Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
One—Epimenides of Phæstus, or Gnossus, in Crete, about 600. He was sent for to purify Athens from its pollution occasioned by Cylon. He was regarded as a diviner and prophet. The words here are taken probably from his treatise "concerning oracles." Paul also quotes from two other heathen writers, ARATUS (Acts 17:28) and MENANDER (I Corinthians 15:33), but he does not honor them so far as even to mention their names.
of themselves . . . their own—which enhances his authority as a witness. "To Cretanize" was proverbial for to lie: as "to Corinthianize" was for to be dissolute.
alway liars—not merely at times, as every natural man is. Contrast Titus 1:2, "God that cannot lie." They love "fables" (Titus 1:14); even the heathen poets laughed at their lying assertion that they had in their country the sepulchre of Jupiter.
evil beasts—rude, savage, cunning, greedy. Crete was a country without wild beasts. Epimenides' sarcasm was that its human inhabitants supplied the place of wild beasts.
slow bellies—indolent through pampering their bellies. They themselves are called "bellies," for that is the member for which they live (Romans 16:18; Philippians 3:19).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Titus 1:12:
Acts 17:28
1 Corinthians 2:1
1 Corinthians 15:32
Titus 2:3
Titus 2:12
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