Survey of the Letters of Paul back to the top     back to main page for this verse Titus 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. This section of chapter 2 has 3 verses. Titus 2:3-5 3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. We will begin with the Barclay: THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER 3. THE YOUNGER WOMEN THE younger women are instructed to be devoted to their husbands and their children, to be prudent and chaste, to manage their households well, to be kindly to their servants and to be obedient to their husbands; and the object of such conduct is that no one will be able to speak evil of the word of God. In this passage, there is both something that is of temporary value and something that is permanent. In the ancient Greek world, the respectable woman lived a completely secluded life. In the house, she had her own quarters and seldom left them, not even to sit at meals with the male members of the family; and no man except her husband ever entered her rooms. She never attended any public assemblies or meetings; she seldom appeared on the streets, and, when she did, she never did so alone. In fact, it has been said that there was no honourable way in which a Greek woman could make a living. No trade or profession was open to her; and, if she tried to earn a living, she was driven to prostitution. If the women of the ancient Church had suddenly burst every limitation which the centuries had imposed upon them, the only result would have been to bring discredit on the Church and cause people to say that Christianity corrupted womanhood. The life laid down here seems narrow and restricted, but it is to be read against its background. In that sense, this passage is of its time and so is temporary. But there is also a sense in which it is permanent. It is the simple fact that there is no greater task, responsibility and privilege in this world than to make a home. It may well be that, when women are involved in all the exhausting duties which children and a home bring with them, they may say: ‘If only I could be done with all this, so that I could live a truly religious life.’ There is in fact nowhere where a truly religious life can better be lived than within the home. As John Keble’s hymn ‘New Every Morning’ has it: We need not bid, for cloistered cell, Our neighbour and our work farewell, Nor strive to wind ourselves too high For sinful man beneath the sky; The trivial round, the common task, Will furnish all we need to ask – Room to deny ourselves, a road To bring us daily nearer God. In the last analysis, there can be no greater career than that of homemaking. Many who have made a mark in the world have been enabled to do so simply because someone at home loved them and looked after them. It is infinitely more important to be at home to put the children to bed and hear them say their prayers than to attend all the public and church meetings in the world. ~Barclay commentary Now to the other commentaries. We will begin with the general and go to the specific. We will begin with Matthew Henry Main. This is a huge commentary covering the first 10 verses of Titus 2. We will break in to this where they discuss verse 5. Thus, in reference to the husbands, wives must be instructed in their duties of love and subjection to them. And to love their children, not with a natural affection only, but a spiritual, a love springing from a holy sanctified heart and regulated by the word; not a fond foolish love, indulging them in evil, neglecting due reproof and correction where necessary, but a regular Christian love, showing itself in their pious education, forming their life and manners aright, taking care of their souls as well as of their bodies, of their spiritual welfare as well as of their temporal, of the former chiefly and in the first place. The reason is added: That the word of God may not be blasphemed. Failures in such relative duties would be greatly to the reproach of Christianity. “What are these the better for this their new religion?” would the infidels be ready to say. The word of God and the gospel of Christ are pure, excellent, and glorious, in themselves; and their excellency should be expressed and shown in the lives and conduct of their professors, especially in relative duties; failures here being disgrace. Romans 2:24, The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you. “Judge what a God he is,” would they be ready to say, “by these his servants; and what his word, and doctrine, and religion, are by these his followers.” Thus would Christ be wounded in the house of his friends. Thus of the duties of the younger women. ~Matthew Henry Main  Now to the Matthew Henry Concise. This commentary covers verses 1-10.    Old disciples of Christ must behave in everything agreeably to the Christian doctrine. That the aged men be sober; not thinking that the decays of nature will justify any excess; but seeking comfort from nearer communion with God, not from any undue indulgence. Faith works by, and must be seen in love, of God for himself, and of men for God's sake. Aged persons are apt to be peevish and fretful; therefore, need to be on their guard. Though there is not express Scripture for every word, or look, yet there are general rules, according to which all must be ordered. Young women must be sober and discreet; for many expose themselves to fatal temptations by what at first might be only want of discretion. The reason is added, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Failures in duties greatly reproach Christianity. Young men are apt to be eager and thoughtless, therefore must be earnestly called upon to be sober-minded: there are more young people ruined by pride than by any other sin. Every godly man's endeavor must be to stop the mouths of adversaries. Let thine own conscience answer for thine uprightness. What a glory is it for a Christian, when that mouth which would fain open itself against him, cannot find any evil in him to speak of! ~Matthew Henry Concise. Here is a piece from the Biblical Illustrator That they may teach the young women - The education of young women The young women are mentioned here as under the teaching and authority of the aged. What now are some of the first elements which Paul insists on in the education of a Christian family? He omits many things which one would have supposed to stand high in the list of young ladies’ accomplishments; for example, music, dancing, and the art of binding themselves into the shape of sand glasses. Perhaps the apostle thought them sufficiently advanced in such acquirements, and that therefore he might pass them over in silence. He insists, however, that these aged governesses shall teach the following great elementary principles. 1. That the young woman be sober, wise, of a sound mind, prudent and discreet members of the Church of [God] The first element, then, in the education of your daughters is wisdom or prudence [invoking wisdom in practical affairs]; and if you begin anywhere else with them, you begin at the wrong end. This wisdom or prudence is not easily defined, but it will appear in the entire character and conduct of their future life; it will enable them to avoid the snares which the ungodly lay for them, and conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the name and the religion of their Redeemer. This prudence is opposed to rashness, enthusiasm, and impulsive resolutions, to which the young mind, and especially the young female mind, is naturally inclined. 2. Then secondly, they are to love their husbands, for without this, the house will become a pandemonium, and profligacy [prof-li-guh-see] [shamelessness] and impurity fill the land. Their love to their husbands should be ardent [intense feeling; passionate] and unchangeable, yielding neither to the seduction of strangers nor to the husband’s coldness and neglect at home. 3. To love their children. It may be asked, Is not this love natural? and if so, where is the necessity for teaching it? I answer, bad habits in society can eradicate many of the principles of our nature, and make us more degraded and unfeeling than the brutes. [The commentary here gives examples from history where parents killed their young] Are there no Foundling hospitals within the bounds of Christendom? Then remember that the Isle of Crete was one of the wickedest places in the world, and the inhabitants mere heathen, and you shall see the force of the exhortation to “love their children.” It is an awful fact, which I first heard of in Hamburgh, that in the continental cities there is a class of old wives, real old devils, who are called “child murderesses,” and whose office it is to save the mother and destroy the child! In this way myriads of innocent infants are sacrificed, and no eye but the eye of God, the mother, and the murderess, ever knows anything about it! 4. They are to be discreet, which is the same as sober, mentioned in the fourth verse; chaste, viz., placing all their happiness in their husbands and families alone; keepers at home, that they may attend to the affairs of the household, and be an example to their children. 5. Good; they are to be good wives, faithful and diligent in their household duties. Good is a very expressive word, and is used to denote the highest excellence (Acts 11:24). Good (from which our word God comes, the Good One) I take in its most general acceptation to signify the disposition to bless; it is the fountain of kindness within, from which love, mercy, and all gentle and kind actions flow; “obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God be not blasphemed.” The great duty of the wife is obedience, and in this she is a type of the Church’s obedience and submission to Christ. Love is common to both, though the natural order is that his should go before and hers follow after, as in the case of Christ and the Church; then obedience is her special duty, even as protection and defence are his. The command, probably, has a special reference to wives who were united to unbelieving or heathen husbands, and teaches that grace never delivers us from the obligations of nature—they are, though believing, to be obedient to their husbands though unbelieving, and the husband, though unbelieving, is bound to love, support, and protect his wife, though she is a believer in the gospel. ~Biblical Illustrator with some editing by me Quoted verse: Acts 11:24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost [Spirit and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. Now to the specific commentaries. The verse is broken out in 6 parts 1] To be discreet. 2] Chaste. 3] Keepers at home. 4] Good. 5] Obedient to their own husbands. 6] that the word of God be not blasphemed. 1] To be discreet. To be discreet - The same word rendered, in Titus 2:2, “temperate. ~Barnes Notes To be discreet - Or temperate in eating and drinking, so the word is rendered in Titus 2:2 or to be sober both in body and mind; or to be wise and prudent in the whole of their conduct, both at home and abroad: ~John Gill To be discreet - Particularly in the love of their children. ~John Wesley Explanatory Notes 2] Chaste. Chaste - Pure - in heart, and in life. ~Barnes Notes Chaste - in body, in affection, words and actions, having their love pure and single to their own husbands, keeping their marriage bed undefiled. ~John Gill Chaste - Particularly in the love of their husbands. ~John Wesley Explanatory Notes 3] Keepers at home. Keepers at home - That is, characteristically attentive to their domestic concerns, or to their duties in their families. This does not mean, of course, that they are never to go abroad, but they are not to neglect their domestic affairs; they are not to be better known abroad than at home; they are not to omit their own duties and become “busy-bodies” in the concerns of others. Religion is the patron of the domestic virtues, and regards the appropriate duties in a family as those most intimately connected with its own progress in the world. It looks benignly on all which makes home a place of contentment, intelligence, and peace. It does not flourish when domestic duties are neglected; - and whatever may be done abroad, or whatever self-denial and zeal in the cause of religion may be evinced there, or whatever call there may be for the labors of Christians there, or however much good may be actually done abroad, religion has gained nothing, on the whole, if, in order to secure these things, the duties of a wife and mother at home have been disregarded. Our first duty is at home, and all other duties will be well performed just in proportion as that is. ~Barnes Notes Keepers at home - A woman who spends much time in visiting, must neglect her family. The idleness, dirtiness, impudence, and profligacy [prof-li-guh-see] [shamelessness] of the children, will soon show how deeply criminal the mother was in rejecting the apostle’s advice. Instead of, keepers of the house, or keepers at home, and several of the Itala, have, workers at home; not only staying in the house and keeping the house, but working in the house. A woman may keep the house very closely, and yet do little in it for the support or comfort of the family. ~Adam Clarke Keepers at home - minding their own family affairs, not gadding abroad; and inspecting into, and busying themselves about other people's matters. ~John Gill Keepers at home - Whenever they are not called out by works of necessity, piety, and mercy. ~John Wesley Explanatory Notes Keepers at home — as “guardians of the house,” as the Greek expresses. The oldest manuscripts read, “Workers at home”: active in household duties (Proverbs 7:11; 1 Timothy 5:13). ~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Quoted verses: Proverbs 7:10-12 ...giving you verse 10 and 12 also 10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) 1 Timothy 5:13 [see Lesson] And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. 4] Good. Good - In all respects, and in all relations. To a wife, a mother, a sister, there can be no higher characteristic ascribed, than to say that she is good. What other trait of mind will enable her better to perform her appropriate duties of life? What other will make her more like her Saviour? ~Barnes Notes Good — kind, beneficent. Not churlish and niggardly [reluctant to give or spend], but thrifty as housewives. ~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Good - Well tempered, sweet, soft, obliging. ~John Wesley Explanatory Notes 5] Obedient to their own husbands. Obedient to their husbands - Whose will, in all things lawful, is a rule to the wife. ~John Wesley Explanatory Notes Obedient to their own husbands - Ephesians 5:22-24. ~Barnes Notes Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. See the sermon, "Mystery He Wrote." 6] that the word of God be not blasphemed. That the word of God be not blasphemed - That the gospel may not be injuriously spoken of, on account of the inconsistent lives of those who profess to be influenced by it. The idea is, that religion ought to produce the virtues here spoken of, and that when it does not, it will be reproached as being of no value. ~Barnes Notes That the word of God be not blasphemed - The enemies of the Gospel are quick-eyed to spy out imperfections in its professors; and, if they find women professing Christianity living an irregular life, they will not fail to decry the Christian doctrine on this account: “Behold your boasted religion! it professes to reform all things, and its very professors are no better than others! Our heathenism is as good as your Christianity.” These are cutting reproaches; and much they will have to answer for who give cause for these blasphemies. ~Adam Clarke That the word of God be not blasphemed - Or evil spoken of; particularly by unbelieving husbands, who lay all the blame on the religion of their wives. ~John Wesley Explanatory Notes That the word of God be not blasphemed - by unbelieving husbands, who, by the ill conduct of their wives, would be provoked to speak ill of the Gospel, as if that taught disaffection and disobedience to them. ~John Gill That the word of God be not blasphemed - “evil spoken of.” That no reproach may be cast on the Gospel, through the inconsistencies of its professors “Unless we are virtuous [morally excellent], blasphemy will come through us to the faith." ~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown So young ladies and wives: --be discreet --chaste --keepers at home --good --obedient to your husbands --guard the gospel that it not be blasphemed These are the lessons of verse 5 back to the top       back to main page for this verse