1:11a

who must be silenced: The Greek is more literally “it is necessary to put something over their mouths.” It indicates that someone should stop or prevent these rebellious people from talking rebellion, nonsense, and lies (1:10a–b). Somebody, probably Titus, must make them stop this kind of talk. In your translation, avoid implying that these people must stop talking completely.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

you must make them be quiet (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
It is necessary to stop their talk (Good News Bible)
-or-
It is necessary that they be stopped from saying those things

In the Greek text, the fact that the following clauses give the reason for Paul’s command in 1:11a is implicit. Some translations supply a conjunction in order to introduce the reason why someone should silence the rebellious people. You also may want to do this to make this relationship explicit if that is natural in your language. For example:

They must be silenced because for the sake of dishonest gain, they are disrupting whole households

1:11b

For the sake of dishonorable gain: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as dishonorable gain is more literally “shameful gain.” It refers to obtaining money by shameful means, that is, dishonest means. These people were trying to make money by teaching lies.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

For shameful gain
-or-
In order to make a profit by lying
-or-
This is the shameful way they make money. (Contemporary English Version)

For the sake of: This phrase means “For the purpose of.”

1:11c

they undermine entire households: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they undermine means that the rebellious people were causing entire families to be upset and distressed. They were distressed because the teachings of these rebellious people conflicted with the teachings of the gospel of Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

they are causing great turmoil in whole households
-or-
they are upsetting whole families (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
they are breaking the peace of entire families

entire households: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as households refers to people living in one house. In Paul’s time this usually consisted of one extended family and their servants.

1:11d

and teach things they should not: This phrase introduces the way in which these rebellious people disrupted whole households. They did so by teaching what was false. You may be able to make this clear by saying:

They do this by teaching what they should not teach
-or-
in that they teach things that they should not

General Comment on 1:11c-d d-b

In some languages it may be natural to order the information in 1:11b-d as it is in Greek. The Greek is more literally, “who overturn entire households, teaching what they should not for the sake of dishonest gain.” “Dishonest gain” was the purpose of the false teachers in teaching “things they should not.”

Here are some other ways to translate these Greek words:

because they are ruining whole families by teaching what they shouldn’t teach. This is the shameful way they make money. (God’s Word)
-or-
They undermine entire households for the sake of dishonest gain by teaching things that they must not teach.
-or-
because they mislead whole families by teaching for dishonest gain what ought not to be taught. (NET Bible)

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.