These two verses deal with the young women. But, as contrasted with the other groups, the young women are not supposed to get their instruction from Titus but from the older women.

And so is literally “in order that” (compare Good News Translation), indicating purpose or goal. This may relate to the last part of verse 3 (“to teach what is good”) but more likely refers to the whole of verse 3, which means that the purpose for training the older women to be good teachers is to enable them to be effective when they teach these younger women. With this in mind, one may translate “so that they are able to train the younger women….”

The word translated train is literally “to make of sound mind” and means to instruct or train someone to behave wisely and properly.

Young women translates the feminine form of the word “new” but which has the meaning of “young” when used of age. For further discussion see 1 Tim 5.2 and 5.11.

What follows are seven qualities, some of which are quite similar to those mentioned in the instructions to young widows in 1 Tim 5.14.

To love their husbands translates a word that is found only here in the New Testament. It is a compound word that combines the verb “to like” or “to love” with the “man” or “husband.” In a society of arranged marriages, where women did not have a say at all on the choice of their husbands, this quality is very important and needs to be emphasized.

Likewise, the word for to love their … children combines “to like” or “to love” with “child.” This reminder is quite significant in a society where children are given very little importance. These two qualities (loving husbands and loving children) are mentioned together, since it is assumed in this passage that the younger women are not only married but have children as well.

For sensible see 1 Tim 3.2. This is also one of the traits for older men in verse 2 of this chapter.

For chaste see 1 Tim 5.22, where the same word is translated “pure.” This word has a ritual or ceremonial origin but is used here in a moral sense to refer to being free from any moral defect in thought, word, and deed.

The term for domestic occurs only here in the New Testament. It is a compound word that can literally be rendered as “one who works at home,” hence a housekeeper (compare Good News Translation “housewives,” Contemporary English Version “a good homemaker”).

Kind is the feminine form of “good,” for which see 1 Tim 1.5. There is some question as to whether this is intended to be a separate quality (as in Revised Standard Version) or to be taken as an adjective qualifying domestic, with the resulting translation “a good housekeeper” (compare Good News Translation “good housewives”). Either one is possible, but an argument against this latter option is that it would not follow the pattern of the list, in which none of the other qualities have qualifiers. Contemporary English Version follows the first interpretation but lists kind after sensible, omitting the equivalent of chaste. It is also possible to translate the beginning of verse 5 as “Each of the younger women must be self-controlled, free of moral defects, and kind, as well as being good homemakers who….”

Submissive derives from a verb that includes the elements of recognition of authority (“accept the authority of someone”), subordination, and obedience. This means that these younger women should willingly subject themselves to their husbands, whether they are believers or not. This idea of wives submitting to husbands is found in other parts of the New Testament (see, for example, 1 Peter 3.1; Col 3.18; and Eph 5.22). One should note, however, that the Ephesians passage is preceded by a call for all members of the household (including husbands, children, and slaves) to “be subject to one another” (Eph 5.21), which means that the husband also is commanded to submit to the wife.

The purpose of having all these qualities (and not simply the last trait mentioned, that is, being submissive to husbands) is so that the word of God may not be discredited, in other words, to enable non-Christians to appreciate the Christian message, or at least to give them no reason to despise it. For word of God see 1 Tim 4.5 and 2 Tim 2.9. Discredited comes from the verb that means “to blaspheme,” for which see 1 Tim 1.20 and especially 1 Tim 6.1, where a similar statement appears, using “defamed” for the same verb.

Alternative translation models for verse 5 are:

• These younger women must be taught to be self-controlled, free of moral defects, and kind to others. They should also be taught to be good homemakers who are obedient to their husbands, so that no one can say evil things about God’s message.

Or:

• They must teach these younger women to be self-controlled and free of moral defects, to be good housewives who submit themselves to their husbands, so that….

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 .