Titus 2:4 Explained

"That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children," — Titus 2:4 (KJV)

One line of a household code, and its mechanism is older women teaching younger ones rather than a leader teaching everyone.

Read it in context: The Book of Titus. Also gathered under verses about parenting.

Titus 2:4 in context

What does Titus 2:4 mean?

The verb behind 'teach' means to train toward soundness of mind, and what is taught is startling for a list of virtues: loving one's husband and children. Affection is treated as a learned competence, not an automatic feeling — which is a merciful assumption about people whose marriages and households are hard. And the teaching runs peer to peer down a generation, not from a pulpit.

What is the context of Titus 2:4?

Paul is telling Titus what to say to each group on Crete. This clause completes the instruction to older women in verse 3 — they are the subject of 'they may teach', which is why the verse cannot be read on its own.

How do I pray Titus 2:4?

If you are older, ask who is actually being taught by you, and whether it is by instruction or only by example. If you are younger, ask who you have let close enough to teach you this. The passage assumes the relationship exists and most of the difficulty is that it does not.

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