Titus 3:1

Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

III.

(1) Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers.—Very careful and searching have been the Apostle’s charges to Titus respecting the teachers of the Church, their doctrine and their life; very particular have been his directions, his warnings, and exhortations to men and women of different ages on the subject of their home life. But, with the exception of a slight digression in the case of a slave to a Pagan master, his words had been written with a reference generally to Christian life among Christians. But there was then a great life outside the little Christian world; how were the people of Christ to regulate their behaviour in their dealings with the vast Pagan world outside? St. Paul goes to the root of the matter at once when he says, “Put them in mind,” &c. Very needful in Crete was such a reminder respecting obedience. The island had, when St. Paul wrote to Titus, been some century and a quarter under Roman rule. Their previous government had been democratic; and historians, like Polybius, who have written of Crete, have dwelt particularly on the turbulent and factious spirit which animated their people; added to which, the many Jews who we know formed a very large part of the Christian Church there, always impatient of a foreign yoke, would in such an atmosphere of excitement be especially eager to assert their right to be free from the hated rule of Rome.

The Greek words translated “principalities and powers” are better rendered here by “rulers and authorities,” as the word “principalities” is used occasionally in the English version for an “order of angels.” The terms include all constituted governors and officials, Roman and otherwise, in the island.

To obey magistrates.—Taken absolutely, to obey the temporal power. Our Lord’s words were the model for all teaching in this division of Christian ethics One great teacher after the other, in the same spirit, in varied language, urges upon the people of Christ a reverence and submission to all legally constituted authority in the state. This devoted Christian loyalty, no bitter opposition in after years to their tenets could chill, no cruel persecution of individuals lessen. Augustine, writes Professor Reynolds, could boast that when Julian asked Christians to sacrifice and offer incense to the gods they, at all hazards, sternly refused; but when he summoned them to fight for the empire they rushed to the front. “They distinguished between their Eternal Lord and their earthly ruler, and yet they yielded obedience to their earthly ruler for the sake of their Eternal Lord.” Least of any should we expect St. Paul to write such words, so loyal and faithful to Rome. He had found, indeed, little cause in his chequered, troubled life to be grateful personally to the Empire; with ears too ready had Rome ever listened to the cruel “informations” laid against him by his implacable Jewish enemies; she had imprisoned him, fettered him, hindered his work, and threatened his life; and when he was writing these deathless words of his, urging upon his devoted flock a loyalty changeless and true, for him the supreme vengeance of Rome was close at hand.

To be ready to every good work.—Ready cheerfully to aid all lawful authority, municipal and otherwise, in their public works undertaken for city or state. The flock of Titus must remember that the true Christian ought to be known as a good citizen and a devoted patriot.

Benson Commentary

Titus 3:1-3. Put them. — All the Cretian Christians; in mind to be subject — Passively, not resisting; to principalities — Supreme rulers; and powers — Subordinate governors; and to obey magistrates — Actively, as far as conscience permits. It is probable that the reason whey the apostle enjoined this so particularly was, because the Judaizing teachers in Crete affirmed, that no obedience was due from the worshippers of the true God to magistrates who were idolaters, and because by that doctrine they were beginning to make not only the Jewish, but the Gentile believers, bad subjects, and liable to be punished as evil-doers. To be ready to every good work — In every relation which they sustain; to speak evil of no man — Neither of magistrates, nor of any others. “The word βλασφημειν, besides evil-speaking, denotes all those vices of the tongue which proceed either from hatred or from contempt of others, and which tend to hurt their reputation, such as railing, reviling, mocking speeches, whisperings, &c.”

