Titus 2:13

Context

The Epistle to Titus has traditionally been regarded as a letter from Paul to his coworker Titus, who was overseeing the churches on the island of Crete. Since the modern era, some scholars have not accepted Paul as the author of the so-called Pastoral Epistles, a group that also includes 1 and 2 Timothy.

In chapter 2, the author instructs various members of the congregation, including older men and women, younger people, and servants, on how each should live. In verses 11–14 he then gives the basis for these instructions: the grace of God has already "appeared," teaching believers to renounce ungodliness, and they now await the future "appearing" of glory. Verse 13 thus portrays the believer's life as lived between the first appearing, which has already taken place (the Incarnation and the cross), and the appearing yet to come (the Second Coming). The words for "appear" in verses 11 and 13 belong to the same family of Greek terms (epiphaneia, "manifestation").

Interpretation

• One-person reading: In the Greek text, a single definite article governs both "great God" and "Saviour." On this basis, both titles are read as referring to one person, Jesus Christ. A grammatical rule formulated by the eighteenth-century Englishman Granville Sharp ("Sharp's rule") is often cited in support. Many modern translations and commentaries follow this reading, and the verse is cited in discussions of Christology and the Trinity as a text affirming the deity of Jesus.
• Two-person reading: This view takes the verse as naming "the great God" (the Father) and "our Saviour Jesus Christ" (the Son) side by side. On this reading, the verse depicts the glory of both appearing together. The King James Version (KJV), among others, is translated in a way that leaves room for this reading, and some scholars hold that grammatical rules alone cannot settle the question.
• Eschatological reading: Most denominations understand the "blessed hope" and the "glorious appearing" as a single event, the return of Christ. Some dispensationalist interpreters, however, distinguish the two, taking the former as the pretribulation Rapture and the latter as the Second Coming that follows it.

Controversies and Issues

The chief point of dispute concerns translation and grammar: whether "God" and "Saviour" refer to one person or two. Most Protestant denominations accept the verse as a text supporting the deity of Christ, and scholars who adopt the two-person reading do not thereby deny the deity of Christ itself.

By contrast, Jehovah's Witnesses do not regard Jesus as equal to Almighty God. Their New World Translation renders the verse in a way that distinguishes two persons, and they maintain that this rendering is faithful to the original text.

In eschatology, whether the Rapture and the Second Coming are regarded as distinct events varies by denomination and theological tradition, and interpretations of this verse divide accordingly.

Related Passages

• Titus 2:11
• 2 Peter 1:1
• Romans 9:5
• John 20:28
• Philippians 3:20