Paul supports his denunciation of these rebellious people by quoting from a Cretan poet. One of themselves does not mean one of the rebels but one of the Cretans, and he is described as a prophet. It may be that Paul considered him a prophet because of the correctness of what he wrote about the Cretans, or else that the Cretans themselves regarded him as a prophet. There may be a problem in translating prophet here, especially if the term used in the receptor language refers to one who speaks for God, and such a term may not be appropriate for a Cretan poet-philosopher. If this be the case, then prophet can be qualified; for example, “one whom they consider as a prophet”; or else it can be translated in a different way; for example, “a great teacher” or “a wise man.”
The philosopher quoted is Epimenides, who lived sometime in the sixth century B.C. According to writings at that time, the Cretans were considered liars because they claimed that Zeus had a tomb in Crete, and Zeus, of course, being the chief of the gods, could not have died!
The quotation itself is in poetic form, although it may not be possible to retain the form in translation. If it is desired to translate the quotation as poetry, a better approach would be to use indigenous poetic forms appropriate to the nature of the quotation and its content. See further on the translation of poetry under 1 Tim 3.16.
The three descriptions of Cretans in the quotation correspond to three descriptions of the false teachers in verses 10 and 11. Liars (for which see 1 Tim 1.10) corresponds to “deceivers”; evil beasts is used metaphorically to describe ferocity and wildness, and thus corresponds to “insubordinate” in verse 10. Finally, lazy gluttons refers back to the preoccupation of the false teachers in “making money” (for lazy see the same term rendered “idlers” in 1 Tim 5.13). Contemporary English Version has a good translation model which some translators may wish to follow:
“The people of Crete
always tell lies.
They are greedy and lazy
like wild animals.”
It should be noted that Good News Translation has combined and shortened verses 12 and 13 in order to make clear that the clause This testimony is true refers back to the truth of what Epimenides said. If translators wish to follow Revised Standard Version‘s model, however, one may begin verse 13 with “What the prophet said is true!”
Since Epimenides is correct, and Cretans are what he said they are, Titus is therefore commanded to rebuke them sharply. It is not clear what them refers to; it could be all the Cretans, but more likely it is a reference to the false teachers. So one may express this as “And you should reprimand such people (or, these false teachers) sharply.” For rebuke see 1 Tim 5.20. Sharply is derived from a verb that means “to act harshly toward someone.” The combination of this adverb with the imperative indicates the seriousness and severity with which Titus is supposed to deal with these heretical teachers. Translations try to capture this intensity in many ways; for example, “correct them rigorously” (An American Translation), “reprimand them sharply” (Phillips), “be severe in correcting them” (New Jerusalem Bible).
The purpose of rebuking them is so that they may be sound in the faith. For sound see 1 Tim 1.10. The faith (with the definite article) refers either to a body of teaching (doctrine) or the Christian faith as a religious movement. The whole clause can be restructured as “they may be correct in what they believe.”
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to Titus. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .