Titus 1:5 Left in Crete

On this behalf I left you in Crete, that you should amend what is lacking…

It is this verse (together with the conclusion in 3:12,13) ​​that gives us the most important information about the background of this letter. Paul had been active in the preaching of the Gospel on the island of Crete, and while he himself is on his way to Nicopolis on the west coast of Greece, he had left Titus on the island to amend what is lacking.

There is no way that Paul’s visit to Crete would be the same as Acts 27:12 writes about, for then he was on his way as a prisoner to Rome and certainly not to Nicopolis to spend the winter. Apparently Paul was released (Phil. 2:24) after the two years of imprisonment in Rome (Acts 28:30) and was able to continue his travels. Perhaps he then went to Spain after all (Rom.15:28) and in any case also to Crete.

We know that Cretans also heard the Gospel on the famous day of Pentecost (Acts 2:11), but whether ecclesias arose in Crete as a result is unknown. Since Paul’s departure from the island, those ecclesias have been there anyway. But there was work left, and it was Titus’s job to fill that gap.

Delen: