Titus 3:15

All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15) All that are with me salute thee.—It is uncertain where Paul was when he wrote this letter. “All that are with me” include those with him, journeying in his company. They are not named, because the individuals composing the immediate following of St. Paul would be likely to be well known to Titus.

Greet them that love us in the faith.—An inclusive greeting, embracing each member of the Cretan Church whose love to him (St. Paul) was based upon the common faith in the Lord Jesus. Greet all who love me, as the earnest preacher of their faith and mine.

Amen.—The greater number of the ancient authorities omit “Amen.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:12-15 Christianity is not a fruitless profession; and its professors must be filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. They must be doing good, as well as keeping away from evil. Let ours follow some honest labour and employment, to provide for themselves and their families. Christianity obliges all to seek some honest work and calling, and therein to abide with God. The apostle concludes with expressions of kind regard and fervent prayer. Grace be with you all; the love and favour of God, with the fruits and effects thereof, according to need; and the increase and feeling of them more and more in your souls. This is the apostle's wish and prayer, showing his affection to them, and desire for their good, and would be a means of obtaining for them, and bringing down on them, the thing requested. Grace is the chief thing to be wished and prayed for, with respect to ourselves or others; it is all good.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

All that are with me salute thee - Notes, Romans 16:3. Paul, at the close of his epistles, usually mentions the names of those who sent affectionate salutations. Here it would seem to be implied that Titus knew who were with Paul, and also that he himself had been traveling with him. He evidently refers not to those who were residing in the place where he was, but to those who had gone with him from Crete as his companions.

Greet them that love us in the faith - In the faith of the gospel, or as Christians. No names are here mentioned; compare 1 Thessalonians 5:26; Colossians 4:15.

Grace be with you all - Notes, Romans 1:7; Romans 16:20.

The subscription, "It was written to Titus," etc., is, like the other subscriptions at the close of the epistles, of no authority whatever; see the close of the notes at 1 Cor. this subscription there are probably two errors:

(1) In the statement that Titus was "ordained the first bishop of the church of the Cretians;" because:

(a) there is no evidence that there was a church there called "the church of the Cretians," as there were doubtless many churches on the island;

(b) there is no evidence that Titus was the first Bishop of the church there, or that he was the first one there to whom might be properly applied the term "bishop" in the Scriptural sense. Indeed, there is positive evidence that he was not the first, for Paul was there with him, and Titus was "left" there to complete what he had begun.

(c) There is no evidence that Titus was "bishop" there at all in the prelatical sense of the term, or even that he was a settled pastor; see the notes at Titus 3:1, Titus 3:5.

(2) that the epistle was written "from Nicopolis of Macedonia;" for

(a) there is no certain evidence that it was written at Nicopolis at all, though this is probable;

(b) there is no reason to believe that the Nicopolis referred to was in Macedonia; see Introduction 4.

These subscriptions are so utterly destitute of authority, and are so full of mistakes, that it is high time they were omitted in the editions of the Bible. They are no part of the inspired writings, but are of the nature of "notes and comments," and are constantly doing something, perhaps much, to perpetuate-error. "The opinion that Timothy and Titus were prelatical bishops, the one of Ephesus and the other of Crete, depends far more on these worthless subscriptions than on anything in the epistles themselves." Indeed, there is no evidence of it in the epistles; and, if these subscriptions were removed, no man from the New Testament would ever suppose that they sustained this office at all.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15. Greet—"Salute them that love us in the faith." All at Crete had not this love rooted in faith, the true bond of fellowship. A salutation peculiar to this Epistle, such as no forger would have used.

Grace—Greek, "The grace," namely, of God.

with you all—not that the Epistle is addressed to all the Cretan Christians, but Titus would naturally impart it to his flock.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Greet them that love us in the faith; that love us as we are Christians, in and for the gospel.

Grace be with you all. Amen: the free love of God be thy portion, and the portion of all the Christians in Crete.

It was written to Titus, ordained the first Bishop of the church of the Cretians, from Nicopolis of Macedonia.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

All that are with me salute thee,.... All the apostles, fellow labourers, and the ministers of the Gospel that were with him; and all the members of the church where he was, sent their Christian salutation to Titus; he being a person greatly esteemed, and whose praise was in all the churches:

greet them that love us in the faith; not merely as men, as their countrymen, as related to them in the flesh; or on account of any external things, but as believers; because of the doctrine of faith, professed and preached; and because of the grace of faith obtained and possessed; or who love us faithfully, sincerely, and uprightly, from their hearts, and not in word and tongue only:

grace be with you all, Amen; which is the common concluding salutation in all Paul's epistles. This shows that this epistle was not designed for Titus only, but for the saints at Crete.

