Zenas

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

In  Titus 3:13 Titus is urged to ‘set forward (πρόπεμψον) Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently (σπουδαίως), that nothing be wanting unto them.’ We gather that Zenas and Apollos were fellow-travellers who had come to Crete and were contemplating going elsewhere. Perhaps they were travelling preachers; or Zenas may have been the travelling companion of the eloquent Apollos. Anyhow, Paul asks for them a ‘send-off’ worthy of devoted Christian workers. Zenas is described as a ‘lawyer’ (νομικός). It is likely, therefore, that he was a convert from the ranks of Jewish lawyers-men skilled in the Jewish law. It is significant that he is found in the company of Apollos, whose preaching had a Jewish tinge (cf. articleApollos). Though a convert to Christianity, and evidently a valued worker, he did not shake off his legalism completely; he favoured the Apollos type of preaching rather than the Pauline. It has been suggested that Zenas and Apollos were the bearers of the Epistle. May it be that these men were chosen as messengers to Crete because they were known to have influence amongst Jewish converts from whom the troubles in Crete seem to have chiefly arisen (cf.  Titus 3:9)?

Literature.-A. C. Headlam, article‘Zenas’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) iv.; W. Lock, article‘Titus,’ ib. , p. 782b; J. E. Roberts, article‘Apollos’ in Dict. of Christian Antiquities  ; W. B. Jones, article‘Zenas’ in Smith’s Dict. of the Bible iii. (for tradition); Expositor , 8th 6er., v. [1913] 329.

J. E. Roberts.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ze'nas. A believer, and, as may be inferred from the context, a preacher of the gospel, who is mentioned in  Titus 3:13, in connection with Apollos. He is further described as "the lawyer." It is impossible to determine whether Zenas was a Roman jurisconsult or a Jewish doctor.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Contracted for Zenodorus.  Titus 3:13. A "lawyer," i.e. Jewish scribe, learned in the Hebrew law, who after conversion still retained the title. Paul commends him to Titus, that he should bring Zenas and Apollos on their journey diligently, so that nothing might be wanting to them of necessaries.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A pious lawyer, and a friend of Paul, who, writing from Nicopolis during the last year of his life, commends him and Apollos, then at Crete on a journey, to the kind offices of Titus,  Titus 3:13 . His name is Greek, and his profession may have been Greek civil law, rather than Jewish law.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ZENAS . A lawyer ( i.e. learned in Jewish law, cf. v. 8) whom St. Paul asks Titus to send to him from Crete, with Apoilos (  Titus 3:13 ). The name is perhaps a contraction from Zenodorus .

A. J. Maclean.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

A believer and a 'lawyer' (probably one skilled in the law of Moses), whom Titus was to help on his journey.  Titus 3:13 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Titus 3:13

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Titus 3:13

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

zē´nas ( Ζηνᾶς , Zēnás (  Titus 3:13 ); the name in full would probably be Zenodorus, literally, meaning "the gift of Zeus"):

1. A J ewish Lawyer:

Paul calls Zenas "the lawyer." The meaning of this is, that, previous to his becoming a Christian, he had been a Jewish lawyer. The lawyers were that class of Jewish teachers who were specially learned in the Mosaic Law, and who interpreted that Law, and taught it to the people.

They are met with again and again in the Gospels, where they frequently came into contact with Christ, usually in a manner hostile to Him. For example, "A certain lawyer stood up and made trial of him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" ( Luke 10:25 ). our Lord replied to him on his own ground, asking, "What is written in the law? how readest thou?" Regarding this class of teachers as a whole, it is recorded that "the Pharisees and lawyers rejected for themselves the counsel of God" (  Luke 7:30 ). The term nomikós , "lawyer," applied to Zenas, is in the Gospels varied by nomodidáskalos , "a teacher of the law," and by grammateús , "a scribe": all three terms describe the same persons. Before his conversion to Christ, Zenas had been a lawyer, one of the recognized expounders of the Law of Moses.