To be no brawlers — Greek, αμαχους ειναι, not to be contentious: or quarrelsome, to assault none; but gentle — Επεικεις, yielding, when assaulted, and often giving up their own right rather than contend; showing — In their tempers, words, and actions; all meekness — A mild, inoffensive, and kind behaviour; unto all men — Even enemies, and such as we ourselves once were. For we ourselves also — Or, even we ourselves, though now new creatures in Christ Jesus; were sometimes, ποτε, formerly, foolish — Ανοητοι, ignorant, of God and divine things; unreasonable, particularly in rejecting the Lord Jesus, though demonstrated to be the true Messiah by the most incontrovertible evidences; and imprudent, or destitute of true wisdom, (as the word also implies,) being enemies to ourselves, in that we were disobedient to the divine commands, though holy, just, and good; and refused to hearken to the glad tidings of salvation announced in the gospel of his grace. The cause of this unreasonable and foolish conduct was, that we were deceived by the grand enemy of our souls, the subtle serpent that lies in wait to deceive; deluded by the allurements of this insnaring world, and erred, or wandered, (as the word πλανωμενοι means,) from the right way of truth and righteousness into by-paths of error and sin, promising ourselves liberty; but serving — Δουλευοντες, enslaved to, divers lusts — Επιθυμιαις, desires, irregular and inordinate; (see on Titus 2:12;) and pleasures — Which perished in the using, but nevertheless were alluring us forward to everlasting miseries. Such was the state of our understanding, will, and affections. But what were our tempers? Such was our conduct toward God and ourselves; but what was it toward our fellow-creatures? The apostle tells us: living in malice — Instead of exercising benevolence and love toward all men; and envy — Grieving at the good enjoyed by others, instead of rejoicing therein, as it was our duty to have done; hateful — Ourselves, while under the tyranny of such detestable passions, worthy to be abhorred by God and man; and hating one another — On account of little clashings and oppositions in our temporal interests, while we forgot the great ties and bonds which ought to have endeared us to each other. Dr. Whitby, arguing from Acts 23:1; 2 Timothy 1:3; Php 3:6, pleads that the above description could not be applicable to Paul himself, even while he was in his unconverted state; and with him Dr. Macknight agrees; forgetting, it seems, the malicious and vengeful passions which evidently dwelt in him while he was Saul the persecutor, breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the best people upon earth, the disciples of the Lord Jesus; binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, and being exceedingly mad against them, punishing them oft in every synagogue, pursuing them into strange cities, and persecuting them even unto death, Acts 9:1; Acts 22:4; Acts 26:11. On account of which conduct, when the eyes of his understanding were opened by the wonderful miracle of grace which the Lord Jesus wrought for him, he always reckoned himself the chief of sinners. But besides the persecuting spirit which he manifested toward the Christians, when he had a just view of his temper and behaviour in other respects, and became acquainted with the purity of God’s holy law, he was so convinced of the depravity of his nature, and of the imperfection of his best obedience, that, notwithstanding all he says in the passages above quoted by Whitby, he could undoubtedly, as Dr. Doddridge justly observes, “apply what he here wrote to much of his own character while an enemy to Christianity.” The reader will easily see that the duty inculcated in this passage is highly reasonable, and of peculiar importance, namely, that we should be ready to show that mercy to others which God hath shown to us; and that, from a recollection of the errors and sins which we were chargeable with in our unconverted state, we should exercise compassion toward those who are still ignorant and out of the way, but who may hereafter be brought to the saving knowledge of the truth, and be created anew in Christ Jesus, as we have been.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:1-7 Spiritual privileges do not make void or weaken, but confirm civil duties. Mere good words and good meanings are not enough without good works. They were not to be quarrelsome, but to show meekness on all occasions, not toward friends only, but to all men, though with wisdom, Jas 3:13. And let this text teach us how wrong it is for a Christian to be churlish to the worst, weakest, and most abject. The servants of sin have many masters, their lusts hurry them different ways; pride commands one thing, covetousness another. Thus they are hateful, deserving to be hated. It is the misery of sinners, that they hate one another; and it is the duty and happiness of saints to love one another. And we are delivered out of our miserable condition, only by the mercy and free grace of God, the merit and sufferings of Christ, and the working of his Spirit. God the Father is God our Saviour. He is the fountain from which the Holy Spirit flows, to teach, regenerate, and save his fallen creatures; and this blessing comes to mankind through Christ. The spring and rise of it, is the kindness and love of God to man. Love and grace have, through the Spirit, great power to change and turn the heart to God. Works must be in the saved, but are not among the causes of their salvation. A new principle of grace and holiness is wrought, which sways, and governs, and makes the man a new creature. Most pretend they would have heaven at last, yet they care not for holiness now; they would have the end without the beginning. Here is the outward sign and seal thereof in baptism, called therefore the washing of regeneration. The work is inward and spiritual; this is outwardly signified and sealed in this ordinance. Slight not this outward sign and seal; yet rest not in the outward washing, but look to the answer of a good conscience, without which the outward washing will avail nothing. The worker therein is the Spirit of God; it is the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Through him we mortify sin, perform duty, walk in God's ways; all the working of the Divine life in us, and the fruits of righteousness without, are through this blessed and holy Spirit. The Spirit and his saving gifts and graces, come through Christ, as a Saviour, whose undertaking and work are to bring to grace and glory. Justification, in the gospel sense, is the free forgiveness of a sinner; accepting him as righteous through the righteousness of Christ received by faith. God, in justifying a sinner in the way of the gospel, is gracious to him, yet just to himself and his law. As forgiveness is through a perfect righteousness, and satisfaction is made to justice by Christ, it cannot be merited by the sinner himself. Eternal life is set before us in the promise; the Spirit works faith in us, and hope of that life; faith and hope bring it near, and fill with joy in expectation of it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Put them in mind to be subject ... - See the duty here enjoined, explained in the notes at Romans 13:1, following.

