Cretans are ALWAYS liars

[tonychanyt]

Was Paul aware of the Epimenides paradox when he wrote in Titus 1:

12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13a This saying is true.

Was this a hyperbole? Paul seemed so set on its literal truth.

We should not read the "always" here as a universal quantifier. It was hyperbole. Acts 2:

10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”

These Cretans at the Pentecost spoke in tongues. They were not liars.

Was Paul aware of the Epimenides paradox or the liar's paradox?

Probably not, Wiki:

In the Middle Ages, many forms of the liar paradox were studied under the heading of insolubilia, but these were not associated with Epimenides.

Paul was not being philosophical in Titus. He was dealing with the practical issue of appointing elders for the churches in Crete. Titus 1:

5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

The original Epimeides text is assumed to be the following:

They [Cretans] fashioned a tomb for you [Zeus], holy and high one, Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies. But you are not dead: you live and abide forever, For in you we live and move and have our being.

According to Epimeides, Cretans lied about Zeus's death. As a poet or prophet of Zeus, Epimeides used hypobole to defend Zeus' immortality.

Paul wasn't concerned about the Liar's paradox but warned Titus that the local Cretans habitually lied about their god. Here is the context:

10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.

Paul's intent was practical, not philosophical. He warned Titus' church in Cretan: Don't be like Cretans who lied about their god.