A different view of Zenas' occupation is taken by Zahn ( Introduction to the New Testament , II, 54), who says that in itself nomikos could denote a rabbi, quoting Ambrosiaster, "Because Zenas had been of this profession in the synagogue, Paul calls him by this name." But Zahn gives his own opinion that "since the Jewish scribe who became a Christian, by that very act separated himself from the rabbinic body, and since the retention of rabbinic methods and ways of thinking was anything but a recommendation in Paul's eyes (  1 Timothy 1:7 ), Zenas is here characterized, not as legis ( Mosaicae ), doctor , but as juris peritus . The word denotes not an office, but usually the practical lawyer, through whose assistance e.g. a will is made, or a lawsuit carried on. Plutarch applies this name to the renowned jurist Mucius Scaevola."

The ordinary meaning seems preferable, which sees in Zenas one who previous to his conversion had been a Jewish rabbi.

2. Paul's Wishes Regarding Zenas:

It is not certain where Paul was when he wrote the Epistle to Titus. But he directs Titus to come to him to Nicopolis, where he had resolved to spend the ensuing winter. And he adds the injunction that he desires him to "bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos" - P aul's old friend from Alexandria - with him "on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them" (the King James Version). This may mean that Paul wished to have Zenas and Apollos with him at Nicopolis; but, on the other hand, it may not have this meaning. For the King James Version in translating "bring" is in error. The word signifies, as given in the Revised Version (British and American), "set forward" on their journey, that is, furnish them with all that they need for the journey. But even supposing Paul is not instructing Titus to bring Zenas and Apollos to Nicopolis - though this is perhaps what he means - yet it is most interesting to find these two friends of the apostle mentioned in this particular way, and especially at a time so near to the close of his life. Paul was unselfish as ever, solicitous that Zenas and Apollos be comfortably provided for on their intended journey. He is full of affectionate regard for them, interested in their welfare at every step; while he himself is far distant in another country, he remembers them with tender and sympathetic friendship. Doubtless the two friends reciprocated his affection.

Nothing more is known of Zenas than is contained in this passage.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( Ζηνᾶς , a contraction from Ζηνόδωρος , as Ἀρτεμᾶς from Αρτεμίδωρος , Νυμφᾶς Νυμφόδωρος and probably ῾Ερμᾶς from ῾Ερμόδωρος ) , a believer, and, as may be inferred from the context, a preacher of the Gospel, who is mentioned in  Titus 3:13 in connection with Apollos, and, together with him, is there commended by Paul to the care and hospitality of Titus and the Cretan brethren. A.D. cir. 59. He is further described as the lawyer" ( Τὸν Νομικόν ) . It is impossible to determine with certainty whether we are to infer from this designation that Zenas was a Roman juris-consult or a Jewish doctor. Grotius accepts the former alternative, and thinks that he was a Greek who had studied Roman law. The New Test. usage of ᾼ͂ονλχρο leads rather to the other inference. Tradition has been somewhat busy with the name of Zenas. The Synopsis De Vita Et Morte Prophetarum, Apostolorumn, Et Diiscipulorumn Domini, ascribed to Dorotheus of Tyre, makes him to have been one of the "seventy-two" disciples, and subsequently bishop of Diospolis, in Palestine (Bibl. Patr. 3, 150). The "seventy-two" disciples of Dorotheus are, however, a mere string of names picked out of salutations and other incidental notices in the New Test. The Greek menologies on the festival of SS. Bartholomew and Titus (Aug. 25) refer to a certain Life of Titus, ascribed to Zenas, which is also quoted for the supposed conversion of the younger Pliny (comp. Fabricius, Codex Apocr. N.T. 2, 831, 2). The association of Zenas with Titus, in Paul's epistle to the latter, sufficiently accounts for the forgery.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Ze´nas, a disciple who visited Crete with Apollos, bearing seemingly the epistle to Titus, in which Paul recommends the two to his attentions (). He is called 'the lawyer;' and as his name is Greek, it seems doubtful whether he is so called as being, or having been, a doctor of the Jewish law, or as being a pleader at the Roman tribunals. The most probable opinion is, perhaps, that which makes him an Hellenistic Jew, and a doctor of the Mosaical law.