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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I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at 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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I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,
Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,
knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is 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 also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.
and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,
Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.
Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.
Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.
Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband,
Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.
and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry
But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from 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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I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
Now I urge you, brothers--you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints--
Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, 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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I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,
Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.
Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. read more. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,