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Titus

Man living at the time of the New Testament

Titus was a Gentile convert and a trusted companion of Paul, who accompanied him on missionary journeys and served as his delegate to the church in Corinth.

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Titus was a Gentile convert and a close companion of the Apostle Paul. He is mentioned several times in Paul's epistles, particularly in 2 Corinthians and the letter addressed to him, the Epistle to Titus. Titus was one of Paul's trusted delegates and was involved in his ministry to the churches. Paul refers to Titus as his "true son in the faith" (Tit.1.4), indicating a close spiritual relationship. Titus accompanied Paul to Jerusalem for the council that discussed the inclusion of Gentiles in the church (Gal.2.1-3). He was not compelled to be circumcised, which supported Paul's stance that Gentile converts did not need to adhere to Jewish law. Titus played a significant role in Paul's relationship with the church in Corinth. He was sent by Paul to Corinth to address issues within the church and to encourage the believers (2Co.7.6-7, 13-14; 8.6, 16, 23). Titus' visit brought comfort and reassurance to Paul regarding the Corinthians' response to his earlier letter. Paul also entrusted Titus with the task of collecting an offering for the believers in Jerusalem (2Co.8.6, 16-24). The Epistle to Titus, written by Paul, provides insight into Titus' role as a church leader. Paul had left Titus in Crete to oversee the churches there, appointing elders and dealing with false teachers (Tit.1.5). The letter offers guidance on sound doctrine, qualifications for church leaders, and the importance of good works. According to 2Ti.4.10, Titus later traveled to Dalmatia (modern-day Croatia). Church tradition holds that Titus served as the first bishop of Crete. Titus' life exemplifies the important role that Gentile converts played in the early church and the trust Paul placed in them as fellow ministers of the gospel.

Connections

Part of: Paul's Circle

Titus, Paul's Gentile envoy

WorkStated in the text

Titus, a Greek, went up with Paul to Jerusalem uncircumcised. Later he was Paul's troubleshooter with Corinth and the one left in Crete, called Paul's true child in a common faith. Acts never names him.

PaulAn apostleTitusGentile convert and companion of Paul
Where the text shows it: Galatians 2:1-3 — Titus not compelled to be circumcised2 Corinthians 7:6 — Titus comforts Paul2 Corinthians 8:16-17 — Titus's eagerness for the collectionTitus 1:4 — Paul's true child; left in Crete (Titus 1:5)

Sources: Scripture

More background: search Wikipedia ↗

Bible dictionary

Titus Easton Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

Honourable, was with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch, and accompanied them to the council at Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1-3; Acts 15:2), although his name nowhere occurs in the Acts of the Apostles. He appears to have been a Gentile, and to have been chiefly engaged in ministering to Gentiles; for Paul sternly refused to have him circumcised, inasmuch as in his case the cause of gospel liberty was at stake. We find him, at a later period, with Paul and Timothy at Ephesus, whence he was sent by Paul to Corinth for the purpose of getting the contributions of the church there in behalf of the poor saints at Jerusalem sent forward (2 Cor. 8:6; 12:18). He rejoined the apostle when he was in Macedonia, and cheered him with the tidings he brought from Corinth (7:6-15). After this his name is not mentioned till after Paul’s first imprisonment, when we find him engaged in the organization of the church in Crete, where the apostle had left him for this purpose (Titus 1:5). The last notice of him is in 2 Tim. 4:10, where we find him with Paul at Rome during his second imprisonment. From Rome he was sent into Dalmatia, no doubt on some important missionary errand. We have no record of his death. He is not mentioned in the Acts.

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Titus Smith Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1863)

Our materials for the biography of this companion of St. Paul must be drawn entirely from the notices of him in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, the Galatians, and to Titus himself, combined with the Second Epistle to Timothy. He is not mentioned in the Acts at all. Taking the passages in the epistles in the chronological order of the events referred to, we turn first to (Galatians 2:1,3) We conceive the journey mentioned here to be identical with that (recorded in Acts 15) in which Paul and Barnabas went from Antioch to Jerusalem to the conference which was to decide the question of the necessity of circumcision to the Gentiles. Here we see Titus in close association with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch. He goes with them to Jerusalem. His circumcision was either not insisted on at Jerusalem, or, if demanded, was firmly resisted. He is very emphatically spoken of as a Gentile by which is most probably meant that both his parents were Gentiles. Titus would seem on the occasion of the council to have been specially a representative of the church of the uncircumcision. It is to our purpose to remark that, in the passage cited above, Titus is so mentioned as apparently to imply that he had become personally known to the Galatian Christians. After leaving Galatia., (Acts 18:23) and spending a long time at Ephesus, (Acts 19:1; 20:1) the apostle proceeded to Macedonia by way of Troas. Here he expected to meet Titus, (2 Corinthians 2:13) who had been sent on a mission to Corinth. In this hope he was disappointed, but in Macedonia Titus joined him. (2 Corinthians 7:6,7,13-15) The mission to Corinth had reference to the immoralities rebuked in the First Epistle, and to the collection at that time in progress, for the poor Christians of Judea. (2 Corinthians 8:6) Thus we are…

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Titus Hitchcock Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary (1869)

pleasing

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Titus Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

TI'TUS, a Gentile by descent, and probably converted to Christianity under the preaching of Paul. Tit 1:4. he, however, refused to subject him to the rite of circumcision, though, as some have inferred, he was strongly urged so to do. Gal 2:3-5. Titus was the companion of Paul in many of his trials and missionary-tours, 2 Cor 8:6, 2 Cor 8:16, 2 Cor 8:23, and was entrusted with several important commissions. 2 Cor 12:18; 2 Tim 4:10; Tit 1:5. Epistle OF Paul to, was designed to instruct Titus in the right discharge, of his ministerial offices in Crete, a difficult field, owing to the character of the inhabitants, who were noted for lying, idleness, and gluttony. Tit 1:12. The Epistle was probably written from Asia Minor in the year 65, when Paul was on his way to Nicopolis.

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Titus Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

TI'TUS, a Gentile by descent, and probably converted to Christianity under the preaching of Paul. Tit 1:4. he, however, refused to subject him to the rite of circumcision, though, as some have inferred, he was strongly urged so to do. Gal 2:3-5. Titus was the companion of Paul in many of his trials and missionary-tours, 2 Cor 8:6, 2 Cor 8:16, 2 Cor 8:23, and was entrusted with several important commissions. 2 Cor 12:18; 2 Tim 4:10; Tit 1:5. Epistle OF Paul to, was designed to instruct Titus in the right discharge, of his ministerial offices in Crete, a difficult field, owing to the character of the inhabitants, who were noted for lying, idleness, and gluttony. Tit 1:12. The Epistle was probably written from Asia Minor in the year 65, when Paul was on his way to Nicopolis.

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Titus appears

15 verses in 4 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G5103

2 Corinthians10
Galatians2
2 Timothy1
Titus2

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.