3:12 {5} When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter.
(5) Last of all, he writes a word or two regarding personal matters, and commends certain men.
Titus 3:12 When I shall send. Titus was not stationed permanently in Crete, as a diocesan bishop, but was left for a certain work (Titus 1:5), and is now bidden to leave as soon as another is sent to take his place.
Artemas. Otherwise unknown.
Tychicus. Often named as one of Paul's companions. See notes on Col 4:7 Eph 6:21.
Come unto me to Nicopolis. A town on the west coast of Greece in Epirus, so named because Augustus Caesar gained the great battle of Actium there. It means City of Victory. History seems to make it probable that Paul did go there to winter, was again arrested, and carried to Rome to die.
3:12 When I shall send Artemas or Tychicus - To succeed thee in thy office. Titus was properly an evangelist, who, according to the nature of that office, had no fixed residence; but presided over other elders, wherever he travelled from place to place, assisting each of the apostles according to the measure of his abilities. Come to me to Nicopolis - Very probably not the Nicopolis in Macedonia, as the vulgar subscription asserts: (indeed, none of those subscriptions at the end of St. Paul's epistles are of any authority:) rather it was a town of the same name which lay upon the sea - coast of Epirus. For I have determined to winter there - Hence it appears, he was not there yet; if so, he would have said, to winter here. Consequently, this letter was not written from thence.
3:12-15 Christianity is not a fruitless profession; and its professors must be filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. They must be doing good, as well as keeping away from evil. Let ours follow some honest labour and employment, to provide for themselves and their families. Christianity obliges all to seek some honest work and calling, and therein to abide with God. The apostle concludes with expressions of kind regard and fervent prayer. Grace be with you all; the love and favour of God, with the fruits and effects thereof, according to need; and the increase and feeling of them more and more in your souls. This is the apostle's wish and prayer, showing his affection to them, and desire for their good, and would be a means of obtaining for them, and bringing down on them, the thing requested. Grace is the chief thing to be wished and prayed for, with respect to ourselves or others; it is all good.
