  of  life 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: ζωή  
Sense: life.
αἰωνίου  eternal 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: αἰώνιος  
Sense: without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be.
ἐπηγγείλατο  promised 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἐπαγγέλλομαι  
Sense: to announce that one is about to do or furnish something.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἀψευδὴς  who  cannot  lie 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀψευδής  
Sense: without lie, truthful.
Θεὸς  God 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
πρὸ  before 
Parse: Preposition
Root: πρό  
Sense: before.
χρόνων  time 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: χρόνος  
Sense: time either long or short.
αἰωνίων  eternal 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: αἰώνιος  
Sense: without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be.