What did the elders do (1:5)? Their function is only suggested in the letter. Their role had similarities to Titus’. The same verb (set up; kathistēmi) is used elsewhere in the New Testament of those placed in charge of small or large households, such as a slave or manager who feeds and oversees the other workers and makes investments,23 judges over disputers,24 exemplified by Joseph as ruler over a household and all of Egypt (Acts 7:10). In addition, the function of steward is explicitly mentioned in Titus 1:7 (oikonomos). The establishment of elders is modeled by Moses, who chose trustworthy and honest judges over groups of a thousand, hundred, fifty, and ten to judge the minor cases while he handled the difficult cases (Exod 18:13–26). These judges were chosen by the tribes themselves and were trained by Moses (Deut 1:9–18). Later, the Lord commands Moses to gather seventy of these judges so that they too would be filled with the Spirit as Moses was and share his leadership burdens. In addition, the Spirit came upon Eldad and Medad, who prophesied in the camp (Num 11:16–17, 24, 26).
In Greco-Roman times, Jewish elders had authority in religious and civic matters. They handled city administration and jurisdiction. The council of elders (and chief priests in Jerusalem [or Sanhedrin]) decided cases of orthodoxy and heterodoxy with the power of possible excommunication.25 In a village, one of the elders might be chosen to be “ruler of the synagogue” to oversee the worship service and the synagogue building and represent the congregation to Roman officials.26 Presbyteros (elders), like presbeia (“a delegation”), could represent a group or a person, to ask for a favor, peace, or the resolution of differences.27 Thus, a synonym for “elders” was “ambassadors,” people who sought reconciliation.28
The Jewish Christians appeared to have adapted the Jewish leadership format. Christian elders first appear in Acts. Elders in Jerusalem receive the gifts collected by Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the starving Christians in Judea (Acts 11:29–30). As in Crete, at the second visit to new churches in Asia Minor, Paul and Barnabas oversaw the election of elders in every church (Acts 14:23). The apostles and elders in Jerusalem would decide questions of heterodoxy versus orthodoxy (Acts 15:2–23; 16:4). The whole church would consent to their decision. Even as the apostles, Christian elders have the responsibility to pray for healing (Jas 5:14; Mark 6:13).
In Titus, overseer (episkopos; 1:7) is a synonym for elder (presbyteros; 1:5; also Acts 20:17, 28; 1 Pet 5:1–2). Episkopos etymologically signifies “to look upon or over.”29 In Acts 20:28, “to oversee” includes the function of overseeing doctrine and is synonymous with shepherding (also 1 Pet 5:2).
As in Acts (14:23; 20:17), every church in each city should have more than one elder (1:5). In Crete, historically, the cities were notorious for their disputes with one another. Willetts summarizes their relationship as “almost perpetual warfare.”30 The two most powerful city states, Knossos in the north and Gortyn in the south, were repeatedly in conflict.31 But, finally, in 67 BC, Crete became a Roman province and Gortyn its capital.32 Thus, Paul, by directing Titus to set up elders in every city, was beginning where the people were, blending the Christian organization with the indigenous one.
Paul does not clarify how Titus was to go about the process of setting up elders, except to make specific their moral qualities. However, Moses certainly had encouraged the Hebrew tribes to select their own leaders (Deut 1:13), and Paul appears to allow the local Christians to select their elders.33 What Paul did not require is instructive. Paul did not require that the elders be Jewish, or circumcised, as the circumcision party might have required. Paul did not require that the elders be aristocrats, as the Minoans might have required.34 Paul did not require that the elders be free citizens, as the Romans or Greeks required.35 Paul did not require that the elders be wealthy, men of leisure, as the rabbis required (m. Meg. 1:3; 4:3). There is no mention of ethnic or class or political or economic status. The term elder probably implied a certain age. Some early rabbis said thirty was the age for authority, sixty was the age to be an elder (m. ’Abot 5:21). Sixty was also the age for a widow to enter the church’s order of prayer (1 Tim 5:9).
Paul now adds the first set of qualifications for “elders” (if any are not open to attack, a one-woman man, having faithful children, not in accusation of wildness or disobedience; 1:6), to be further developed in a second longer sentence (For it is necessary [for] the overseer to be not open to attack as God’s steward, not self-pleasing, not prone to anger, not given to getting drunk, not pugnacious, not fond of shameful gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, wise, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word according to the teaching . . . ; 1:7–9). Paul uses the same basic qualifications in 1 Timothy 3, but Titus has some different emphases.
Moral Qualities for an Elder Compared and Set in Sequence
| Titus 1:6–9 | 1 Timothy 3:2–7 |
| 1. and 4. not open to attack | 1. not open to attack |
| 2. one-woman man | 2. one-woman man |
| 3. faithful children | 13. children in submission |
| 5. not self-pleasing | |
| 6. not prone to anger | |
| 7. not given to getting drunk | 3. and 8. not given to getting drunk |
| 8. not pugnacious | 9. not pugnacious |
| 9. not fond of shameful gain | 12. not greedy |
| 10. hospitable | 6. hospitable |
| 11. loving what is good | |
| 12. wise | 4. wise |
| 13. righteous | |
| 14. holy | |
| 15. self-controlled | |
| 16. holding fast the faithful word | 7. able to teach |
| Qualities not in Titus | |
| 5. respectable/modest | |
| 10. gentle | |
| 11. peaceable | |
| 14. not newly converted | |
| 15. good witness from outside |
Despite the close initial similarity between Titus 1:7 and 1 Timothy 3:2, the characteristics for godly elders are set in different sequences. Each list has some moral qualities not in the other list (but certainly not contradictory to the other list). The first characteristic for leaders (elder and widow [1 Tim 3:2; 5:7; Titus 1:6]) is that someone be chosen who is not open to attack, who cannot be discredited, someone against whom a justifiable charge could not be brought (anenklētos) from within the church (e.g., circumcision party, 1:10) or from outside the church (e.g., 2:5, 8) or eventually from God (2:13). Even before overt Roman persecution (AD 61–64), Nero’s actions had become more violent than earlier in his reign. In AD 59, for example, Nero had his mother Agrippina murdered. In AD 62, senator Seneca retired and Burrus, the serious Prefect of the Praetorians, died. Both had been positive influences on Nero. Nero