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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Now I introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess in 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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Now I introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess in the church at Cenchreae,
Remember me to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in the work of Christ Jesus,
Remember me to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who continued to toil in the work of the Lord. Remember me to my dear friend Persis, who toiled so hard in the work of the Lord.
I beg Euodia and I beg Syntyche to live in harmony by the help of the Lord. And I solemnly beg you, my true comrade, keep on cooperating with those two women, because they shared with me the struggle in spreading the good news, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
the older women, too, to be reverent in their deportment, and not to be slanderers or slaves to heavy drinking, but to be teachers of what is right, so as to train the younger women to be affectionate wives and mothers,
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 some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary, who was called Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons had gone,
and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary, who was called Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons had gone, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many other women, who continued to contribute to their needs out of their personal means.
and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many other women, who continued to contribute to their needs out of their personal means.
Now I introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess in the church at Cenchreae,
Now I introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess in the church at Cenchreae,
The deaconesses too must be serious, not gossips; they must be temperate and perfectly trustworthy.
The deaconesses too must be serious, not gossips; they must be temperate and perfectly trustworthy. A deacon too must have only one wife, and manage his children and household well.
A deacon too must have only one wife, and manage his children and household well.
No widow under sixty years of age should be put on this roll. A widow must have had but one husband,
No widow under sixty years of age should be put on this roll. A widow must have had but one husband, must have a reputation for doing good deeds, as bringing up children, being hospitable to strangers, washing the feet of God's people, helping people in distress, or devoting herself to any sort of doing good.
must have a reputation for doing good deeds, as bringing up children, being hospitable to strangers, washing the feet of God's people, helping people in distress, or devoting herself to any sort of doing good. Keep the young widows off this roll, for when they get to indulging their lower nature in opposition to Christ, they want to marry,
Keep the young widows off this roll, for when they get to indulging their lower nature in opposition to 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
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Now I introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess in the church at Cenchreae, that you may give her a Christian welcome in a manner becoming God's people, and give her whatever help she needs from you, for she herself has given protection to many, including myself.
Now I beg you, brothers -- you know that the family of Stephanas were the first converts in Greece, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of God's people --
The deaconesses too must be serious, not gossips; they must be temperate and perfectly trustworthy.
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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Now I introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess in the church at Cenchreae,
Remember me to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who continued to toil in the work of the Lord. Remember me to my dear friend Persis, who toiled so hard in the work of the Lord.
The deaconesses too must be serious, not gossips; they must be temperate and perfectly trustworthy.
Always care for widows who are really dependent. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in the treatment of their own families, and to pay the debt they owe their parents or grandparents, for this is acceptable to God. read more. But a woman who is really a widow and lives alone has fixed her hope on God, and night and day devotes herself to prayers and entreaties, while a widow who gives herself up to luxury is really dead though still alive. Continue to give these directions so that the people may be without reproach. Whoever fails to provide for his own relatives, and especially for those of his immediate family, has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. No widow under sixty years of age should be put on this roll. A widow must have had but one husband, must have a reputation for doing good deeds, as bringing up children, being hospitable to strangers, washing the feet of God's people, helping people in distress, or devoting herself to any sort of doing good.
the older women, too, to be reverent in their deportment, and not to be slanderers or slaves to heavy drinking, but to be teachers of what is right,