AN EXAMINATION OF DEACONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

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A Paper Presented to Elder Board Solid Rock Bible Church

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by Joel Thomas June 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction 1

Lexical Study

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Standard Lexicons Secular Usage Old Testament and Apocrypha Usage Contemporary Jewish Usage Josephus Nominal Usage Josephus Verbal Usage Philo Usage New Testament Nominal Usage New Testament Verbal Usage Lexical Summary

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Woman as Deacons

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Are Deacons in Acts 6?

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Conclusion

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Introduction The data within the New Testament concerning deacon is very limited in scope. The word for deacon () is used four times in the Greek Old Testament, one time in the apocrypha and 30 times in the Greek New Testament.1 In addition to this the verbal form of this word () is used only 37 times.2 In the modern church the word deacon has a very specific definition but the actual Greek words are generic. The words have the basic idea of service.3 Before proceeding to defining the qualifications, roles and responsibilities of the deacon it will be necessary to identify the actual places where the word actually is used in the technical sense and not just in the generic usage of serving. Once that classification process is completed then the instances of technical usage will be examined in context to answer the following questions. The first question that needs to be answered is whether a deacon is a specific ministry or it is simply a statement of qualifications for service in the church. The second question that needs to be answered is that if the deacon is actually a specific ministry in the church is that ministry limited to men only or may women serve in that capacity. The last question that needs to be answered is whether the seven men chosen to help the apostles in Acts deacons or was that a separate potentially unique office that does not continue until today and whether any principles can be applied from that situation.

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Bibleworks for Windows Ver. 8.0 (Norfolk, VA: BibleWorks, LLC). Ibid.

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Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, rev. and ed. by Frederick William Danker. 3d ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 230.

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2 Lexical Study Standard Lexicons The concept of service is expressed in Greek by several different words each of which expresses a slightly different nuance of meaning. This range of meaning is expressed very well by Hermann Beyer in his article in the Theological Dictionary of New Testament Theology which states: The concept of serving is expressed in Gk. by many words which are often hard to differentiate even though each has its own basic emphasis. means to serve as a slave, with a stress on subjection. emphasises willingness for service and the respect and concern thereby expressed (esp. towards God). means to serve for wages. In NT days it had come to be used predominantly for religious or cultic duties. denotes official public service to the people or to the state, being used in the LXX for service in the temple and in Christianity for service in the Church. means at root to steer. In terms of service, it signifies esp. the relation to the master to whom the service is rendered. In Xenoph. is often used in the sense of adjutant. As distinct from all these terms, has the special quality of indicating very personally the service rendered to another. It is thus closest to , but in there is a stronger approximation to the concept of a service of love.4 Secular Usage In terms of secular usage there is quite a bit of evidence that by the time of the New Testament there was an official concept in Greek society of an office in religious settings expressed by .5 There are to be sure very significant differences but it does indicate that

Hermann Wofgang Beyer, , , , in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964), 81.4

James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1930), 149.

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3 the idea of of being a religious office was certainly not foreign to the secular Greek culture.

Old Testament and Apocrypha Usage In contrast to the secular Greek usage there seems to be no concept of as being an office in Jewish culture at all. This is seen clearly in every single instance of its use in the Old Testament as well as the Apocrypha. The word is only used four times in the Old Testament (all in Esther) and each usage clearly refers to the servants of the Persian king.6 The same sense is also found in the Apocrypha in 4 Macc 9:17 where the servants of the Greek king are being referred to in a rather derogatory fashion.7

Contemporary Jewish Usage The two other significant contemporary Jewish sources which need to be evaluated are the Jewish historian Josephus and the Jewish philosopher Philo. The first source is the 1st century Jewish historian Josephus. Josephus uses the noun form 14 times.8

Josephus Nominal Usage The first usage is in his account of Jacob agreeing to work for Rachel. The actual usage is an indication that she was the motivation behind his decision to serve Laban in return for

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Bibleworks 8.0. Ibid. Ibid.

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4 Rachel.9 The second usage is clearly from the context referring to the royal servants of Saul performing a specific action for him.10 The third and fourth usage again refers to royal servants, this time the servants of David who had been entrusted with a specific task.11 The fifth instance is a reference to the relationship between Elijah and Elisha as Elisha being both the servant and disciple of Elijah.12 The sixth and seventh instances refer to the servant of Elisha in the incident where Benhadad was attempting to kidnap Elisha.13 The eighth instance is a reference to the court servants of the Persian king Artaxerses in the beginning of the Esther narrative.14 The ninth instance again refers to an official in the Persian court.15 The tenth instance indicates the type of position that Mordecai was appointed to by the king of Persia.16 The eleventh instance is a reference to a prominent Jewish priest and the subservient manner that he carried himself in dealing with his brother.17 The twelfth instance is reference to how Josephus himself saw his transition from being a Jewish commander to serving the Romans.18 The thirteenth instance is a reference to the way the Zealots ended up serving a primary role in the destruction of

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Josephus Jewish Antiquities 1.298. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 6.52 Josephus Jewish Antiquities 7.201, 224. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 8.354. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 9.54-55. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 11.188. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 11.228. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 11.255. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 12.187. Josephus Jewish War 3.354.

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5 Jerusalem.19 The last instance is used as a reference to how Vespasian saw Josephuss role in providing a service to him by predicting his victory over the Jews.20 What this data shows us is that there is usually an official component to the usage of the word as well as always having the idea of someone serving another person but not a religious component.

Josephus Verbal Usage The verbal form of the word is used a total of forty times in thirty eight passages.21 The context of the first use is in the recounting of scene where the servant of Joseph confronts his brothers with the accusation that Benjamin had stolen Josephs goblet.22 The second usage consists of a description of how certain cords were used to draw veils within the tabernacle.23 The third usage is used to refer to the service of the priest in the tabernacle.24 The next usage is used as a reference to the servants that David sent back to Nabal with a message.25 The fifth time it was used refers to the request Amnon made for David to send Tamar to attend to him during his supposed illness.26 The next two passages uses the word to refer to the request of that Adonijah

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Josephus Jewish War 4.388. Josephus Jewish War 4.626. Bibleworks 8.0. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 2.129. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 3.128. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 3.155. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 6.298. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 7.165.

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6 wanted Bathsheba to make for him to Solomon.27 The next instance is in the narrative that describes the confrontation between Elisha and the soldiers that were sent by King Ahaziah to inquire of Baal-zebub (see 1 Kgs 1 for parallel account).28 The next use of the word is a reference to the ministry of the priests during the reign of King Josiah.29 In the next instance the word is used in describing the ministry of intercession by the prophet Jeremiah for the people who were about left in the land after the exile to God.30 Next sequential usage of the word is used to describe the use of the sacred vessels by the concubines of the king of Babylon Belshazzar during the party where he was judged by God.31 The word is also used to describe Nehemiahs service as the cupbearer for the Persian king.32 In addition the word is used to describe the serving of wine by the servants at the party that King Artaxerxes gave for the nobles in his court.33 The next passage refers to the servants of the Hasmonean king Aristobulus cleaning up vomit.34 Another reference is used to refer to Herod the Great taking care of his mother personally.35 The very next reference again also is used to refer to Herod the Great and his desire

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Josephus Jewish Antiquities 8.5. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 9.25. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 10.72. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 10.177. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 10.242. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 11.163, 168. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 11.188. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 3.314. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 14:358.

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7 to serve a magic potion.36 The next usage is a bit different it indicates the purpose of the having acquired a poison was to actually use it.37 The next time it is used in Josephus it indicates obedience by a person to a command.38 The next two instances are referring to a woman serving a man sexually all night long because she thought the man was actually a god.39 The next time Josephus uses the verb, he uses it to indicate that someone is placing themselves in a subservient position to another person.40 Josephus use of the verb in the next two references is indicative of providing a service to someone.41 The next four instances of the verb are used to indicate the obedience of the governor of Syria to a command the emperor.42 The next usage is used in the sense of endeavoring to complete a task.43 The next two instances both used word in the simple sense of to serve.44 The next time Josephus uses the verb it is used in the sense of a person being subservient to their own desires.45 The next usage is used in the sense of completing a task given by an authority figure in a certain way.46 The next verbal instance is used in the sense of being

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Josephus Jewish Antiquities 15:224. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 17.74. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 17.140. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18.74, 77. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18.125. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18.193-194. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18.262, 265, 269, 277. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18.280. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18.283, 293. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18.304. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 19.34.

