ONE OF
THEMSELVES A PROPHET OF THEIR OWN SAID: eipen tis ex auton idios auton
prophetes:
Even one of their own prophets has said
(NIV)
A certain one of them, in fact, one of their own prophets (NET)
One of their [very] number, a prophet of their own, said (Amp)
It was one of themselves, one of their own prophets, who said (NJB)
One of their own number—a Prophet who is a countryman of theirs (WNT)
Prophet (4396)
(prophetes from pró = before or forth + phemí =
tell) generally refers to a person inspired to proclaim or reveal divine
will or purpose. In the present context these are pagan prophets not
true prophets of God.
Epimenides was born in Crete at Cnossos
and was a self-styled “prophet” (or poet) and
was so accepted by the Cretans,
Cicero and Apuleius. Although Epimenides, may have been exaggerating,
his basic assessment was on target. He was a highly respected Greek
intellectual and as a native
of Crete, he knew the people well and was not speaking out of malice as
an enemy.
Illustration - A British
ambassador was reporting to Queen Elizabeth II about a head of state he
had been having difficulty with. The ambassador tried to approach the
subject delicately, using large words and complicated language. However,
the more he spoke, the less clear he became. Finally, the exasperated
queen interrupted and said, “Are you trying to tell me that the man is
just bonkers?” Paul was just as blunt in his assessment of the false
teachers that Titus had to refute. Quoting the philosopher Epimenides,
Paul declared, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”
Epimenides was a religious teacher who lived in the sixth century B.C.
Aristotle and Cicero referred to him as a “prophet.” Paul quotes him
because Epimenides was from Crete and because of his strong criticism of
his own people. Although his assessment was harsh, his opinion was
widely shared. So much so, in fact, that in Greek culture, to call
someone a “Cretan” was synonymous with calling that person a liar.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY - When are “sharp words” warranted in dealing with
another believer? Paul’s directive to Titus provides a helpful checklist
that can be used when we are considering a possible rebuke. First, how
serious is the offense? These false teachers required a sharp rebuke
because of the nature and impact of their teaching. Others were being
seriously damaged by their false doctrine. Second, what is our motive?
Is the goal redemptive? Do we want to sound off, or do we want them to
be sound in the faith? (Copyright
Moody Bible Institute. Used by permission. All rights reserved)
CRETANS ARE
ALWAYS LIARS: kretes aei pseustai: (Ro16:18;
1Ti4:2;
2Pe2:12;
2:15
Jude 1:8-13)
Cretans were never anything but liars (NJB)
The men of Crete are ever false (BBE)
Cretans
(2912)
(Kres) refers to inhabitants of the island of Crete and here
introduces an unfavorable generalization about Cretan character (or lack
thereof).
Always
(104)
(aei) means these Cretans were perpetually, invariably, at
any and every time incessantly prone to speak lies and the ancient world
knew this even coining the verb “Cretanize” (Greek = kretizo, to
lie and kretismos = Cretan behavior,
lying) as a figure of speech for lying and cheating.
Liars
(5583)
(pseustes from pseudomai = to utter untruth
and attempt to deceive by falsehood) describes Cretans as those who
continually utter untruth and try to deceive their listeners with their
lies. Like father like son for Jesus said that Satan
"was a murderer
from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature;
for he is a liar, and the father of lies." (Jn 8:44)
No people ever had a worse reputation than the
Cretans. The ancient world spoke of the three most evil C's
Cretans
Cilicians
Cappadocians
The Cretans were
famed as a drunken, insolent, untrustworthy, lying, gluttonous people.
Cretan
avarice was proverbial, Polybius recording that
"The Cretans on
account of their innate avarice, live in a perpetual state of private
quarrel and public feud and civil strife...and you will hardly find
anywhere characters more tricky and deceitful than those of Crete. Money is so highly valued among them, that its possession is not
only thought to be necessary, but highly creditable; and in fact greed
and avarice are so native to the soil in Crete, that they are the only
people in the world among whom no stigma attaches to any sort of gain
whatever."
EVIL BEASTS:
kaka theria:
evil brutes, (NIV)
“Wicked wild beasts”, savage
animals (GWT)
evil and beastly (Phillips)
They are evil animals (ICB)
cruel animals (NLT)
vicious brutes (NRSV)
hurtful beasts (Amp)
dangerous animals (NJB)
evil beasts (BBE)
Evil
(2556)
(kakos) is an adjective that basically denotes a lack of
something or not as it ought to be. It is the opposite of good (kalos,
agathos). It describes one who is evil in
himself and, as such, gets others in trouble. In a moral sense kakos
describes these Cretans as
wicked, vicious, bad in heart, conduct, and character (cf note
Philippians 3:2).
