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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Herewith I introduce our sister Phoebe to you, who is 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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Herewith I introduce our sister Phoebe to you, who is a servant of the Church at Cenchreae,
Greetings to Prisca and Aquila my fellow labourers in the work of Christ Jesus--
Greetings to those Christian workers, Tryphaena and Tryphosa; also to dear Persis, who has laboured strenuously in the Lord's work.
I entreat Euodia, and I entreat Syntyche, to be of one mind, as sisters in Christ. Yes, and I beg you also, my faithful yoke-fellow, to help these women who have shared my toil in connection with the Good News, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow labourers, whose names are recorded in the Book of Life.
In the same way exhort aged women to let their conduct be such as becomes consecrated persons. They must not be slanderers nor enslaved to wine-drinking. They must be teachers of what is right. They should school the young women to be affectionate to their husbands and to their children, to be sober-minded, pure in their lives,
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 whom He had delivered from evil spirits and various diseases--Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons had come,
and certain women whom He had delivered from evil spirits and various diseases--Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons had come, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many other women, all of whom contributed to the support of Jesus and His Apostles.
and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many other women, all of whom contributed to the support of Jesus and His Apostles.
Herewith I introduce our sister Phoebe to you, who is a servant of the Church at Cenchreae,
Herewith I introduce our sister Phoebe to you, who is a servant of the Church at Cenchreae,
Deaconesses, in the same way, must be sober-minded women, not slanderers, but in every way temperate and trustworthy.
Deaconesses, in the same way, must be sober-minded women, not slanderers, but in every way temperate and trustworthy. A deacon must be true to his one wife, and rule his children and his own household wisely and well.
A deacon must be true to his one wife, and rule his children and his own household wisely and well.
No widow is to be put on the roll who is under sixty years of age.
No widow is to be put on the roll who is under sixty years of age. She must have been true to her one husband, and well reported of for good deeds, as having brought up children, received strangers hospitably, washed the feet of God's people, given relief to the distressed, and devoted herself to good works of every kind.
She must have been true to her one husband, and well reported of for good deeds, as having brought up children, received strangers hospitably, washed the feet of God's people, given relief to the distressed, and devoted herself to good works of every kind. But the younger widows you must not enrol; for as soon as they begin to chafe against the yoke of Christ, they want to marry,
But the younger widows you must not enrol; for as soon as they begin to chafe against the yoke of 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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Herewith I introduce our sister Phoebe to you, who is a servant of the Church at Cenchreae, that you may receive her as a fellow Christian in a manner worthy of God's people, and may assist her in any matter in which she may need help. For she has indeed been a kind friend to many, including myself.
And I beseech you, brethren--you know the household of Stephanas, how they were the earliest Greek converts to Christ, and have devoted themselves to the service of God's people--
Deaconesses, in the same way, must be sober-minded women, not slanderers, but in every way temperate and 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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Herewith I introduce our sister Phoebe to you, who is a servant of the Church at Cenchreae,
Greetings to those Christian workers, Tryphaena and Tryphosa; also to dear Persis, who has laboured strenuously in the Lord's work.
Deaconesses, in the same way, must be sober-minded women, not slanderers, but in every way temperate and trustworthy.
Honour widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let these learn first to show piety towards their own homes and to prove their gratitude to their parents; for this is well pleasing in the sight of God. read more. A widow who is really in need, friendless and desolate, has her hopes fixed on God, and continues at her supplications and prayers, night and day; but a pleasure-loving widow is dead even while still alive. Press these facts upon them, so that they may live lives free from reproach. But if a man makes no provision for those dependent on him, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is behaving worse than an unbeliever. No widow is to be put on the roll who is under sixty years of age. She must have been true to her one husband, and well reported of for good deeds, as having brought up children, received strangers hospitably, washed the feet of God's people, given relief to the distressed, and devoted herself to good works of every kind.
In the same way exhort aged women to let their conduct be such as becomes consecrated persons. They must not be slanderers nor enslaved to wine-drinking. They must be teachers of what is right.