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8 subservient to the command of an authority figure.47 The next two times the verb has the meaning of carrying out the commands of an authority figure.48 The subsequent usage again has the idea of being subservient to the commands of an authority figure.49 The last usage is a participle being used as noun and has the generic idea of being servants.50 The meaning of the both the noun and verbal forms within the works of Josephus is best scene as encompassing two root concepts. The first important concept is that of serving another person is seen in each and every usage. The second important concept that is commonly though not universally used is the idea of performing the service under the direct authority and supervision of another person. This is very important since it seems to indicate that one of the base nuances of this word is the idea of being under and authority when exercising the service. If this nuance shows itself within the works of the Jewish philosopher Philo it will definitely be necessary to use this nuance in our analysis of the usage within the New Testament.

Philo Usage Unlike Josephus the noun form is only used five times in Philo and the verbal form is only used once so this analysis will be much shorter.51 The first noun usage within Philo is used

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Josephus Jewish Antiquities 19.41. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 19.42. Josephus Jewish Antiquities 19.194. Josephus Jewish War 4.252. Bibleworks 8.0.

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9 in the sense of describing the service the ears did for a person.52 The second time Philo uses the word to describe how God uses various people in his service.53 The next instance of Philo using the word has its meaning the way God serves people by giving gifts to people.54 The fourth time he uses the noun its meaning is the service that the ears have been used as a service.55 The last usage is used to indicate people who were waiting to serve at a meal.56 The only use of the verbal form is used to indicate the service that slaves give to their masters.57 The usage in Philo is much more generic only in the last instance of the noun and the only verbal indicate the presence of an overall authority over the person who is serving. Since Philo uses the word infrequently it is probably prudent not to place too much weight his usage one way or the other.

New Testament Nominal Usage There are twenty nine uses of the noun form of the word in the New Testament.58 The word is used three times in the Gospel of Matthew. The word is used in Matt 20:26 in the sense of a servant under the authority of another person. Specifically this is the passage where Jesus talks about what it takes to be great in the kingdom of God and it indicates that to great in the

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Philo On the Posterity of Cain 1.165. Philo On Giants 1.12. Philo On the Life of Joseph 1.241. Philo On the Life of Moses 2.199. Philo On the Contemplative Life 1.75. Philo On the Contemplative Life 1.70. Bibleworks 8.0.

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10 kingdom of God you need to place make yourself a servant. The second passage where the word is used is in Matt 22:13 where it is referring to a King talking to his servants. The next passage is Matt 23:11 where it is used in the context of comparing how the order priority would not be like the Jewish leaders thought it would be but that the greatest people in the kingdom of God would be the servants. The only passage that seems to imply an official position is Matt 22:13 with a king and his royal servants. There are two passages where the word is used in the gospel of Mark. The word is used in Mark 9:35 and it has as its meaning the generic idea of being a servant to everyone else. The next use in Mark is in Mark 10:43 and it has the same meaning as Matthew 20:26 as a person being under the authority of another person. The word is used three times in the Gospel of John. The first two uses refer to the servants at the marriage in Cana in John 2:5, 9. The third use is in John 12:26 where Jesus is speaking of how his servants will serve him. In all these cases it seems clear the word is being used in the more generic sense of service not an official role. There are three instances in the book of Romans. The first instance is in Rom 13:4. The word in that passage in reference to the God ordained service that earthly rulers provide for us. The second instance is in Rom 15:8 and it is used to the Christs service to the Jews in confirming the prophecies. The last reference is in Rom 16:1 which states I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea;59 This reference seems to be indicating a possibly official role/office that that this woman had in church at Cenchrea. This passage will need to be looked at later to verify whether that implication is correct and what role

