What Does Titus 1:14 Mean?
Not holding toward Jewish tales and the commands of humankind that turn away from the truth.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.THE KEY
False teaching does more than add error; it redirects attention away from truth.
THE MEANING
Your attention can be captured by stories and human demands whose source has turned from truth. The danger is directional: truth remains even as a person turns away from it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A command does not become true simply because someone gives it religious weight.
THE ROOT
ἀποστρεφομένων
apostrephomenōn
GROWS FROM
στρέφω
strephō
To turn or twist.
“turn away from” in this verse is apostrephomenōn. English “turn from” can sound like a conclusion; the Greek verb is built on a root meaning “turn,” picturing a change of direction. Related forms can describe turning back, so the verse pictures movement away from truth rather than truth disappearing.
ALSO GROWS
apostrephō: Turn away.
ἀποστρέφω
This form describes the direction named in the verse: away from truth.
epistrephō: Turn back; return.
ἐπιστρέφω
The same root can describe a return, showing that the turning is a direction of movement.
THE PATTERN
When humanly made religious authority is treated as ultimate, it can displace attention from truth.
And the Lord says, Because this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips give me weight, but their heart has gone far from me, and their awe of me is a command of men, trained.For letting go of the commandment of God, you hold the handing down of men, like the immersions of pitchers and cups. And many things like these you do.THE THREAD
And they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to myths.Titus names people who turn from truth while giving heed to fables. Here the same Greek turn-root describes ears turning away from truth and toward fables, making the shift in attention explicit.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us