Posts Tagged ‘thessalonians’
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!
Church letters (of Paul)
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)
Romans
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Same
-bond-servant of…
-apostle
-Grace…and peace from God the/our Father and…
Different
-bond-servant of Christ Jesus
-to all who are beloved…called as saints
-God our Father
-the Lord Jesus Christ
I Corinthians
Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Same
-apostle of Jesus Christ
-Grace…and peace from God the/our Father and…
Different
-‘called as’ and apostle
-and Sosthenes
-to the church
-God our Father
-the Lord Jesus Christ
II Corinthians
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Same
-apostle of Christ Jesus (Jesus Christ)
-Grace…and peace from God the/our Father and…
Different
-and Timothy
-to the church
-the Lord Jesus Christ
Galatians
Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Same
-apostle
-Grace…and peace from God the/our Father and…
Different
-and all…
-to the churches
-the Lord Jesus Christ
Ephesians
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Same
-apostle of Christ Jesus (Jesus Christ)
-Grace…and peace from God the/our Father and…
Different
-to the saints
-the Lord Jesus Christ
Philippians
Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Same
-bond-servant(s)
-Grace…and peace from God the/our Father and…
Different
-and Timothy (both bond-servants)
-to all the saints
-including overseers and deacons
-the Lord Jesus Christ
Colossians
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
Same
-apostle of Jesus Christ
-Grace…and peace from God the/our Father
Different
-and Timothy
-to the saints
-from God our Father.
I Thessalonians
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
Same
-Grace…and peace
Different
-and Silvanus and Timothy
-(no qualified attribution)
-to the church
-(no source of grace and peace)
II Thessalonians
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Same
-Grace…and peace from God the Father and…
Different
-and Silvanus and Timothy
-(no qualified attribution)
-to the church
-the Lord Jesus Christ
General observations
Attribution
-2 other instances of ‘bond-servant,’ once includes Timothy
-mostly uses ‘apostle’
-authorship
-(2) Paul alone
-(4) with one other
-(1) Sosthenes
-(3) Timothy
-(2) with two others (Silvanus and Timothy)
-(1) with ‘all that are with me’
Address
-(4) to the saints
-(5) to the church
Greeting
-always: Grace TO YOU and peace
-from:
-(6) God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
-(1) God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
-(1) God our Father
-(1) none
-emphasis on Lord instead of Savior