11 a woman might be allowed to have in a church. This reference is clearly the only one in Romans that could have that sense. There are six instances in the books of First and Second Corinthians. The only instance in First Corinthians is in 1 Cor 3:5 and it is used general sense of how Apollos and Paul served the Corinthian believers by preaching the gospel to them. The first instance in Second Corinthians is in 2 Cor 3:6 and in this case Paul is describing how God made them servants of the New Covenant. The next usage of the word is found in 2 Cor 6:4 where it used to describe how Paul and his colleagues are servants of God. The third and fourth uses are in 2 Cor 11:15 where it being used to describe how the servants of Satan disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. The last instance is in 2 Cor 11:23 where Paul is asking the question whether some people are servants of Christ. In all of these cases there is no possibility from the context that there could be an official role they are all used in the more generic sense. There is only one use of the word in the book of Galatians. The single use is found in Gal 2:17 where Paul is a rhetorical question about whether Christ is a servant of sin. Since sin is a concept not a person or an organization this clearly not referring to an official office or role of any sort. There are two uses of the word in the book of Ephesians. The first instance in the book of Ephesians is found in Eph 3:7. This verse is indicating that Paul was made a servant of the gospel. This could possibly taken as being an official role in the church but in the immediate context Paul is talking about his specific ministry not a role within a local church. The second instance is in Eph 6:21 where the Tychicus is call a faithful servant. Again this could possibly be

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Rom 16:1 NASB.

12 usage indicating an official role for him with the Ephesian church but in this case that is not possible since Tychicus is being sent to the Ephesians with the letter. There is only one instance of the word in the book of Philippians. The single instance is in a very significant place. It is found in Phil 1:1 where Paul and Timothy are greeting the leaders of the church specifically the overseers and deacons. There are two important reasons why this should be seen as an official role in the church. The first reason is that from the Pastoral Epistles that overseer role is an official role in the church. The second reason is that it is the presence of the Greek conjunction60 that was translated with the English word and ties the overseers and deacons together with the church at Philippi. The word is used four times in the book of Colossians. The first time the word is used is in Col 1:7 where it used in reference to a leader in the church named Epaphras. At first glance this would seem to be an ideal case for a reference to an official role in the church but in this case it is misleading since the verse is emphasizing his service to the church using both this word and the word indicating that he was a fellow slave with the people in the church. This seems to indicate not an official role but more as a co-laborer with the people in the church. The second time the word is used is used in Colossians is in Col 1:23 where Paul is using the word in reference to his ministry as a servant of the gospel. The third time the word is used is in Col 1:25 where it is used in reference to Pauls service to the church but in this case the context is clearly indicating the universal church not a local church. The last instance of the word is in Col 4:7 where it is used in the same manner as Eph 6:21 in reference to Tychicus who is being used to carry the letter to the church in Colosse.

13 The last three uses of the word are all found in First Timothy. The first two uses of the word are found in 1 Tim 3:8, 12. In these two cases it is very clear that there is specific role within the local church envisioned. This is clear from use of Greek word61 that is translated either as likewise or in the same manner. This word is an adverb that is used to mark a comparison with the topic that precedes it. In this case it is the requirements for being an overseer in the church. This is clearly an official role within church so it is logical from the context that deacon in the passage also refers to an official role within the church. The third usage of the word in First Timothy is in 1 Tim 4:6 where it referring to Timothy being a servant of Jesus Christ. This is clearly the more generic sense of the word not an official role since Timothy is actually an elder/overseer rather than a deacon.

New Testament Verbal Usage In terms of the verbal form of the word it is used 32 times in 37 verses.62 There are six instances of the verbal form used in the Gospel of Matthew. The first instance is found in Matt 4:11 and it is used to describe the service the angels performed for Jesus after his temptation by Satan. The second time Matthew uses the word is in Matt 8:15 where it used in reference to the service that Peters mother-in-law performed for Jesus after he healed her of her fever. The next two uses of the word are in Matt 20:28 and it is used in reference to Jesus giving his life as ransom for other people in the crucifixion. The fifth use of the word in Matthew is found in Matt

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Bibleworks 8.0.

