Titus 1:12-13

Titus 1:12-13

[12] One  of  themselves,  even a prophet  of their  own,  said,  The Cretians  are alway  liars,  evil  beasts,  slow  bellies.  [13] This  witness  true.  Wherefore  rebuke  them  sharply,  that  they may be sound  in  the faith; 

What does Titus 1:12-13 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The Cretan poet that Paul quoted was Epimenides, who lived in the sixth century B.C. Other Pauline citations of pagan writers appear in Acts 17:28 (Aratus) and 1 Corinthians 15:33 (Menander). This line from one of Epimenides" writings had received wide acceptance in the Greek world as being true. Paul agreed with this poet. The Cretans generally tended to be liars, beastly, lazy, and gluttonous.
"So notorious were the Cretans that the Greeks actually formed a verb kretizein, to Cretize, which meant to lie and to cheat ..." [1]