5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, 6 namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. 7 For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, 8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
-
Titus 1:5-9
-
https://biblearc.com/author/Brian_Allen/Qualifications_for_Elders/
First time to post on this site, so be merciful!
See the link to my published phrase of Titus 1:5-9. Feel free to make suggestions for improvement, but my specific questions are:
-
Is “Set in order what remains” and “appoint elders in every city” independent commands, possibly with some overlap, OR is Paul saying, “Set in order what remains BY appointing elders in every city”? How should I have phrased that differently?
-
Does Paul insert a ground in between the list of qualifications of what it means to be “above reproach” (meaning all of the qualifications are what it means to be above reproach" with a ground stuck in between, OR are “husband of one wife”, “believing children”, and “not accused of dissipation or rebellion” explanation of what it means to be “above reproach” and then he begins a second list…so the parallel list would be "above reproach, hospitable, loving what is good, etc?
-
-
@Brian-Allen Thanks for posting this!
-
Those two commands are equal grammatically, as they are both subjunctive verbs, following the conjunction ἵνα. Perhaps the second is contained within the first, but I agree with your making this a Series.
-
It looks to me like “if any man is above reproach” is the Condition for 5e, “and appoint elders.” Titus should appoint elders if he can find men who are above reproach. But that might be tricky to show, as the way you have phrased it makes sense as well.
Then 7a, “for the overseer must be above reproach,” could be seen as a Ground for Paul’s command in 5e, or for Paul’s direction in 5g. “Namely” should be kept with “if any man,” since an adverb like that shouldn’t be on its own phrase. Then 6b (as it now stands) and 7b would be coordinate phrases.
-