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14 25:44. It is used in this passage to describe the service that people give to the people who are most in need that Jesus equates with how they treat him. The last instance of the word in Gospel of Matthew is found in Matt 27:55 and it describes the type of service that the women who followed Jesus performed for him. The only case where it is clear that this is describing service within an official appointed office is in Matt 4:11 where it describes the angelic service to Jesus after his temptation. Mark uses the word five times in his gospel. All the uses have parallels in Matthew and they function in the same manner in each case. Mark 1:13 is parallel to Matt 4:11. Mark 1:31 is parallel to Matt 8:15. Mark 10:45 is parallel to Matt 20:28. Mark 15:41 is parallel to Matt 27:55. The verb is used eight times in seven verses. The first use is in Luke 4:39 and it is parallel to both Matt 8:15 and Mark 1:31. The use in Luke 8:3 is unique to look and the word is used to describe the financial support the women that followed Jesus. In Luke 10:40 the word is used to describe the way the Martha was serving dinner to Jesus by herself. The next instance is in Luke 12:37 where it describes the way that a master will serve his servants if he finds them alert and active when he returns. The following use is found in Luke 17:8 where it is used in the sense of a master having his slave to serve him his dinner before the slave could eat his dinner. The last three instances are use in the Gospel of Luke and they are found in Luke 22:26-27. These last instances are used to give an example of how leadership is to be exercised with an attitude of service. There does not seem to be any uses in Luke that indicate an official service role in the user of this word. There seems to be a more generic sense and at last a couple of time where table service is the primary meaning.

15 The verb is used three times in the Gospel of John. The word is used first in John 12:2 to describe Marthas serving dinner to Jesus. The next two instances are found in John 12:26 where it is used to describe how God the Father will honor anyone who serves the Son. Again like most of the rest of the uses the word is used in John in the generic sense or in the sense of table service. The word is used twice in Acts. The first use is in Acts 6:2 where it is used in a hyperbolic sense to impress the people of the need for the Apostles to not serve tables but that they needed the time to exercise spiritual leadership. The second instance in Acts is in Acts 19:22 where it is used to describe the relationship between Timothy and Erastus and Paul. The first instance while it is in the context of the choosing of the seven is nonetheless not used to describe any official role in fact it is used in the more general and common usage of table service. This second instance is clearly an official role but not within the local church but simply as apostolic helpers of some sort. The verb is used only once in the book of Romans. The only instance is found in Rom 15:25 where it used to describe Pauls type of service he is planning on giving to the church in Jerusalem during his trip to take the relief offering he has been collecting for them. This usage is clearly used in the generic sense of the word and not in any sense an official office in the church. Second Corinthians contains three instances of the word. The first time it is used is in 2 Cor 3:3 where it is used to in a metaphor to describe how Paul sees the believers in Corinth as being a letter sent by God that he delivered. The last two times the verb is used are in 2 Cor 8:1920. This case does indicate that word is used in the sense of commissioned role but in this case the commissioning was by God to Paul to minister to the believers. In both of these cases there

16 seems to be implicit in the context and official commissioning in the uses but the commissioning in this case was to the church not in the church. The word is used twice in 1 Tim 3. The first use is in 1 Tim 3:10 where it is used to describe how the deacons should be allowed to serve as deacons after they have been tested. The second use of the word in 1 Tim 3 is in 1 Tim 3:13 where it is describes that rewards for serving well as a deacon is that they will be well regarded in the congregation. Based on the same analysis of the noun forms in this passage (See above, page #13) it seems best to take this type of service as being officially sanctioned/commissioned service that comes with having the office of deacon in a local church. There is only one use in 2 Timothy. The single instance is in 2 Tim 1:18 where Paul is describing the personal service that the family of Onesiphorus did for him while he was in Ephesus. This clearly is not talking about a specific role in the local church. The last usage by Paul63 in the New Testament is in the Book of Philemon. The verb is found in Phlm 1:13 where it used in Pauls plea to Philemon to allow Onesimus to be sent back to him to continue to serve in his ministry in Rome. Again this is a generic usage of the word and does not refer to any specific role. There are two instances of the verb in the Book of Hebrews. Both instances are contained in Heb 6:10. In both cases the word is describing the nature of the service a person has for other believers.

The author of this study does not include potential uses in the Book of Hebrews because of the anonymous nature of the book. It is certainly possible that Paul wrote the Book of Hebrews it is by no means certain therefore it best to err on the side of caution in assigning authorship.

