Titus 2:3 (LSB)

Passage

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,

Nearby Context

Titus 2:1 But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.

Titus 2:2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.

Titus 2:3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,

Titus 2:4 so that they may instruct the young women in sensibility: to love their husbands, to love their children,

Titus 2:5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be slandered.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "older", "women", "likewise", "reverent", "behavior", "malicious", "gossips", and "enslaved". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "older" and "women", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Older men are to be temperate dignified..." into verse 4's "so that they may instruct the young...", so "older" and "women" belong inside that flow. In Titus context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "older" and "women" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.