It was written to Titus the first bishop of the church of the Cretians. But this subscription, as many others, is not to be depended upon; it is not very likely that Titus was bishop of this church at all; since his stay there was but short, nor indeed elsewhere, seeing he was an evangelist; though this is asserted both by Eusebius (d), and Sophronius (e), who adds, that he died and was buried here: and what follows, that it was written

from Nicopolis of Macedonia, does not seem to be just, as may be concluded from Titus 3:12. Many learned men think it was written from Colosse, or some neighbouring place; though when he wrote his epistle to the Colossians it looks as if he had never been there before: the Syriac version adds, "sent by the hands of Zenas and Apollos"; which is not unlikely, since he desires they might be accommodated by Titus with what was necessary for the remaining part of their journey, Titus 3:13.

(d) Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 4. (e) In Hieron. Eccl. Script. Catalog. sect. 12.

Geneva Study Bible

All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Titus 3:15. End.

ἀσπάζονταί σε οἱ μετʼ ἐμοῦ πάντες] is not to be understood generally of believers, but of the apostle’s fellow-workers.

ἄσπασαι τοὺς φιλοῦντας ἡμᾶς ἐν πίστει] φιλεῖν marks the inner, personal relation. The distinction between ἀγαπᾷν and φιλεῖν is plain from a comparison of John 3:16, ἠγάπησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, with John 16:17, ὁ πατὴρ φιλεῖ ὑμᾶς; also Matthew 10:37 : Ἡμᾶς, i.e. the apostle.—Ἡ χάρις μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν] “with you all,” i.e. “with thee and all Cretan believers.” The form of the benediction does not imply that Titus was to communicate the epistle to the churches in Crete.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Titus 3:15. Final Salutation.

οἱ μετʼ ἐμοῦ: The preposition is different elsewhere in Paul: οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ πάντες ἀδελφοί, Galatians 1:2; οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἀδελφοί, Php 4:21. οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ is a constant phrase in the Synoptists. There is a similar use of μετά in Acts 20:34 (a speech of St. Paul’s), and in 2 Timothy 4:11.

τοὺς φιλοῦντας ἡμᾶς ἐν πίστει; The faith (see note on 1 Timothy 1:2) is that which binds Christians together more or less closely. Timothy and Titus were St. Paul’s τέκνα ἐν πίστει; others were more distantly related to him, though of the same family, “the household of faith”.

Dean Armitage Robinson (Ephesians, p. 281) gives several examples from papyri of similar formulas of closing, especially two, which read, ἀσπάζου … τοὺς φιλοῦντες σε (or ἡμᾶς) πρὸς ἀληθίαν. This suggests the rendering here, those who love us truly.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

15. Closing Salutation

15. All that are with me salute thee] The companions of his journey or sojourn, cf. Galatians 1:2; Colossians 4:7-14. They are not specified and would be changing, as his needs and their feelings changed, cf. 2 Timothy 4:9-12.

Greet them that love us in the faith] Rather: salute them that love us in faith, ‘in faith,’ as 1 Timothy 1:2 ‘my true child in faith,’ i.e. spiritually, where see note. The phrase marks the gradual crystallising of the word ‘faith,’ somewhat as ‘our Christian friends’ has become a modern formula: cf. Titus 1:4 ‘in communion of faith.’

Grace be with you all. Amen] The shortest form of the Benediction, the fullest being at the end of 2 Cor. ‘An inclusive benediction that comprehends the episcopus and those committed to his oversight, Titus and all the faithful in Crete.’ Bp Ellicott; who rejects the final ‘Amen,’ as at the end of both the letters to Timothy, though the ms. authority for it is stronger here, on the ground that accidental omission seems less probable than insertion. The end recalls the beginning; the Apostle, whose sphere of ministry was the faith and full knowledge of the Cretan Christians, prays for ‘grace’ to be with them ‘all.’

The subscription given above has no sufficient authority; see note at end of 1 Tim.; and for ‘Macedonia’ note above, Titus 3:12. The best supported subscription here is simply To Titus.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - Salute for greet, A.V.; faith for the faith, A.V. That love us in faith has no sense. "The faith" is right (see 1 Timothy 1:2, note). Grace be with you all. So, with slight varieties, end St. Paul's other Epistles. The T.R. has Amen, as have most of the other Epistles.



Titus 3:15

Vincent's Word Studies

Them that love us in the faith (τοὺς φιλοῦντας ἡμᾶς ἐν πίστει)

Better, in faith. The phrase N.T.o. Φιλεῖν to love, only here in Pastorals, and in Paul, only 1 Corinthians 16:22. See on ἀγάπη love, Galatians 5:22. Const. in faith with that love us.