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17 The final three instances of the word are all contained in 1 Peter. The first instance is found in 1 Pet 1:12 where it used to describe the service performed when the gospel is preached. The last two uses are in 1 Pet 4:10-11. In 1 Pet 4:10 it is used in the generic sense to describe the service rendered when using a spiritual gift. It is used in 1 Pet 4:11 to describe the actual exercising of the gift of service. In 1 Pet 4:10 the word is being clearly used in the generic sense. On the other hand it is possible that the gift of service is a role in the church but based on the immediate context and how the gifts in general are being described this seems very unlikely. The mostly likely understanding is that the word is that the gift of service to the church is simply to service the church, helping to meet the needs of the church. In summary, the usage of verbal form in the New Testament is as follows. The most common usage is simply generic service. The second most common usage of the word is that of table service. The only clear usage of the use of the word in the New Testament as referring to the service of a person in specific commissioned role in the New Testament is the 1 Tim 3:10, 13 which is the passage that lays out the qualifications for deacons in the local church.

Lexical Summary There are four important conclusions from this study. The first important conclusion is that the use of the word for a specific commissioned role within the church is only found in two certainly64 or possibly65 three passages. The second important conclusion is that in all instances the word implies at least an informal commissioning of some sort. The third important

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Phil 1:1, 1 Tim 3:8, 10, 12, 13. Rom 16:1.

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18 conclusion is that the word implies service in a humble sense. The last important conclusion is that word always implies that the service/authority that is exercised is always exercised under the authority of another person. Now that we have verified that there seems to be a specific role envisioned in the New Testament, it is necessary now to look whether the scripture allows the possibility of women serving in that capacity.

Woman as Deacons In order to evaluate the possibility of women serving in the role of deacon we must evaluate two passages, Rom 16:1 and 1 Tim 3:11. Rom 16:1 is really dependent on the outcome of our evaluation of 1 Tim 3:11 therefore discussion of that passage will be deferred until after the evaluation of 1 Tim 3:11. The only discussion concerning Rom 16:1 that is necessary at this time is that there is nothing inherent in the grammar or context of the verses that requires it to either be a female deacon or simply a servant in the church in a generic sense either option is possible from the context. The goal of this next section is to identify the primary interpretational options for the identity of the women in 1 Tim 3:11. Essentially four positions have been taken: (1) The women are inherently part of the , (2) they are deaconesses distinguished from but comparable with the , (3) they are female assistants to the , or (4) they are the

19 wives of the .66 Basically these options can be lumped together into three conceptual groupings. Options 1 and 2 are basically the same except for the terminology. Marshall also lays out the arguments in favor of options 1 and 2 in the following way: (1) Just as in v. 8, the use of in v. 11 suggests that a distinct, though similar, group is now under consideration; furthermore, must be understood from 3:2, as with in v. 8, and this suggests that the section is parallel to the two preceding sections (Oberlinner, 141). (2) If wives were meant, it would be normal to indicate this with a possessive pronoun or the definite article. (3) No feminine form of existed to serve as a technical designation; in lieu of this, a generic reference to women in the context of a discussion of deacons would be sufficient to indicate female deacons. (4) The conspicuous lack of a reference to the wives of overseers makes it unlikely that the reference here is to the wives of deacons. Why should the wives of deacons, as opposed to overseers, need special qualifications? (5) Rom 16:1 ( ) is a clear example of a female deacon (cf. Pliny, Ep. 10:96; Didasc. 3:912). (6) In this context, the virtues required are similar to those required of deacons and are thus those of church workers.67 The first argument is invalid because if it were true in the sense the author indicates then overseers and deacons would be the same office and they clearly are not. This construct in fact more likely indicates we are viewing a different category of people with similar but not identical requirements. The second argument may or may not be generally true but the two significant uses in 1 Tim 3:2 and 1 Tim 3:12 are clearly referring to wives and they do not have either a definite article or a possessive pronoun attached. The third argument is correct but with this construct being parallel to both deacons and overseers it makes the argument moot. The fourth argument is the most significant but seem to be mitigated by the different nature of the overseer

George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary, ed. I. Howard Marshall and W. Ward Gasque (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1992), 171. I. Howard Marshall and Philip H. Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, International Critical Commentary (London: T&T Clark International, 1999), 493-94.67

