According to the commandment [kat' epitagen]. A late Koine word (Polybius, Diodorus), but a Pauline word also in N.T. This very idiom ("by way of command") in 1Co 7:6; 2Co 8:8; Ro 16:26; 1Ti 1:1; Tit 1:3. Paul means to say that he is an apostle under orders. Of God our Saviour [theou sOteros hemOn]. Genitive case with [epitagen]. In the LXX [sOter] (old word from [sOzO] for agent in saving, applied to deities, princes, kings, etc.) occurs 20 times, all but two to God. The Romans called the emperor "Saviour God." In the N.T. the designation of God as Saviour is peculiar to Lu 1:47; Jude 1:25; 1Ti 1:3; 2:3; 4:10; Tit 1:3; 2:10; 3:4. In the other Epistles Paul uses it of Christ (Php 3:20; Eph 5:23) as in 2Ti 1:10. In 2Pe 1:1 we have "our God and Saviour Jesus Christ" as in Tit 2:13. Our hope [tes elpidos hemOn]. Like Col 1:27. More than the author and object of hope, "its very substance and foundation" (Ellicott).
