Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Titus 2:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
'But you' contrasts Titus with the opponents and directs him to speak what fits healthy teaching.
Read It With
- Titus 2:1–10
Read Titus 2:1–10 as a complete movement. Read every group instruction under healthy teaching, repeated self-control, public witness, ancient household inequality, and the grace basis that follows in verse 11.
Why This Verse Appears Here
'But' makes Titus's healthy speech the constructive alternative to the opponents' empty teaching and failed works.
Read Titus 2:1–5 together
Why these verses belong together: Healthy teaching is applied first to older men, older women as teachers, and younger women within household and public-witness concerns.
Verse 1. 1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
Verse 2. 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
Verse 3. 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;
Verse 4. 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
Verse 5. 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
What Remains True
Healthy teaching has conduct that properly corresponds to it.
How It Can Shape Life
- Explain how a doctrine forms truthful, safe, neighbor-serving practice instead of measuring health only by vocabulary.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Titus 2:1–10 — Healthy Teaching Takes Shape across Unequal HouseholdsSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording and immediate English context for Titus 2:1–10.
Exact location: eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Titus 2:1–10; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the library policy.
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Critically edited Greek wording, connectives, grammar, and lexical forms.
Exact location: Official SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Titus.txt, Titus 2:1–10.
Open the Titus Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Titus with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Material translation choices, syntax, and textual variants at the cited verses.
Exact location: NET Bible, Titus 2, translator, study, and textual notes attached to verses 1–10.
Open NET Titus 2 ↗public domain critical commentary
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles
Walter Lock
T&T Clark, International Critical Commentary, 1924
Supports: Public-domain verse-level philology and older interpretive options checked against primary evidence and newer work.
Exact location: Walter Lock, Pastoral Epistles, ICC, Titus commentary, print pp. 139–147.
Open source ↗