Titus 3:12Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Apostle needed to see Titus, especially to discern the character of the false teachers and to indicate measures of opposition to them. He also wished to hear about the impression made by the epistle.

Tychicus was sent by the Apostle to Ephesus and Colossae with epistles (Eph 6:21; Col 4:6), and also with the Second Epistle to Timothy (4:12). Later he was bishop in Bithynia.

According to tradition, Artemas was also later bishop in Lystra. His commemoration is on October 30, together with the other Seventy Apostles.

Apollos, famous for his eloquence, was bishop in Corinth, where even when the Church was being founded there, he had many admirers (1 Cor 3:5; 4:6). His commemoration is on September 10 and December 3.

Zenas shepherded the Church of Christ in Diospolis. His commemoration is on September 27. He too is numbered among the Seventy Apostles.

He is called a lawyer because he was knowledgeable in the Law and explained it properly.

From the Apostle's instructions, blessed Jerome wrote, "his fatherly love for the Cretans is evident."

"The Apostle needed to see Titus concerning the work of the Gospel preaching. Yet he commands him not to set out for him before Tychicus or Artemas arrives to take his place.

"Or they would take the place of Zenas and Apollos, whom the Apostle asks him to send to him quickly, immediately upon receiving his epistle" (Bishop Theophan).

So say Saint Chrysostom, Oecumenius, and Theophylact. These are their words: “What are you saying? Having appointed Titus in Crete, do you again call him to yourself? Not in order to draw him away from his duty, but to establish him more firmly,” says Saint Chrysostom. “In order to adapt him better to the work and give counsel about what and how he should do further,” says Oecumenius. “This is for his own benefit, so as better to arrange him for the work, after discussing how he had fulfilled what was entrusted to him,” says blessed Theophylact.

Ambrosiaster adds that after the epistle Saint Paul called Titus to himself not only to establish him in church affairs, but also from the desire to see him, his beloved.

Which Nicopolis is meant here? Saint Chrysostom, Theodoret, and Oecumenius understand it as Nicopolis in Thrace, near the border between Thrace and Macedonia. It lay halfway between Philippi, on the seacoast, and Philippopolis, on the Maritsa.

Theophylact understands it as Nicopolis on the Danube, which is also marked on ancient maps where it stands now. Blessed Jerome understands it as Nicopolis in Epirus, which received its name from the victory won by Augustus over Antony and Cleopatra. Today this is Preveza.

There was also a Cilician Nicopolis, not far from Tarsus, near the border with Syria and Armenia. Which of these should one choose? Any of them is possible, according to how one imagines the path of the Apostle Paul’s journey.

One may imagine it thus. Saint Paul wrote from Rome to Philemon to prepare him a room, and the needs of the Church of Colossae and neighboring regions required his special care. Therefore it is not surprising that from Crete he set out along the same route by which he had earlier gone to Rome, that is, through Myra.

From there he went up to Colossae. Having ordered affairs there, he hastened eastward to visit the churches of Pisidia, Lycaonia, and Cilicia, his firstborn children. He also had in mind to visit Antioch.

But as he approached the borders of Syria, he learned that destructive attacks upon the Jews had begun there. He resolved not to go there, but to winter in Cilician Nicopolis, since winter was near. It was there that he invited Titus.

He took Tychicus in Colossae, where Tychicus had been sent to deliver the epistle. After wintering in Nicopolis, the Apostle again set out westward. He visited the churches of Cilicia, Phrygia, and Galatia, and went to Ephesus, Macedonia, and Achaia. Through Nicopolis in Epirus, or in some other way, he then went on to Spain.

We offer this outline of the route because it seems more fitting. This has already been discussed in the introduction.

Tychicus has already been mentioned in other epistles. Artemas is mentioned for the first time, and nothing more is known about him. Tradition relates that he later became bishop in Lystra. He is numbered among the Seventy Apostles. His commemoration is October 30.

Blessed Jerome gives a consideration as to why Artemas or Tychicus is sent to Crete. It is so that he may remain there in Titus’s place, and so that the Cretan Church should not be orphaned without an apostolic man.

“From this the Apostle’s paternal love for the Cretans is evident. He needed to see Titus concerning the affairs of the preaching of the Gospel. Yet he does not command him to move toward him before Tychicus or Artemas comes to him, so as to take his place.”