Titus - 2:6



6 Likewise, exhort the younger men to be sober minded;

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Titus 2:6.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
Young men, in like manner, exhort that they be sober.
The younger men in like manner exhort to be discreet:
the younger men likewise exhort to be soberminded:
The younger men, in like manner, be exhorting to be sober-minded;
In the same way exhort the younger men to be discreet,
To the young men give orders to be wise and serious-minded:
Exhort young men similarly, so that they may show self-restraint.
In the same way with the younger men – encourage them to be self-controlled.
Juvenes similiter hortare ut sobrii sint

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Exhort likewise younger men He merely enjoins that young men be instructed to be temperate; for temperance, as Plato shows, cures the whole understanding of man. It is as if he had said, "Let them be well regulated and obedient to reason."

Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded - Margin, "discreet." On the meaning of the Greek word used here (σωφρονεῖν sōphronein), see the notes at Titus 2:2, Titus 2:4. The idea is, that they should be entreated to be prudent, discreet, serious in their deportment; to get the mastery over their passions and appetites; to control the propensities to which youth are subject; and that there should be such self-government, under the influence of, religion, as to avoid excess in everything. A well-governed mind, superior to the indulgence of those passions to which the young are prone, will express the meaning of the word here. They should be "steady in their behaviour, superior to sensual temptations, and constant in the exercise of every part of self-government." Doddridge. The reasons for this are obvious:
(1) The hopes of the church depend much on them.
(2) a young man who cannot govern himself, gives little promise of being useful or happy.
(3) Indulgence in the propensities to which young men are prone, will, sooner or later, bring ruin to the body and the soul.
(4) they are just at the period of life when they are exposed to special temptations, and when they need to exercise a special guardianship over their own conduct.
(5) like others, they may soon die; and they should be habitually in such a frame of mind, as to be prepared to stand before God. A young man who feels that he may be soon in the eternal world, cannot but be sensible of the propriety of having a serious mind, and of living and acting as in the immediate presence of his Maker and Judge.

Young men - exhort to be sober-minded - Reformation should begin with the old; they have the authority, and they should give the example. The young of both sexes must also give an account of themselves to God; sober-mindedness in young men is a rare qualification, and they who have it not plunge into excesses and irregularities which in general sap the foundation of their constitution, bring on premature old age, and not seldom lead to a fatal end.

Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. Temperate, chaste, modest, moderate, wise, and prudent in all things: this is said to Titus, as being his province to instruct and exhort the young men; as it were proper and convenient for aged women to teach the young women how they should behave and conduct themselves.

Young--Greek, "The younger men."
sober-minded--self-restrained [ALFORD]. "Nothing is so hard at this age as to overcome pleasures and follies" [CHRYSOSTOM].

To be discreet - A virtue rarely found in youth.

*More commentary available at chapter level.


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