Beasts
(2342)
(therion) refers to any living creature, excluding humans.
In this verse it does however refer (figuratively) to humans as those
who are wicked and possessed of a ‘bestial’ nature. These men are
veritable "monsters".
In Acts therion denotes a venomous creature, Luke recording that a
"viper (that) came out because of the heat, and
fastened on (Paul's) hand" as "the creature (therion)
hanging from his hand" (Acts 28:3
28:4)
The Cretans were
like wicked dangerous animals and vicious venomous vipers. Their actions
and effects were like those of wild, ferocious, dangerous, savage and
brutal beasts. They behaved like a wild animals, living solely at
the level of their depraved sensual appetites and passions.
These men were not
just “beasts” but “evil beasts”, not just “gluttons,” but
“lazy gluttons.” They were celebrities, not servants and
they “lived it up”
at the expense of their followers, and (true to human nature), their
followers loved it!
LAZY GLUTTONS:
gasteres argai:
Slow bellies (KJV)
lazy people who do nothing but eat (ICB)
lazy bellies (YLT)
lazy people who do nothing but eat (NCV)
lovers of food, hating work. (BBE)
Lazy
(692)
(argos
is from a = without + ergon
= work) (Click
word study on
argos)
literally means without work, without labor, doing nothing, as
one not working the ground and so living without labor. As employed in
the New Testament, argos always describes something inoperative or
unserviceable.
Argos conveys several ideas
depending on the context - (1) unemployed - without anything to
do (Mt 20:3,6, 1Ti 5:13); (2) being unwilling to work,
wanting nothing to do, shunning the labor which one ought to perform -
idle, neglectful or lazy (as used here in Titus 1:12) and (3)
unproductive - useless, unprofitable or worthless (Ja 2:20,
2Peter 1:8; Mt
12:36).
Argos is used 7 times in the
NASB (Matt 12:36; 20:3, 6; 1 Tim 5:13; Titus 1:12; Jas 2:20; 2 Pet 1:8)
and once in the
Septuagint (LXX)
(1 Ki 6:7)
Matthew 12:36 "And I say to
you, that every careless (literally "not working", barren,
unproductive) word that men shall speak, they shall render account for
it in the day of judgment. (Comment: Re-read this verse and think
about the implications of what comes out of our mouths. Are our words
"working" - ergon - words, words that are productive and which edify?
"Not working" words include those that are flippant, irresponsible,
hypocritical or in any way inappropriate. cf Eph 4:29)
Matthew 20:3 "And he went out
about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market
place;
Matthew 20:6 "And about the
eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing; and he said to
them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?'
1 Timothy 5:13 And at the same
time they (younger widows) also learn to be idle, as they go
around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips
and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.
James 2:20 But are you willing
to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless
(unprofitable, worthless - carries the idea of fruitlessness - see
parallel thought in
note on
Matthew 7:19)?
(Comment: What does a fruitless life demonstrate?)
2Peter 1:8
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you
neither useless (unproductive) nor unfruitful in the true
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (see
note)
Argos is translated:
careless(1), idle(4), lazy(1), useless(2).
In short, in this
verse argos refers to
"unemployed stomachs" who wish to eat without working to earn their
living.
Paul had a parallel description in his epistle to Philippi
describing those who were
"enemies of the cross of Christ,
whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite (their belly
or stomach), and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds
on earthly things." (see notes
Philippians 3:19;
3:20)
Gluttons
(1064)
(gaster <> English = gastronomy, the
art of good eating) which referred to the belly particularly the stomach
and was used as a figure of speech for appetite, excessive eating and
gluttony.
Cretans hated work but loved to eat and thus were generally
self-indulgent, greedy, lustful and overfed.. Paul affirmed that the six-hundred-year-old testimony of Epimenides
(ca 600 B.C., one of the seven "wise men" of Greece) was still true.
Unredeemed flesh doesn't change much and does not have any tendency to
get better.
Callimachus wrote a poem
emphasizing the tendency for Cretans to lie --
"Cretans are chronic liars,
for they built a tomb, O King, and called it thine; but you die not.
Your life is everlasting."
His point was that the so-called
gods don't die so how could they have a tomb and thus the Cretans are
notorious liars. Callimachus and the Cretans are of course both "liars"
for a "god" named Zeus is but a myth contrived by men rejecting the only
Living God.
