Titus 3:11

Tit 3:11. Ἐξέστραπται) It is thus the LXX. translate the Hebrew הפך, Deu 32:20.—ἁμαρτάνει, sins) Whatever he does and thinks, he is wrong.—ὢν αὐτοκατάκριτος) κρίσις ἑαυτοῦ, his own judgment, accompanies sin (ἁμαρτίαν), and κατάκρισις, condemnation, follows close after; Rom 14:22-23.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tit 3:11 . εἰδώς : since thou mayest know .

ἐξέστραπται : subversus est . Argument with a man whose basal mental convictions differ from your own, or whose mind has had a twist, is mere waste of breath.

αὐτοκατάκριτος : proprio iudicio condemnatus (Vulg.). He is self-condemned because his separation from the Church is due to his own acknowledged act. He cannot deny that his views are antagonistic to those which he once accepted as true; he is condemned by his former, and, as St. Paul would say, his more enlightened self.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

is . . . subverted--"is become perverse."

condemned of himself--He cannot say, no one told him better: continuing the same after frequent admonition, he is self-condemned. "He sinneth" wilfully against knowledge.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. Is subverted] Is turned out of the way in which he may be saved, and consequently sinneth-enters into that way that leads to destruction.

Being condemned of himself.] This refers to the Judaizing teacher, who maintained his party and opinions for filthy lucre's sake. He was conscious of his own insincerity; and that he proclaimed not his system from a conscientious love of truth, but from a desire to get his livelihood. Were the Church in all countries, whether established by law or unestablished, strictly scrutinized, multitudes of heretics of this kind would be found. And perhaps this is the only bad sense in which the word should be understood.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11 Knowing that he who is such is ruined He declares that man to be “ruined,” as to whom there is no hope of repentance, because, if our labor could bring back any man to the right path, it should by no means be withheld. The metaphor is taken from a building, which is not merely decayed in some part, but completely demolished, so that it is incapable of being repaired.

He next points out the sign of this ruin — an evil conscience, when he says, that they who do not yield to admonitions are condemned by themselves; for, since they obstinately reject the truth, it is certain that they sin willfully and of their own accord, and therefore it would be of no advantage to admonish them.

At the same time, we learn from Paul’s words that we must not rashly or at random pronounce any man to be a heretic; for he says, “Knowing that he who is such is ruined.” Let the bishop therefore beware lest, by indulging his passionate temper, he treat with excessive harshness, as a heretic, one whom he does not yet know to be such.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11) Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.—Better rendered, is perverted and sinneth, being self-condemned. Inasmuch as thou knowest, seeing that thy reproofs and warnings have been of none effect, that he is “thoroughly perverted”—the expression is a very strong one, and signifies literally hath been turned inside out. The same verb is used in the LXX. translation of Deu_32:20, the “very froward generation” of the English version—having been warned once and again, he is without the excuse of ignorance, but sins on in the full consciousness of his wilful and seditious life. His perverse conduct in stirring up party-feeling in the Church publicly convicts him of doing the very wrong which in general he professes to condemn. With these words the public or official portion of the Letter to the presiding presbyter in Crete closes. Paul had begun with directions how the church life of the island—up to this period apparently devoid of organisation—was to be arranged; he concludes with instructions how to deal with any who presumed to set themselves in opposition to his plans for the government of the community. The central portion of the letter is occupied in discussing how Christian doctrine is to influence the lives of those accepting it, and especially it treats of the conduct of Christians towards the Pagan world, with whom they will necessarily be brought in contact.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. he that is such is subverted] Is perverted, the word is used by Lucian for ‘turning inside out,’ in LXX. for ‘a very froward generation,’ Deu_32:20. Vulg. has ‘subversus,’ but Theod. Mops. Lat. ‘perversus.’ it does not occur again in N.T., the usual compound being with the preposition ‘through and through’ instead of ‘out and out.’ Cf. Act_20:30 ‘speaking perverse things,’ Php_2:15 ‘in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.’ It cannot, as Professor Reynolds thinks, describe ‘the effect of the isolation’ recommended, but is rather the state of obstinate wrongheadedness (to use a similar English metaphor), which, after two chances of enlightenment rejected, becomes wilful sin. The present tense should have its full force, is a wilful sinner. Cf. Eph_4:26 ‘Be ye angry and sin not,’ 1Jn_3:6 ‘Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not,’ is not a sinner in wilful purpose and habit.

