Meaning of TITUS

Disciple of the apostle Paul; His name does not appear in Acts, but it appears frequently in Paul's epistles. Titus, of pagan origin, was part of the delegation sent by the Christians from Antioch to Jerusalem accompanying Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:2; Gal. 2:3).

It is possible that he was originally from Antioch and spiritual son of Paul (Titus 1:4). In Jerusalem, the Judaizers demanded that Titus be circumcised, but Paul did not give in on this point, as Titus was not of Jewish origin, and the church also spoke out for the principle of freedom regarding the circumcision of Christians who came out of the gentility (Gal. 2:3-5).

From several passages (2 Cor. 2:13; 7:6, 13; 8:6, 16; 12:18) it is known that Titus was sent by Paul to Corinth to repress abuses that occurred there. There are exegetes who have supposed that he was among those who brought Paul's first epistle to the Christians of the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 16:12).

However, what appears to have happened is that Titus was sent there with another brother (2 Cor. 12:18) after the sending of the first epistle because of later news received about the Corinthian Christians.

This was a delicate task, and Paul eagerly awaited Titus' return (2 Cor. 2:13). Upon leaving Ephesus, the apostle expected to find Titus in Troas (2 Cor. 2:12, 13). Disappointed at not finding him there, he headed to Macedonia, where Titus finally arrived with good news from Corinth (2 Cor. 7:6, 13, 14).

Paul commissioned him to return immediately to Corinth to carry the second epistle (2 Cor. 8:6, 18, 23). Nothing more is known about Titus until after Paul's first imprisonment in Rome (see PAUL).

The epistle to Titus reveals that he received the apostle's commission to organize the churches in Crete and that he was later called to join Paul in Nicopolis (Tit. 3:12). The last mention of Titus occurs in 2 Tim. 4:10 regarding his journey to Dalmatia.