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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And I commend to you Phoebe our sister, - being a minister alsoof the assembly which is in Cenchreae;
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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And I commend to you Phoebe our sister, - being a minister alsoof the assembly which is in Cenchreae;
Salute ye Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in Christ Jesus, -
Salute Tryphaena and Tryphosa, sisters who have toiled in the Lord. Salute Persis, the beloved sister , who, indeed, hath toiled much in the Lord.
Euodia, I exhort, and, Syntche, I exhort, - on the same thing, to be resolved in the Lord: - Yea! I request thee also, true yokefellow, be thou helping together with these women, - who, indeed, in the joyful message, have maintained the combat with me, along with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names, are in the book of life.
Aged women, in the same way, in deportment, as becometh sacred persons, not given to intrigue, nor yet, to much wine, enslaved, teachers of virtue, - That they may constrain the young women to be, lovers of their husbands, lovers of their children,
Knowing that such a one is perverted, and sinneth, 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 cured from evil spirits and infirmities, - Mary, the one called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone forth,
and certain women, who had been cured from evil spirits and infirmities, - Mary, the one called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone forth, and Joana, wife of Chuza steward of Herod, and Susanna, and many others, - who indeed were ministering unto them out of their possessions.
and Joana, wife of Chuza steward of Herod, and Susanna, and many others, - who indeed were ministering unto them out of their possessions.
And I commend to you Phoebe our sister, - being a minister alsoof the assembly which is in Cenchreae;
And I commend to you Phoebe our sister, - being a minister alsoof the assembly which is in Cenchreae;
Wives, in the same way, - dignified, not given to intrigue, sober, faithful in all things.
Wives, in the same way, - dignified, not given to intrigue, sober, faithful in all things. Let, ministers, be husbands of, one wife, over children, presiding, well, and over their own houses;
Let, ministers, be husbands of, one wife, over children, presiding, well, and over their own houses;
Let, a widow, be put on the list - having become, not less than sixty years old, one man's, wife,
Let, a widow, be put on the list - having become, not less than sixty years old, one man's, wife, In noble works, being well-attested; - if she hath nourished children, if she hath shewn hospitality, if, saints feet, she hath washed, if, them who were in tribulation, she hath succoured, if, in every good, work she hath followed on:
In noble works, being well-attested; - if she hath nourished children, if she hath shewn hospitality, if, saints feet, she hath washed, if, them who were in tribulation, she hath succoured, if, in every good, work she hath followed on: But, younger widows, decline thou; for, as soon as they wax wanton against the Christ, to marry, are they determined, -
But, younger widows, decline thou; for, as soon as they wax wanton against the Christ, to marry, are they determined, -
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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And I commend to you Phoebe our sister, - being a minister alsoof the assembly which is in Cenchreae; In order that ye may give her welcome in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and stand by her in any matter wherein she may have need of you; for, she also, hath proved to be a defender of many, and of my own self.
Now I beseech you, brethren, - ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is a first-fruit of Achaia, and, for the purpose of ministering, they devoted themselves, unto the saints -
Wives, in the same way, - dignified, not given to intrigue, 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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And I commend to you Phoebe our sister, - being a minister alsoof the assembly which is in Cenchreae;
Salute Tryphaena and Tryphosa, sisters who have toiled in the Lord. Salute Persis, the beloved sister , who, indeed, hath toiled much in the Lord.
Wives, in the same way, - dignified, not given to intrigue, sober, faithful in all things.
Widows, honour thou - who indeed are widows: - Howbeit, if, any widow, hath, children or grandchildren, let them be learning - first, unto their own house, to be shewing reverence, and, returns, to be making unto their progenitors; for, this, is acceptable before God; read more. But, she who is indeed a widow, and is left alone, hath turned her hope towards God, and is giving attendance unto the supplications and the prayers, night and day, - Whereas, she that runneth riot, while living, is, dead: And, these things, be giving in charge, that, without reproach, they may be; If, however, anyone, for his own, and specially them of his household, taketh not forethought, his faith, hath he denied, and is worse, than one without faith! Let, a widow, be put on the list - having become, not less than sixty years old, one man's, wife, In noble works, being well-attested; - if she hath nourished children, if she hath shewn hospitality, if, saints feet, she hath washed, if, them who were in tribulation, she hath succoured, if, in every good, work she hath followed on:
Aged women, in the same way, in deportment, as becometh sacred persons, not given to intrigue, nor yet, to much wine, enslaved, teachers of virtue, -