Posts Tagged ‘II John’
To Titus
1Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,
2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
3but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior,
4To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
II. Purpose
- For the faith (and the knowledge)
- In the hope
- To Titus
Of the three possible purpose phrases, this is by far the clearest example. Even so, we will dig into the language and compare/contrast it with other examples.
I would expect this phrase to read ‘τῷ Τιτῷ’, in the dative case. As I look at my Greek testament, I realize how long it’s really been since I immersed myself in this stuff. The dative case in it’s purest form (indicating the indirect object, showing to or for whom the action is taking place) does not require a preposition at all. In my guess, τῷ was in my mind taking the place of the English preposition ‘to,’ which is not needed in Greek. Worse, τῷ isn’t a Greek preposition at all, but a definite article! My guess would have translated ‘to the Titus.’
…Which is exactly why I’m doing this…
Paul is addressing his letter to Titus, obviously a dear friend of his, with whom he has much history. It appears very cut-and-dry…but is it?
- How were personal letters treated in Paul’s day?
- Was he really just intending it for Titus only, or did he foresee its wide dispersion and eventual canonization?
- How does he write this personal letter differently than his church letters?
To deal with the first question, as always, I’d prefer to look at other parts of Scripture first. Looking back to our comparison with introductions of other letters, first to Paul’s other personal letters, then to any other personal letters we can find.
In I & II Timothy we find Τιμοθέῷ, the exact same simple construction, just a name in the dative case. Interestingly, both letters to Timothy also address him as τέκνον, or child. We find several instances of the same construction in his intro to Philemon: Φιλήμονι…καὶ Ἀπφίᾳ…καὶ Άρχίππῳ…καὶ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ: To Philemon…and to Apphia…and to Archippus…and to the church. All are in the dative case, but the last one includes the definite article, presumably since it is not a proper name like the rest.
It seems that Paul wrote to Timothy in the same style as he did to Titus, but he clearly wrote to Philemon knowing that it would be read in a public setting. I’ve heard it said, and I would suspect, that Paul’s purpose in addressing Philemon’s letter to the church that met in his home also, was to ensure that they would hold him accountable to do the right thing in taking Onesimus back into his household without punishment for running away.
Looking briefly at other NT letters: The letter to the Hebrews is not addressed in the introduction, James writes to the dispersed Jewish Christians, and Peter and Jude write to all Christians abroad. Each of John’s three letters are addressed differently:
- addressed to ‘you’ but doesn’t clarify (common theory is that he’s writing to the church at Ephesus
- addressed to ‘the chosen lady and her children,’ presumably the bride of Christ – the church – both currently and in future generation
- addressed to ‘the beloved Gaius,’ of whom very little is known
We have a range of letter-writing styles that is totally appropriate to the Greek culture of the time. To quote Stephen J Andrews in Mercer Dictionary of the Bible:
In antiquity letter writing was a well established mode of communication and assumed many forms ranging from simple personal addresses to elaborate literary masterpieces. Epicurus, Seneca, and Cicero used the epistolary medium for discourse on moral, ethical, and philosophical questions.
There seems to be a distinction between ‘letters’ – writing to one person with whom the author has a personal relationship – and ‘epistles’ – writing to groups of people in a more literary style to communicate and disseminate ideas. We’re going to classify Titus with I & II Timothy and Jude, as a true personal letter, directed at one person only, with whom the author clearly had a deep personal relationship.
The New Testament canonization process seems to have started when early churches began exchanging various collections of apostolic letters and writings they had gathered over the years. The process seems to have treated letters and epistles the same – but should we? Should we consider Paul’s teaching to Titus just as authoritative over our modern lives as his doctrinal epistles to, say, the Corinthians? Or should we just see this as it was apparently intended: a personal letter containing suggestions on how a young pastor could better lead his flock? These questions will affect our interpretation and application of the rest of the book.
Why does it seem that I always end up with more questions than when I started? This was supposed to be the easiest one!
Letters from other Biblical authors
Titus 1.1-4
1Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,
2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
3but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior,
4To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
I. Compare with other intros
- Other personal letters (of Paul)
- Church letters (of Paul)
- Letters from other Biblical authors
Hebrews
1God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Attribution – none
Address – none
Greeting – none
No formal epistolary introductory elements, merely sets up doctrinal foundation for the letter
James
1James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
Attribution – James (bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ)
Address – to the Diaspora (Jews abroad)
Greeting – greetings
I Peter
1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
Attribution – Peter (an apostle of Jesus Christ)
Address – Christians abroad (who are chosen)
Greeting – grace and peace
II Peter
1Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
Attribution – Peter (a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ)
Address – those who have received faith
Greeting – grace and peace…in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord
I John
1What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life–2and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us–3what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
Attribution – we (text does not claim Johannine authorship, only the style links it to his Gospel)
Address – ‘you’ (Ephesians?)
Greeting – none
More of an doctrinal foundation, but at the end mentions the epistolary nature of the work
II John
1The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth, 2for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: 3Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
Attribution – the elder (presumed John the apostle)
Address – the chosen lady and her children (congregation – bride of Christ? – and later generations)
Greeting – Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ
III John
1The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
Attribution – the elder
Address – Gaius (unknown)
Greeting – none
Jude
1Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: 2May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.
Attribution – Jude (a bond-servant of Jesus Christ)
Address – those who are the called (chosen)
Greeting – mercy, peace, and love
General Observations
Similar constructs with several personal letters
bond-servant (2)
apostle of Jesus Christ (2)
grace and peace (3)
from God/Jesus Christ (1)
Concept of ‘those chosen’ (2)
Less consistent in form than Paul’s
- Letters from extra-Biblical authors
