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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
I commend to your care our Sister, Phoebe, who helps in the work 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).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
I commend to your care our Sister, Phoebe, who helps in the work of the Church at Cenchreae;
Give my greeting to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in the Cause of Christ Jesus,
To Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard for the Master; to my dear friend Persis, for she has done much hard work for the Master;
I entreat Euodia, and I entreat Syntyche, to live in harmony, in union with the Lord; Yes, and I ask you, my true comrade, to help them, remembering that they toiled by my side in spreading the Good News; and so, too, did Clement and my other fellow-workers, whose names are 'in the Book of Life.'
So, too, that the older women should be reverent in their demeanor, and that they should avoid scandal, and beware of becoming slaves to drink; that they should teach what is right, so as to train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
You may be sure that such a man has forsaken the Truth and is in the wrong; he stands 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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
As well as some women who had been cured of wicked spirits and of infirmities. They were Mary, known as Mary of Magdala (from whom seven demons had been expelled),
As well as some women who had been cured of wicked spirits and of infirmities. They were Mary, known as Mary of Magdala (from whom seven demons had been expelled), And Joanna (the wife of Herod's steward, Chuza), and Susannah, and many others--all of whom ministered to Jesus and his Apostles out of their means.
And Joanna (the wife of Herod's steward, Chuza), and Susannah, and many others--all of whom ministered to Jesus and his Apostles out of their means.
I commend to your care our Sister, Phoebe, who helps in the work of the Church at Cenchreae;
I commend to your care our Sister, Phoebe, who helps in the work of the Church at Cenchreae;
It should be the same with the women. They should be serious, not gossips, sober, and trustworthy in all respects.
It should be the same with the women. They should be serious, not gossips, sober, and trustworthy in all respects. Assistant-Officers should be faithful husbands, and men who rule their children and their households well.
Assistant-Officers should be faithful husbands, and men who rule their children and their households well.
A widow, when her name is added to the list, should not be less than sixty years old; she should have been a faithful wife,
A widow, when her name is added to the list, should not be less than sixty years old; she should have been a faithful wife, and be well spoken of for her kind actions. She should have brought up children, have shown hospitality to strangers, have washed the feet of her fellow Christians, have relieved those who were in distress, and devoted herself to every kind of good action.
and be well spoken of for her kind actions. She should have brought up children, have shown hospitality to strangers, have washed the feet of her fellow Christians, have relieved those who were in distress, and devoted herself to every kind of good action. But you should exclude the younger widows from the list; for, when they grow restive under the yoke of the Christ, they want to marry,
But you should exclude the younger widows from the list; for, when they grow restive under the yoke of the Christ, they want 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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
I commend to your care our Sister, Phoebe, who helps in the work of the Church at Cenchreae; And I ask you to give her a Christian welcome--one worthy of Christ's People--and to aid her in any matter in which she may need your assistance. She has proved herself a staunch friend to me and to many others.
I have another request to make of you, Brothers. You remember Stephanas and his household, and that they were the first-fruits gathered in from Greece, and set themselves to serve Christ's People.
It should be the same with the women. They should be serious, not gossips, sober, and trustworthy in all respects.
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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
I commend to your care our Sister, Phoebe, who helps in the work of the Church at Cenchreae;
To Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard for the Master; to my dear friend Persis, for she has done much hard work for the Master;
It should be the same with the women. They should be serious, not gossips, sober, and trustworthy in all respects.
Show consideration for widows--I mean those who are really widowed. but, if a widow has children or grand-children, let them learn to show proper regard for the members of their own family first, and to make some return to their parents; for that is pleasing in God's sight. read more. As for the woman who is really widowed and left quite alone, her hopes are fixed on God, and she devotes herself to prayers and supplications night and day. But the life of a widow who is devoted to pleasure is a living death. Those are the points on which you should dwell, that there may be no call for your censure. Any one who fails to provide for his own relations, and especially for those under his own roof, has disowned the Faith, and is worse than an unbeliever. A widow, when her name is added to the list, should not be less than sixty years old; she should have been a faithful wife, and be well spoken of for her kind actions. She should have brought up children, have shown hospitality to strangers, have washed the feet of her fellow Christians, have relieved those who were in distress, and devoted herself to every kind of good action.
So, too, that the older women should be reverent in their demeanor, and that they should avoid scandal, and beware of becoming slaves to drink;