Titus 3:13
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
Do your best to equip Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, so that they will have everything they need.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Bring . . . on their journey--Enable them to proceed forward by supplying necessaries for their journey. Zenas--the contracted form of Zenodorus. lawyer--a Jewish "scribe," who, when converted, still retained the title from his former occupation. A civil lawyer. Apollos--with Zenas, probably the bearers of this Epistle. In Co1 16:12, Apollos is mentioned as purposing to visit Corinth; his now being at Corinth (on the theory of Paul being at Corinth when he wrote) accords with this purpose. Crete would be on his way either to Palestine or his native place, Alexandria. Paul and Apollos thus appear in beautiful harmony in that very city where their names had been formerly the watchword of unchristian party work. It was to avoid this party rivalry that Apollos formerly was unwilling to visit Corinth though Paul desired him. HIPPOLYTUS mentions Zenas as one of the Seventy, and afterwards bishop of Diospolis.
Open source ↗The apostle here directs Titus about the faithful discharge of his own office generally (Tit 2:1), and particularly as to several sorts of persons (Tit 2:2-10) and gives the grounds of these and of other following directions (Tit 2:11-14), with a summary direction in the close (Tit 2:15).
Open source ↗3:13 Zenas and Apollos were involved in spreading the Good News, and they might have been the couriers of this letter to Titus. • Zenas was probably an expert in Roman law or a Roman jurist (the same word for lawyer is in Luke 7:30; 10:25); his pagan name (“gift of Zeus”) makes it unlikely that he was an expert in Jewish law. • Apollos is presumably the same man as in Acts 18:24; 19:1; 1 Cor 1:12; 3:4-6, 22; 4:6; 16:12. • everything they need: See 1 Tim 3:2; 3 Jn 1:5-8; cp. Rom 15:24; 1 Cor 16:6, 11; 2 Cor 1:16.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the Scriptures.
One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question:
The islanders honored us in many ways and supplied our needs when we were ready to sail.
One of the experts in the law told Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us as well.”
No one, then, should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he can return to me, for I am expecting him along with the brothers.
I hope to see you on my way to Spain. And after I have enjoyed your company for a while, you can equip me for my journey.
But when our time there had ended, we set out on our journey. All the disciples, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city and knelt down on the beach to pray with us.
One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”