The institution of the "widows," which is discussed in the fifth chapter, is to us somewhat obscure. Evidently those who were accounted "widows," being helpless, were entitled to support by the church. The necessity of sound teaching, with emphasis upon the really fundamental things of the faith, is again insisted upon; and certain false teachers are accused of practicing or inculcating piety as a means of worldly gain. Ch. 6:3-10. The last warning of the epistle characteristically concerns vain babblings and oppositions of a so-called knowledge. Probably these errors are connected in some way with those which are combated in the first section of the epistle. In the final words, "Grace be with you," the "you" in the Greek, according to the best attestation, is plural; and in the corresponding passages at the end of Titus and of Second Timothy, it is certainly plural. This may furnish an indication—to be added to more general considerations—that the Pastoral Epistles were intended not merely for those to whom they are formally addressed, but also to the churches under their care.
2. THE EPISTLE TO TITUS
The address of the Epistle to Titus is noteworthy for the long addition to the title of the author, which is to be compared with the similar addition in Romans.
At the time when the epistle was written, Paul had recently been with Titus in Crete. Paul had not labored on that island before the first Roman imprisonment. His journeys in the east between the two imprisonments therefore involved something more than the revisitation of former fields. The reason why Titus was left behind in Crete was somewhat similar to the reason why Timothy, according to First Timothy, was told to remain in Ephesus. Titus was to give attention to organization, and to the maintenance of sound instruction.
Like Timothy, Titus is given the power of establishing presbyters, and of establishing them not merely in one church but in various churches. The function of the presbyter was that of "bishop" or "overseer." Titus 1:5-7. In vs. 9-16, the close connection of organization with sound doctrine becomes particularly apparent. One important function of the presbyters was to counteract the errors which were springing up. The account of the errorists in Crete is perhaps in some respects clearer than that which is given of the related phenomenon in Ephesus. The false teachers were animated by a love of gain. V. 11. Some of them were Jews or proselytes. V. 10. They had a fondness for Jewish fables. Apparently, also, they tried to atone for a lack of real inward purity by an outward asceticism. Vs. 15, 16. They were concerned with vain questionings and genealogies and legal disputes. These last are perhaps to be regarded as casuistic discussions like those which play such a large part in Jewish tradition.
The Epistle to Titus is somewhat richer than First Timothy in personal details. After Titus has been relieved in Crete by Artemas or Tychicus, who may soon be sent, he is to join Paul in Nicopolis. Tychicus, it will be remembered, had served as Paul's messenger during the first imprisonment. He was the bearer of Colossians and Ephesians. The Nicopolis where Paul is intending to pass the approaching winter, is probably the chief of the many cities of that name, the Nicopolis in Epirus. Zenas, a lawyer otherwise unknown, and the well-known Apollos, who appears so prominently in The Acts and in First Corinthians, are to be furnished in Crete with everything that they need for their further journey.
3. THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY
The First Epistle to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus are in many respects strikingly similar. A certain strong family resemblance extends also to Second Timothy. Evidently all three of the Pastoral Epistles belong to the same general period of Paul's life, and were intended to subserve similar purposes. Second Timothy, however, as compared with the other two, exhibits some marked peculiarities.
The personal element, in particular, is in this letter much more prominent. Second Timothy contains a wealth of interesting biographical details about Timothy, about Paul, and about a very considerable number of other persons. Some of these last are known only from this epistle; others have been brought to our attention again and again.
In Second Timothy Paul appears as a prisoner, no doubt at Rome. This time there seems to be little hope of his release. Apparently his imprisonment is not of long standing. Only recently he has been at Corinth and at Miletus. II Tim. 4:20. He speaks in one place of his first defense. V. 16. Some suppose that this is a reminiscence of the trial which had taken place years before, during the first imprisonment. More probably it refers to some preliminary hearing which had only recently been held. Paul is oppressed with a sense of loneliness, even more than during the first imprisonment. There was no one to stand by him at his first hearing. For one reason or another, his intimate associates have been scattered—some of them, no doubt, for good and sufficient reasons, but Demas, at any rate, out of an unworthy love of the world. Luke, fortunately, is still with him; and Timothy, with Mark, is urged to come before the winter. Vs. 11, 21. Mark seems to have changed since he turned back from the work at Perga. At the beginning he was rebuked for desertion; but now at the end he is one of the few faithful ones.