Reference: Deaconess
American
Such women were called deaconesses as served the church in those offices in which the deacons could not with propriety engage; such as keeping the doors of that part of the church where the women sat, privately instructing those of their own sex, and visiting others imprisoned for the faith. In Ro 16:1, Phebe is said to be a "servant" of the church at Cenchrea; but in the original Greek she is called deaconess.
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But I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea;
Easton
Ro 16:1,3,12; Php 4:2-3; 1Ti 3:11; 5:9-10; Tit 2:3-4). In these passages it is evident that females were then engaged in various Christian ministrations. Pliny makes mention of them also in his letter to Trajan (A.D. 110).
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But I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea;
Salute Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workmen in Christ Jesus,
Salute Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute Persis, the beloved, who has laboured much in the Lord.
I exhort Euodia, and exhort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord; yea, I ask thee also, true yokefellow, assist them, who have contended along with me in the glad tidings, with Clement also, and my other fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life.
that the elder women in like manner be in deportment as becoming those who have to say to sacred things, not slanderers, not enslaved to much wine, teachers of what is right; that they may admonish the young women to be attached to their husbands, to be attached to their children,
knowing that such a one is perverted, and sins, being self-condemned.
Fausets
Ro 16:1; "Phoebe, servant" (Greek text: "deaconess") of the church at Cenchrea." 1Ti 3:11; "even so (marking a transition to another class from deacons) must the women (i.e. the deaconesses) be grave," etc. Domestic duties are omitted, though specified in the case of the deacons (1Ti 3:12). The same qualifications are required in deaconesses as in deacons, with such modifications as the difference of sex suggested. Pliny in his letter to Trajan calls them "female ministers."
The earliest instance of such female ministers (though of course not then formally appointed) is in Lu 8:2-3; "Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna, and many others which ministered unto Him of their substance." The social seclusion of women from men in many parts of the East would render necessary the services of women in teaching those of their own sex. See WIDOWS; an ecclesiastical order of widowhood, a female presbytery, existed from those of at least 60 years old, standing in the same relation to the deaconesses of younger age (1Ti 5:9-11) that the male presbyters did to the deacons.
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and certain women who had been healed of wicked spirits and infirmities, Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
and certain women who had been healed of wicked spirits and infirmities, Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to him of their substance.
and Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to him of their substance.
But I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea;
But I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea;
The women in like manner grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
The women in like manner grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the ministers be husbands of one wife, conducting their children and their own houses well:
Let the ministers be husbands of one wife, conducting their children and their own houses well:
Let a widow be put upon the list, being of not less than sixty years, having been wife of one man,
Let a widow be put upon the list, being of not less than sixty years, having been wife of one man, borne witness to in good works, if she have brought up children, if she have exercised hospitality, if she have washed saints' feet, if she have imparted relief to the distressed, if she have diligently followed every good work.
borne witness to in good works, if she have brought up children, if she have exercised hospitality, if she have washed saints' feet, if she have imparted relief to the distressed, if she have diligently followed every good work. But younger widows decline; for when they grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry,
But younger widows decline; for when they grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry,
Hastings
The word does not occur in English Version except as a Revised Version margin reading in Ro 16:1. In this verse Ph
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But I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea; that ye may receive her in the Lord worthily of saints, and that ye may assist her in whatever matter she has need of you; for she also has been a helper of many, and of myself.
But I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the saints for service,)
The women in like manner grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
Smith
Deaconess.
The word diakonos is found in
(Authorized Version "servant") associated with a female name, and this has led to the conclusion that there existed in the apostolic age, as there undoubtedly did a little later, an order of women bearing that title, and exercising in relation to their own sex functions which were analogous to those of the deacons. On this hypothesis it has been inferred that the women mentioned in
belonged to such an order. The rules given as to the conduct of women in
have in like manner been referred to them, and they have been identified even with the "widows" of
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But I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea;
Salute Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute Persis, the beloved, who has laboured much in the Lord.
The women in like manner grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
Honour widows who are really widows; but if any widow have children or descendants, let them learn first to be pious as regards their own house, and to render a return on their side to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God. read more. Now she who is a widow indeed, and is left alone, has put her hope in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that lives in habits of self-indulgence is dead while living. And these things enjoin, that they may be irreproachable. But if any one does not provide for his own, and specially for those of his house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than the unbeliever. Let a widow be put upon the list, being of not less than sixty years, having been wife of one man, borne witness to in good works, if she have brought up children, if she have exercised hospitality, if she have washed saints' feet, if she have imparted relief to the distressed, if she have diligently followed every good work.
that the elder women in like manner be in deportment as becoming those who have to say to sacred things, not slanderers, not enslaved to much wine, teachers of what is right;