But marks a contrast and clearly signals to Titus that, as he goes on with his ministry, there are certain things that he should not be doing, and one of these is following the example of the false teachers, especially in their interest in divisive theological issues that are of no value to the church.

Avoid translates a verb that refers to restraining oneself from participating in some activity. One may also say “Don’t have anything to do with.” For further discussion see 2 Tim 2.16.

What follows is a list consisting of four items, all of which are mentioned in the two letters to Timothy. For stupid controversies see 2 Tim 2.23. For genealogies see 1 Tim 1.4. For dissensions see 1 Tim 6.4. For quarrels see 1 Tim 6.4. There it is “disputes about words”; here it is quarrels over the law, which in this context probably refers to the Jewish Law or the Law of Moses. This would be expected, since many of the heretical teachers are Jewish converts to Christianity (see Titus 1.10). The law may also be expressed as “the law which Moses gave.”

All of these activities are to be avoided because they are unprofitable and futile. Unprofitable is the negative form of the word “profitable” in the previous verse. Futile comes from a verb that means “to be useless,” “to be worthless,” or “senseless” because of lack of content; hence “nonsense.” The point being stressed is that all this theological nonsense is the exact opposite of good deeds in so far as worth and usefulness are concerned.

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 .