Principalities and powers - See these words explained in the notes at Romans 8:38. The word here rendered "powers" (ἐξουσίαις exousiais), is not, indeed, the same as that which is found there (δυνάμεις dunameis), but the same idea is conveyed; compare the notes at Ephesians 1:21.

To obey magistrates - That is, to obey them in all that was not contrary to the word of God; Romans 13:1 note, following; Acts 4:19-20 notes.

To be ready to every good work - "To be prepared for" (ἑτοίμους hetoimous); prompt to perform all that is good; Notes, Philippians 4:8. A Christian should be always ready to do good as far as he is able. He should not need to be urged, or coaxed, or persuaded, but should be so ready always to do good that he will count it a privilege to have the opportunity to do it.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 3

Tit 3:1-15. What Titus Is to Teach Concerning Christians' Behavior towards the World: How He Is to Treat Heretics: When and Where He Is to Meet Paul. Salutation. Conclusion.

1. Put them in mind—as they are in danger of forgetting their duty, though knowing it. The opposition of Christianity to heathenism, and the natural disposition to rebellion of the Jews under the Roman empire (of whom many lived in Crete), might lead many to forget practically what was a recognized Christian principle in theory, submission to the powers that be. Diodorus Siculus mentions the tendency of the Cretans to riotous insubordination.

to be subject—"willingly" (so the Greek).

principalities … powers—Greek, "magistracies … authorities."

to obey—the commands of "magistrates"; not necessarily implying spontaneous obedience. Willing obedience is implied in "ready to every good work." Compare Ro 13:3, as showing that obedience to the magistracy would tend to good works, since the magistrate's aim generally is to favor the good and punish the bad. Contrast "disobedient" (Tit 3:3).Titus 3:1,2 Christians are admonished to be subject to civil

powers, and of a peaceable and quiet demeanour.

Titus 3:3-8 They are saved from their sins by God’s mercy through

Christ, but must maintain good works.

Titus 3:9 Genealogies and contentions about the law are to be avoided,

Titus 3:10,11 and obstinate heretics to be rejected.

Titus 3:12,13 Paul appointeth Titus when and where to come to him,

Titus 3:14 recommendeth acts of mercy to Christians,

Titus 3:15 and concludeth with salutations and a benediction.

Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers: all the supreme secular powers at this time were pagans, and no friends to the Christians in their dominions, which might be a temptation to the Christians to rebel against them, or at least not to yield them so free, universal, and cheerful an obedience as they ought; therefore the apostle presseth this duty upon them, and that not here only, but Romans 13:1: see 1 Peter 2:13.

To obey magistrates: by the former term he might understand the supreme magistrates, by the latter, those inferior ranks; as the apostle Peter expresseth himself more particularly, 1 Peter 2:13,14.

To be ready to every good work; to be free, and prepared to every work which is acceptable to God and honourable in itself.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers,.... Not angels, good or bad, which are sometimes so called, but men in high places; the higher powers ordained of God, as the apostle elsewhere calls them; and which the Apostle Peter distinguishes into the king as supreme, and into governors under him: the Roman emperor and senate, the consuls, and proconsuls, deputies and governors of provinces and islands, are here meant; particularly such who were appointed over the island of Crete. Now the reasons why the apostle exhorts Titus to put in remembrance those that were under his care, to yield a cheerful subjection to their superiors, were, because the Jews, from whom the Christians were not distinguished by the Romans, were reckoned a turbulent and seditious people; which character they obtained, partly through the principles of the Scribes and Pharisees, which they at least privately entertained, as not to give tribute to Caesar, or be under any Heathen yoke; and partly through the insurrections that had been made by Judas of Galilee, and Theudas, and others; and besides, there were many Jews in the island of Crete, and the Cretians themselves were prone to mutiny and rebellion: to which may be added, that the false teachers, and judaizing preachers, that had got among them, despised dominion, and were not afraid to speak evil of dignities, according to the characters which both Peter and Jude give of them, and taught the saints to abuse their Christian liberty, and use it for a cloak of maliciousness, to the great scandal of the Christian religion.

To obey magistrates; inferior ones; in all things that are according to the laws of God, and right reason, that do not contradict what God has commanded, or break in upon the rights and dictates of conscience; in all things of a civil nature, and which are for the good of society, and do not affect religion, and the worship of God: hence it follows,

to be ready to every good work; which may be taken in a limited and restrained sense, and design every good work enjoined by the civil magistrate; and all right and lawful obedience that belongs to him, as giving to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, tribute, custom, fear, and honour to whom they are due; and which should be done readily and cheerfully: or it may be understood more comprehensively of good works in general, which wicked men are reprobate to, and unfit for; and which they that are sanctified are meet for, and ready to; though this may not only intend their capacity, fitness, and qualifications, for the performance of good works, but their alacrity, promptitude, and forwardness unto them.

Geneva Study Bible

Put {1} them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,

(1) He declares particularly and separately that which he said before generally, noting out certain main and principal duties which men owe to men, and especially subjects to their magistrates.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Titus 3:1-2. Instructions to give exhortations regarding conduct towards the authorities and towards all men.

ὑπομίμνησκε αὐτούς] (see 2 Timothy 2:14) presupposes that they are aware of the duties regarding which the exhortation is given. It is not so certain that Paul is alluding to definite precepts already expressed by him.

αὐτούς] viz. the members of the church.

ἀρχαῖς (καὶ) ἐξουσίαις ὑποτάσσεσθαι] ἀρχαὶ κ. ἐξουσίαι as a name for human authorities is used also in Luke 12:11 (comp. too, Luke 20:20; ἐξουσίαι, alone in Romans 13:1). The two words are joined together in order to give fuller expression to the notion of authority. It cannot, however, be shown that the one denotes the higher, the other the lower authorities (Heydenreich). It is at least doubtful whether this inculcation of obedience to the authorities had its justification in the rebellious character of the Cretans nationally (Matthies and others). Similar precepts also occur in other epistles of the N. T.; and here the exhortation harmonizes with the injunctions given in chap. 2. The Christians needed the exhortation all the more that the authorities were heathen.

πειθαρχεῖν] here in its original signification: “obey the superior.” Its meaning in Acts 27:21 is more general. The πειθαρχεῖν is the result and actual proof of the ὑποτάσσεσθαι. The want of καί does not prove, as de Wette thinks, that it does not belong to the datives ἀρχαῖς (κ.) ἐξ. Καί would have been out of place here, since the following words also are to be construed with that dative.

πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἑτοίμους εἶναι] not to be taken generally, but in very close connection with ἀρχαῖς: “for the authorities prepared to every good work” (so, too, Wiesinger and van Oosterzee). The ἀγαθόν is not without significance, as it points to the limits within which they are to be ready to obey the will of the authorities. Theodoret: οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰς ἅπαντα δεῖ τοῖς ἄρχουσι πειθαρχεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν δασμὸν καὶ τὸν φόρον εἰσφέρειν, καὶ τὴν προσήκουσαν ἀπονέμειν τιμήν· εἰ δὲ δυσσεβεῖν κελεύσειεν, ἀντικρὺς ἀντιλέγειν; comp. Acts 4:19.