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20 ministry, specifically teaching and leadership which women forbidden to have in 1 Tim 2. The ministry of a deacon in service would much more lend itself to the involvement of his wife. The fifth argument is not valid at all without proving first and foremost that that a female deacon is possible and that has not been established yet. The last argument is again possible but again like with argument four it is much more likely that the very nature of the offices caused the Paul to add the additional qualifications for the wives of deacons. Johnson in his commentary lays out four arguments in favor of options 3: 1. The connective hsauts seems to differentiate between men and women in the same function (compare 2:89). 2. Although 3:12 mentions that helpers should have one wife, 3:11 does not identify these women as their wives. 3. The characteristics sought in the gynaikes are strikingly similar to those desired in the male helper, with not be gossipers matching not be duplicitous, dignified matching dignified, and faithful in every respect matching hold unto the mystery of faith. 4. In Rom 16:1, Paul names Phoebe as a diakonos of the church at Cenchrae, so we know that he had no difficulty with women holding such a position.68 Argument one is actually much less weighty that you would initially think because again as noted above if that were the case overseers and deacons would be the same office and that clearly is the not the case. The second argument is possible but realistically you could just as easily argue the opposite way that now that Paul has set out the qualifications for deacons wives that he is not emphasizing that the deacons are to be faithful to their wives. The third argument really depends on the purpose for the reinforcement for the wives and as has been argued previously it seem that the role of deacons wife would lend itself to much more involvement in the ministry of the deacon rather than the ministry of an overseer. Again the last argument is

Luke Timothy Johnson, The First and Second Letters to Timothy: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, Anchor Bible, vol. 35A (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 228-29.

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21 again an assertion without proof. You have to prove the possibility of a female deacon before you can use it to argue in favor of it. Marshall lays out the arguments in favor of option 4 when he states: (1) The fact that the qualifications concerning women are placed in the midst of the deacon code, instead of on their own, and the cursory nature of the qualifications and the lack of detail do not suggest that something so important as church office is in mind. (2) A reference to wives fits in with the immediately succeeding reference to deacons being married (3:12). (3) is too general a term to designate an office, but is a common reference for a wife. (4) Prohibitions against women teaching and ruling in 1 Tim 2:1115 make a reference here to women workers unlikely; widows (5:9f.) are an exceptional case where certain competent women may engage in limited aspects of ministry.69 The most important argument in favor of option 4 is the first argument. It would seem to be very strange to simply jump out of the deacon qualifications and give a one line set of qualifications that do not relate to them in some way. You would expect that if Paul were going to address a new class of people that he would use a more distinct grammatical or context marker to make sure his audience did not miss the point. The other three arguments while helpful are not definitive. The first argument really carries the weight and makes the case. Based on this analysis it seem best to take the reference in 1 Tim 3:11 to women as specifically referring to the wives of the deacons and that women should not be allowed to function as deacons or deaconesses in the church. This is of course not absolute and we should definitely exercise grace in this area but it is important for churches to take a position on issue such as this and not be afraid to take unpopular though Biblical stands.

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Marshall and Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, 493.

22 Are Deacons in Acts 6? The relationship between Acts 6 and 1 Tim 3 is ambiguous at best. Before comparing the qualifications that seem to be used in both passages it is probably best to outline the problem that was going on in Acts 6. R. Kent Hughes lays out the implications of the situation very well in his commentary when he states: Acts 6 shows us Satan trying to disrupt the inward peace of the early church. Wonderful things were happening as the new church grew by leaps and bounds. Three thousand received Christ at Pentecost. Another 2,000 were added shortly thereafter. Acts 5 tells us that many more were then added to the church. Satan, unhappy about Gods successes, sowed a spirit of murmuring and gossip among Gods people, hoping to set believer against believer.70 There are basically two major issues that are contributing to the problem in Acts 6. The first issue was the attempt to fuse people from two very different Jewish subcultures into the church. At the very least the two groups broke down along linguistic lines but it was quite possible that the Hellenists not only spoke Greek but also had adopted a certain amount of Greek culture.71 The exact nature of the differences does not really need to be defined for this study. The only thing that needs to be understood is that there were significant suspicions and biases on both sides of the issue. The second issue is the plight of widows in first century Palestine. Polhill in is commentary explains the importance of this issue when he states In Jewish society widows were particularly needy and dependent, and the Old Testament singles them out along with orphans as the primary objects of charitable deeds. The Hellenist widows may have been a particularly sizable group. Diaspora Jews often moved to Jerusalem in their twilight years to die

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R. Kent Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books,

1996), 93-94. Ben Witherington III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 240-47.71