being condemned of himself] Self-condemned, as such, by callousness to the two approaches of God’s minister: the word does not occur again in N.T.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Knowing that he that is such is subverted,.... Or overturned and demolished; he is like an edifice, that is not only decaying, and falling, but is entirely everted, and pulled down; so that there is no hopes of a restoration or recovery; he is in a desperate condition, having opposed the person, or office, or sacrifice of Christ; having either trodden the Son of God underfoot, or counted his blood common, or done despite unto the spirit of grace; in either of which cases there is no more sacrifice for sin:

and sinneth; not practically, but doctrinally, and wilfully after he has received the knowledge of the truth; by denying the truth he received, in which he continues, notwithstanding the evidence of the word of God is against him; and; notwithstanding the arguments taken from it by the ministers of the Gospel, to convince him; and notwithstanding the admonitions of the church to recover him out of the snare of the devil:

being condemned of himself; not that an heretic is one that is convinced in his own conscience that he is in an error, and that that is a truth which he opposes; and yet he obstinately persists in the one, and continues to set himself against the other; for then, none but an hypocrite, that conceals his true sentiment, can be an heretic; nor can any man be known to be one unless he accuses himself; since no man can know the heart of another; and it would be impracticable in a church to deal with heretics, or reject and excommunicate them: but either the meaning is, that he is such an one, who by his own practice has condemned himself; for whereas he has separated himself not only from the faith of the church, but from the church itself; by so doing he practically condemns himself, or judges himself unworthy of the communion of the church, and so justifies the church in their rejection and exclusion of him: or rather, an heretic is one who having professed Christianity, and received the Scriptures as the only rule of faith and practice, and still professes to abide by the same, and that all doctrine is to be tried by them, and to be approved or condemned as that agrees or disagrees with them, stands condemned by those Scriptures, which he himself allows to be the rule of decision and determination; and so may be said to be self-condemned.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

Ver. 11. Is subverted] Gr. εξεστραπται, Is turned topsy turvy, as a tumbler that hath his heels in the air and his head on the earth; as a ship turns up her keel, or as a man "wipeth a dish and turneth it upside down," 2Ki 21:13; some render it thus, He hath the fairest side outward, and make it a metaphor from foul linen, the foul side turned inward; as if he should have said, such a man, whatsoever shows he maketh, is a naughty man. (Mr Cranford on 2Ti 2:17)

Condemned of himself] Since, as a headstrong horse, he gets the bit between his teeth, and runs away. Thus did the Pharisees, Toties puncti, et repuncti, minime tamen ad resipiscentiam compuncti, as one saith; they shut the windows lest the light should come in, and so were condemned, by their own consciences. Or, "he is condemned of himself" by excommunicating himself from the holy assemblies (as our church forsakers do), which other sinners are condemned to by the Church. The fornicator, the adulterer, the murderer, &c., are cast out of the Church by the Church officers. But heretics condemn themselves by a wilful departure from the Church; quae recessio propriae conscientiae videtur esse damnatio, and this seems to be the sense of the apostle’s self-condemned, saith Jerome upon this text.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Knowing that he that is such is subverted - Literally, “is turned out;” or, “is changed,” i. e., for the worse. He has gone from the right way, and therefore he should be rejected.

And sinneth, being condemned of himself - His own conscience condemns him. He will approve the sentence, for he knows that he is wrong; and his self-condemnation will be punishment sufficient. His own course, in attempting a division or schism in the church, shows him that it is right that he should be separated from the communion of Christians. He that attempts to rend the church, without a good reason, should himself be separated from it.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Knowing that he that is such a one is subverted:[4] a metaphor, from a house that is thrown down, even to the foundation, by the Greek. He speaks of heretics whose obstinacy seems evident, for no one is properly a heretic but who is obstinate in his errors. --- And sinneth, being [5] condemned; or, condemned by his own judgment, when his ignorance cannot be a sufficient plea for him. (Witham) --- Other offenders are judged and cast out of the Church by the sentence of the pastors of the same Church. Heretics, more unhappy, run out of the Church of their own accord; and by so doing, give judgment and sentence against their own souls. (Challoner)

===============================

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

eversus est.

===============================

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Proprio judicio condemnatus, Greek: autokatakritos.

====================

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Is subverted; ezestraptai, is turned out of the true and right way and road;

and sinneth, and is a transgressor,

being condemned of himself, condemned of his own conscience; for he who spends his time about questions and genealogies, and strifes of words, and little questions about the law, instead of preaching Christ, is told by his own conscience that he doth not do his duty.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Subverted—He has ceased to be a believer, and has become, perhaps, a Gnostic. He has gone over from St. Paul to Simon Magus. He has ceased to be a true Christian, and has become a true Cretan.

