HCSB and HCSBse Revisions (Titus 1)

Titus 1 Revisions

HCSB	HCSBse
1 Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,	1 Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to build up the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,
3 and has in His own time revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior:	3 In His own time He has revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior:
4 To Titus, my true child in our common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.	4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
7 For an overseer, as God’s manager, must be blameless, not arrogant, not quick tempered, not addicted to wine, not a bully, not greedy for money,	7 For an overseer, as God’s administrator, must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not addicted to wine, not a bully, not greedy for money,
10 For there are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those from Judaism.	10 For there are also many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from Judaism.
11 It is necessary to silence them; they overthrow whole households by teaching for dishonest gain what they should not.	11 It is necessary to silence them; they overthrow whole households by teaching what they shouldn’t in order to get money dishonestly.
14 and may not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commandments of men who reject the truth.	14 and may not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commands of men who reject the truth.

While nothing stood out in the revisions I wanted to bring up Titus 1:6
(ESV) “if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination ”

(TNIV) “An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.”

(NLT) “An elder must live a blameless life. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious.”

(NET) “An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who cannot be charged with dissipation or rebellion.”

(HCSBse) “one who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of wildness or rebellion.”

This is one reason I like the HCSB so much. Take a look at what the ESV Study Bible notes mention here.

Titus 1:6 ESV Study Bible: His children are believers can also be rendered “his children are faithful” (Gk. pistos). The primary argument for rendering it as “believers” is that in the letters to Timothy and Titus, this word almost always refers to saving faith. Those who think it should be rendered “faithful” would argue that no father can guarantee the conversion of his own children, but he can ordinarily ensure that they act in a “faithful” way. Also, the parallel passage in 1 Timothy 3 says only that the children must be well-behaved, not that their conversion is a requirement for their father to be an overseer. The concern in the passage is that the children behave appropriately and are not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.

NET Note: Or “believing children.” The phrase could be translated “believing children,” but the parallel with 1 Tim 3:4 (“keeping his children in control”) argues for the sense given in the translation.

Leaving the translation as faithful as the HCSB and NET does allows me to decide. This is one reason the ESV is not my main translation. They did a good job explaining in their Study Bible notes though whereas the NLT Study Bible said nothing.

Titus 1:7
(ESV) “For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,”

(TNIV) “Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.”

(NLT) “An elder is a manager of God’s household, so he must live a blameless life. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or dishonest with money.”

This would be a good place to state that the Bible teaches that elders, overseers and bishops are one and the same, describing an official position of leadership. I personally prefer the term Overseer and I am glad to see other translations also go this way.

I found it interesting that the HCSB felt compelled to change “manager” to “administrator” here and also “quick-tempered” to “hot-tempered”. I do think the HCSB falls short here with it’s “bully” rendering as apposed to “violent” in the other translations. I am a little disappointed that this wasn’t touched in the revision.

Mounce’s Expository Dictionary has the following to say about the word the HCSB renders “bully”:
a striker, one apt to strike, a quarrelsome, violent person.

Titus 1:11
(ESV) “They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.”

(TNIV) “They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.”

(NLT) “They must be silenced, because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching. And they do it only for money.”

The HCSBse is similar to the NLT here with its “in order to get money dishonestly“.