Titus 3:2. μηδένα βλασφημεῖν] The new object μηδένα shows that from this point he is no longer speaking of special duties towards superiors, but of general duties towards one’s neighbour. Βλασφημεῖν is used specially in reference to what is higher, but it occurs also in the more general sense of “revile.” Theodoret: μηδένα ἀγορεύειν κακῶς.

ἀμάχους εἶναι, ἐπιεικεῖς] see 1 Timothy 3:3; the first expresses negatively what the second expresses positively.

πᾶσαν ἐνδεικνυμένους (see Titus 2:10) πραΰτητα πρὸς πάντας ἀνθρώπους] Chrysostom: καὶ Ἰουδαίους καὶ Ἕλληνας, μοχθήρους κ. πονηρούς.

It is impossible not to see that the apostle is thinking specially of conduct towards those who are not Christian.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Titus 3:1-2. As your Cretan folk are naturally intractable, be careful to insist on obedience to the constituted authorities, and on the maintenance of friendly relations with non-Christians.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1–7. The duty of living in peace from a sense of God’s love and through the Spirit’s power

1. Put them in mind] ‘Them’ must be ‘the Cretan Christians’ generally: St Paul is gathering all up in his mind for his final counsel. The verb for ‘put in mind,’ and its substantive, occur twice in St John, once in St Luke, but in St Paul only in the Pastoral Epistles three times; in St Peter’s Epistles three times; and once in St Jude’s. John 14:26 shews the full construction, accus. of person and of thing, ‘He shall bring all things to your remembrance.’ The A.V. in 3 John 1:10, ‘I will remember his deeds,’ is surely in the old sense of ‘remember,’ which survives in our valedictory request ‘remember me to all your circle;’ R.V. ‘bring to remembrance,’ cf. note on the similar compound 2 Timothy 1:6.

to be subject to principalities and powers] Rather, more fully as R.V. to be in subjection. Elsewhere in St Paul’s Epistles the phrase ‘principalities and powers’ refers to spiritual and angelic powers, good or evil, cf. 1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 3:10; Colossians 1:16. But the word in its old sense (see Bible Word-Book, p. 477) was used of any ‘chief place,’ as in 2Ma 4:27 of the office of high priest. And the meaning here is the same as in the two places where it occurs in the Gospels, Luke 12:11, where our Lord prophesies that His disciples shall be brought before ‘the rulers and the authorities,’ and Luke 20:20, ‘so as to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor.’ There is not sufficient warrant for the connecting ‘and’ here; render to rulers to authorities. Both words illustrate the idiom ‘res pro persona.’ Vulg. ‘potestates’ from whence the Italian podestà a magistrate. The difference between the two words is that the former expresses a governing de facto, whether also de jure or not, the latter a governing de jure, a duly constituted authority. ‘They who rule’ occurs with ‘the authorities’ in the locus classicus, Romans 13:1, where, however, R.V. has retained ‘power,’ apparently because from that passage the phrase ‘the powers that be’ has become an English household word in the sense of ‘lawful authority.’ The other household use of ‘powers’ in the phrase ‘The Great Powers,’ seems to belong rather to the synonym dynamis as expressing material force. In Matthew 28:18 the change from ‘power’ to ‘authority’ in R.V. enhances the kingly office and prerogative.

to obey magistrates] The word only occurs Acts 5:29; Acts 5:32; Acts 27:21, where a dative follows; and so it may be here, if we join it with the preceding; but it seems more Pauline to add the verb absolutely. From note on Titus 2:5 we should expect it to differ from the preceding clause, in being more specific in its reference to the official system of government; render perhaps to obey their rules, ‘to obey state laws.’ Fairbairn refers to the earlier history of the island and a ‘known tendency on the part of the Cretans to insubordination and turmoil,’ quoting from Polybius vi. 46, ‘constantly upset by seditions and murders and tribal wars.’

to be ready to every good work] This takes us on a step still further; first a general submission, then a loyal acceptance and execution of public orders, then the learning and labouring truly to get one’s own living and to do one’s duty, domestic, social and civil. That ‘the good work’ has such a reference is implied in Romans 13:3. The ‘ready’ is exactly ‘whatsover ye do, do it heartily unto the Lord,’ cf. Colossians 3:23. ‘The true workman never shirks when the overseer is not by; he has not one rule for work done for himself, and another for work done for his master. There is a work that is mean and pitiful; all grudging unwilling toil, all ‘scamped’ work, fair to the eye but second rate in reality, is mean and pitiful; it is like work done by the slave at the whip’s end, or like the labour of the convict in gaol; it is forced and unwelcome and as badly done as possible.’ M. A. Lewis, Faithful Soldiers and Servants, p. 58.

Bengel's Gnomen

Titus 3:1. Ἀρχαῖς καὶ ἐξουσίαις, to principalities and powers) Crete was a Roman province.—ὑποτάσσεσθαι, πειθαρχεῖν, to be subject, to obey) The words, ἀνόητοι, foolish (comp. Psalm 32:9), ἀπειθεῖς, disobedient, Titus 3:3, are opposed to them.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - In subjection for subject, A.V.; rulers for principalities. A.V.; to authorities for and powers, A.V. and T.R.; to be obedient for to obey magistrates, A.V.; unto for to, A.V. Put them in mind (ὑπομίμνησκε); as 2 Timothy 2:14. To rulers, to authorities. Many uncials, which the R.T. follows, omit the καὶ, but it seems necessary to the sense. The change from "principalities and powers" to" rulers" and "authorities" does not seem desirable. Ἀρχάι and ἐξουσίαι is a favorite juxtaposition el' St. Paul's (1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:16; Colossians 2:10, 15). It occurs also in 1 Peter 3:22. In all the above examples the words, it is true, apply to the angelic hosts, but the words are elsewhere applied separately to human government, and in Luke 20:20, they are applied together to the authority of the Roman governor. To be obedient (πειθαρχεῖν); only here and in Acts 5:29, 32; Acts 27:21. It follows here its classical use, "to obey a superior," well expressed in the Authorized Version "to obey magistrates." The simple "to be obedient" of the Revised Version does not express the sense. To be ready unto every good work. St. Paul is still speaking with especial reference to magistrates and the civil power. Christians were to show themselves good citizens, always ready for any duty to which they were called. Christianity was not to be an excuse for shirking duties, or refusing obedience where it was due. The only limit is expressed by the word "good." They were to give tribute to whom tribute was due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor; but, if ordered to do evil, then they must resist, and obey God rather than man (Acts 4:19). (See the similar limitation in Titus 2:10, note, and compare, for the whole verse, the very similar passage, Romans 13:1-7.) Titus 3:1

Vincent's Word Studies

Put them in mind (ὑπομίμνησκε ἐξουσίαις)

See on 2 Timothy 2:14, and see on ὑπόμνησιν reminding, 2 Timothy 1:5.

Principalities and powers (ἀρχαῖς ἐξουσίαις)

Omit and. Principalities which are authorities. Ἁρχή beginning equals that which begins: the leader, principality. See on Colossians 1:16; see on Jde 1:6; see on Acts 10:11. Only here in Pastorals. Ἑξουσία right, authority. See on Mark 2:10; see on John 1:12; see on Colossians 1:16. Only here in Pastorals. For the combination principalities and powers, see on Luke 20:20.

To obey magistrates (πειθαρχεῖν)

Comp. Acts 5:29, Acts 5:32; Acts 27:21. See on Acts 5:29. The idea of magistrates is contained in the word itself; but it is quite proper to render as Rev. to be obedient. Rare in lxx.

Ready to every good work (πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἑτοίμους εἶναι)

The phrase N.T.o. Ἑτοίμος ready, only here in Pastorals. Comp. ἑτοιμασία readiness or preparation, Ephesians 6:15 (note).