Condemned of himself—By his persistent maintenance of his heresy he pronounces his own anti-Christianity. He is, therefore, self-defined and self-judged. You need not utter any excommunication nor any anathema, he is condemned of himself.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Such a one for be that is such, A.V; perverted for subverted, A.V; self-condemned for condemned of himself, A.V Is perverted (exestraptai); only here in the New Testament, but common in the LXX, and found in classical Greek in a material sense, "to turn inside out," "to root up," and the like. Here it means the complete pervertion of the man"s Christian character, so as to leave no hope of his amendment. But this is not to be presumed till a first and second admonition have been given in vain. Self-condemned (autokatakritov); only here in the New Testament, not found in the LXX nor in classical Greek. It means what Cicero (quoted by Schleusner) says of C. Fabricius, that he was suo judicio condemnatus, condemned by his own judgment, which, he says, is a heavier condemnation than even that of the law and of the judges ("Pro Cluentio," 21, at the end). Fabricius was self-condemned because he had left the court in confusion at a critical part of his trial. So the heretics were self-condemned by the very fact that they continued to head the schism after repeated admonitions.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Such an one is perverted - In his heart, at least. And sinneth, being self-condemned - Being convinced in his own conscience that he acts wrong.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Ver. 11. Knowing that such an one is perverted, and sinneth, being self-condemned. The language throughout is very strong: first he is perverted—the rendering of Tyndale, Cranmer, and Gen., and upon the whole better than the Authorized Version, subverted: the compound verb ἐκτρέπω) signifying to turn out of,—namely, the proper way or course; and when used, as here, in the passive of one who, notwithstanding even a second admonition, persists in following his self-willed line of action, “denotes a complete inward corruption and perverseness of character” (Ellicott). Then, he sinneth— ἁμαρτάνει, lives in sin, or errs knowingly and deliberately, because he cleaves to his own way, after having been expostulated with about its erroneousness by an authorized messenger of God. And so, finally, he is said to be self-condemned: not as if he formally pronounced judgment against himself, or was conscious of acting a part which he consciously knew to be wrong, but because his conduct was such as of itself to betray a desert of condemnation. The meaning is much the same as that expressed of similar characters at 1Ti 4:2—both alike spoken of persons whose inward sense or conscience has got into a state which is palpably at variance with the mind of God, as made known through His authorized representatives.

Patrick Fairbairn — An Exposition of Ezekiel (1851), Jonah (1849), and The Pastoral Epistles (1874) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

sinneth

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23") .

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. Knowing, etc. No one can continue factious unless he is perverted from the truth. This is the only passage in the New Testament where “heretic” occurs, though “heresy” is elsewhere named.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

11. εἰδὼς ὅτι ἐξέστραπται ὁ τοιοῦτος. Knowing, as you do, that such an one is perverted.

ἐκστρέφεσθαι does not occur again in the N.T., but cp. Deu 32:20; Amo 6:12.

The use of τοιοῦτος is thoroughly Pauline; cp. 1Co 5:5; 2Co 2:6; Gal 6:1.

καὶ ἁμαρτάνει ὤν αὐτοκατάκριτος, and sinneth, being self-condemned. This principle is difficult to carry into practice. There is nothing more common, or more lamentable, in theological controversy than the assumption that a theological opponent is at heart dishonest and ‘self-condemned.’ It is not possible to believe that any justification for this temper of mind is to be found in St Paul’s words here or in 1Ti 4:2, where he speaks of the “speakers of lies who are branded in their conscience.” At the least it may be laid down that for anyone possessed of a less keen insight into character than was given to St Paul for his special work, it is not only unseemly, but presumptuous and wicked to impute hypocrisy to those who seem to be ‘heretically’ minded. That may indeed be true; but we can never be sure of it, and it is probably far less often true than we are prone to believe. In all men the power of self-deceit is so strong that self-condemnation is very unusual. αὐτοκατάκριτος is ἅπ. λεγ. in the Greek Bible.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. ἐξεστράπται (here only in N.T.), twisted out of straightness, perverted: cf. Deu 32:20 γενεὰ ἐξεστραμμένη, Eze 13:20 ὑμεῖς ἐκστρέφετε τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν.

ἁμαρτάνει] both as “factious” and as refusing to listen to admonition.

αὐτοκατάκριτος] Condemned “by his own action”; he can be left to God’s judgment; cf. Mat 18:17, 1Co 5:12, 1Co 5:13; perhaps also “by his own conscience,” cf. Luk 19:22, Joh 8:9-11.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Is subverted [εξεστραπται] . N. T. o. More than turned away from the right path : rather, turned inside out. Comp. LXX, Deu 32:20. Sinneth [αμαρτανει] . See on 1Jo 1:9; Mt 1:21, and trespasses, Mt 6:14.

Condemned of himself [αυτοκατακριτος] . Better as Rev., self - condemned. N. T. o. o LXX, o Class.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.