One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons.”
Parallel translations
- KJV One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
- BSB As one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
- NKJV One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
- NASB One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
- NLT Even one of their own men, a prophet from Crete, has said about them, “The people of Crete are all liars, cruel animals, and lazy gluttons.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul quotes a Cretan poet's harsh saying that Cretans are habitual liars, brutal, and lazy gluttons. It matters because it candidly names the cultural sins the gospel must transform.
Overview
Paul cites a saying attributed to the Cretan poet Epimenides, here called 'a prophet of their own.' He uses it not as racial slander but to acknowledge real moral tendencies that the false teachers were exploiting and that the gospel must overcome. It sets up his call for sharp correction in the next verse.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Rom 16:18For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.
- 1 Tim 4:2through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron;
- Acts 17:28‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’
- 2 Pet 2:15forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;
- Acts 2:11Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!”
- 2 Pet 2:12But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,
- Jude 1:8–13Yet in the same way, these also in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and slander celestial beings.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
We await 'the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us' and purify a people of his own.
How Titus 1:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.