Instructions for Groups of Believers

Although this section has affinities to several passages in both the PE and the rest of the NT, the material nonetheless appears here in a unique way. It picks up the framework of 1 Timothy 5:1–2, where people are grouped by age and sex, and in verses 2–8 fleshes out some details, not in terms of Titus’ relationship to them but of their own attitudes and conduct. The language of the details echoes that used for the overseers, deacons, and women in 1 Timothy 3:1–13 and 2:9–15. The passage then concludes in verses 9–10 with a word to slaves, reminiscent of 1 Timothy 6:1–2. Imbedded in the instructions for the younger men is a word to Titus himself (vv. 7–8), reminiscent of 1 Timothy 4:12–13.

Some have seen a similarity between this material and the so-calle…