23 in the holy city. When the men died, their widows were left far from their former home and family to care for them and were thus particularly in need of charity.72 These widows were dependent on the food distribution from the church to live and the Hellenistic widows were not getting their fair share. This was potentially a matter of life and death and it seems that it really was not caused by malice only that the apostles were overtaxed with taking care of both the spiritual and physical needs of the people. God used the situation to force the issue and get the apostles to accept help. The relationship between Acts 6 and 1 Tim 3 hinges on three issues. The first issue is that the word for deacon is not used at all in the book of Acts. In the Acts 6 the related verbal form is used but it is clearly used in the context to refer to serving tables and it does not imply at all that apostles were creating the official church office that is found 1 Tim 3. The second issue is whether the qualifications in the two passages match. The qualification in Acts 6:3 is very simple that the seven men be filled with the Spirit and wisdom. This is very rudimentary as compared to 1 Tim 3 where there several very specific qualifications. The third issue that needs to be addressed is the method of selection. In Acts 6 the congregation selects the candidates and the apostles approve of them on the other hand the deacons in 1 Tim 3 seem to be selected directly by the elders and there is no implication of congregational involvement. Based on these considerations it is probably best to see the role in Acts 6 as being a transitional role in the church that was specific to the situation in Acts 6. This is especially important since Acts was written at about the same time as 1 Tim and it seems strange to me that

John B. Polhill, Acts, New American Commentary, ed. David S. Dockery, vol. 26 (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992), 179.

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24 Luke who was very good at adding explanatory comments would not see fit to not comment on this as being the first instance of the deacons. It is probably best simply to see this role as simply a good example of the need for people to serve in the church to help out the leadership and to let them concentrate on leading the church and to not allow distractions by important needs to interfere with their primary calling in the church.

25

Conclusion There are three important conclusions of this study. The first conclusion is that based on the lexical examination that the word for deacon always contains two elements. The first element is a sense of service. The second element is that the sense of service is a commissioned service. The service of a deacon is to be exercised under the authority of another person. In the context of the church the service of the deacons would be carried out under the delegated authority and supervision of the elders. The key take away would be that the elders simply could not hand absolute authority over the deacons because the ultimate responsibility and accountability to God would still reside in the elders. A contemporary example of this would be that the elders could delegate the preparation of the budget to the deacons but that ultimately the elders would need to examine the document line by line and make appropriate changes if necessary because God is going to hold them accountable for that budget. The second conclusion of this study is that evidence for allowing women to serve as deacons is very slim and the biblical evidence seems to point in the direction of the wives of deacons serving with their husbands in a collaborative effort. This is not to say that women cannot serve in the church this only serves to restrict the official role of deacon to men.

26 The last conclusion of this study is that the role in Acts 6 does not seem to correspond to the role described in 1 Tim 3. This is not to say it is impossible that the role in Acts 6 could be a precursor role to the role in 1 Tim 3 but there is absolutely no biblical evidence for that happening so it best to exercise caution. The main application that can be taken away from Acts 6 is that the leadership in the church needs support to be able function properly and that ultimately God created the role of deacon to help them.

27 Bibliography Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Revised and Edited by Frederick William Danker. 3d ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Beyer, Hermann Wofgang. , , . In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, vol. 2, 81-93. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964. Bibleworks for Windows 8.0. BibleWorks, LLC, Norfolk, VA. Hughes, R. Kent. Acts: The Church Afire. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books, 1996. Johnson, Luke Timothy. The First and Second Letters to Timothy: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible, vol. 35A. New York: Doubleday, 2001. Josephus. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Translated by William Whiston. New Updated ed. Edinburgh: Nimmo, 1867. Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishing, 1987. Knight, George W. The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary, ed. I. Howard Marshall and W. Ward Gasque. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1992. Marshall, I. Howard, and Philip H. Towner. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. International Critical Commentary. London: T&T Clark International, 1999. Moulton, James Hope, and George Milligan. Vocabulary of the Greek Testament. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1930. Philo. The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged. Translated by Charles Duke Yonge. New updated ed. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishing, 1993. Polhill, John B. Acts. New American Commentary, ed. David S. Dockery, vol. 26. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992. Witherington III, Ben. The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998.