the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Titus
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
or It seems that Titus was originally from Antioch in Syria. When Paul and Barnabas took a gift from the Antioch church to the Jerusalem church, Titus went with them (Acts 11:27-30; Galatians 2:1). By nationality he was a Greek (Galatians 2:3).
Paul’s representative to Corinth
Much of the Bible’s information about Titus has to do with the church in Corinth. From Ephesus Paul had written at least one letter to the Corinthians, and had made a rushed visit to Corinth in an effort to deal with serious problems in the Corinthian church. When he heard that his efforts had only made people more rebellious, he wrote a severe letter and sent it to Corinth with Titus, his special representative (2 Corinthians 2:3-4; 2 Corinthians 2:9; 2 Corinthians 7:8; 2 Corinthians 12:18). (For map see under TIMOTHY.)
Paul’s plan was for Titus to return from Corinth via Troas. Being eager to hear of the Corinthians’ response to his letter, Paul went to Troas to meet Titus. Unable to wait patiently, he then went across to Macedonia in the hope of finding Titus there (2 Corinthians 2:12-13). Titus met Paul with the news that the severe letter had produced the desired results (2 Corinthians 7:5-6; 2 Corinthians 7:13-15). Although this letter has not been preserved in the Bible, the letter that Paul wrote in response to Titus’ good news has. It is called 2 Corinthians and it was taken to Corinth by Titus (2 Corinthians 8:16-18).
Titus was also Paul’s appointed representative to encourage the Corinthian church to participate enthusiastically in an important project Paul was organizing. Paul was collecting money among the Gentile churches of Asia Minor and Greece to take to the needy Jewish Christians in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:1-6; 2 Corinthians 8:16-24).
Activities in other places
Many years later, after Paul had been released from his first imprisonment in Rome, Titus went with Paul to Crete to try to correct disorders in the churches there. When Paul left, Titus stayed behind to help the churches further (Titus 1:5). The book of Titus in our Bible is the letter Paul wrote to Titus at this time (see TITUS, LETTER TO).
Titus was such a valued worker that Paul could not leave him in Crete indefinitely. He therefore wrote to advise Titus that soon someone would come to take his place. Titus then apparently went to Nicopolis on the west coast of Greece to meet Paul as planned (Titus 3:12), and from there went north to Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10). That is the last mention of him in the biblical record.
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Fleming, Don. Entry for 'Titus'. Bridgeway Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/bbd/t/titus.html. 2004.
