What Does Titus 3:13 Mean?
Send Zenas, the one versed in instruction, and Apollos onward with haste, so that nothing is left behind for them.
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
Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them.THE KEY
The care is complete when someone can move forward without anything they need left out.
THE MEANING
Care makes room for another person’s forward movement through attention to what the journey requires. Sending someone ahead includes helping ensure that no needed provision is missing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that once someone can set out, what they need along the way is solely their own concern.
THE ROOT
πρόπεμψον
propempson
GROWS FROM
πεμπ-
pemp-
send or dispatch; with προ- (pro-, forward), send someone onward
The verb translated “bring ... on their journey” means to send someone forward, and its use can include escorting or providing for travelers. The command describes support that carries them into the next stretch, not just a farewell.
ALSO GROWS
pempō: send, dispatch
πέμπω
This is the base verb: the action is to send someone onward.
propompē: escort or sending on a journey
προπομπή
This related noun reflects the accompanying, practical care that can be part of sending someone forward.
λείπῃ
leipē
GROWS FROM
λειπ-
leip-
leave behind; be absent or lacking
“left behind” in this verse is leipē. “Wanting” here is a lack: something needed is absent or left out. A related word, λεῖμμα (leimma), means “remnant,” what remains; the same word family can name both what is missing and what is left over.
ALSO GROWS
leipō: leave, be absent, lack
λείπω
This is the verb behind “be wanting”: care means ensuring needed things are not absent.
leimma: remnant, what remains
λεῖμμα
The related word for what remains echoes the verse’s concern that no needed provision be left out.
THE PATTERN
Sending someone forward includes helping meet the needs that accompany their journey.
But you shall open your hand wide to him, and you shall surely lend him enough for what he lacks.And remain in that same house, eating and drinking what they give, for the worker is worthy of his pay. Do not step from house to house.Who have borne witness to your love before the assembly, whom you will do well to send on their way in a manner that matches the weight of God.THE THREAD
But let the bearing up under have its complete work, that you may be complete and entire, with nothing left behind.James uses the same Greek root for what must not be lacking in a person made whole that Titus uses for what must not be lacking to travelers. The shared word lets practical provision and inner completeness illuminate each other.
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