Deacons and Deaconesses
By Henlee Barnette, Deceased Professor of Christian Ethics, Emeritus
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY
"What are the Greek words for deacon and deaconesses?" This question comes from a member of the laity who is just now becoming aware of the theological conflict in her denomination over the role of women in the church. She adds, "Just thought that knowledge might come in handy."
Deacons
The character and function of deacons appear in the New Testament in several places, especially in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. Read these verses, carefully focusing on verse 11. Note that the Greek word for deacon is diakonos, which means "minister" or "servant," one of the major orders in the church.
Qualifications for male deacons are the same as those for female deacons. Notice in verse 11: "Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things." Note well that the phrase "their wives" does not appear in the Greek. The word here is gunaikas, which means "women". Verse 11 actually reads, "Likewise" (hosantos)-that is, the same standards for men deacons applies to women deacons.
One of the arguments against women serving as deacons is based on verse 12: "Let the deacons be the husband of one wife." This verse clearly means one wife at a time (monogamy) and by implication applies to women deacons who are to have one husband at a time.
There is an abundance of scholarly support for my comments above. The great Greek scholar Dr. A. T. Robertson, formerly Professor of Greek at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, gets it right when he interprets verse 11, "Women as deacons," though he seems to be a bit surprised! He is forced to this view because the word "likewise" (hosantos) is used as in verse 8. And it is not women in general, but technically women (See A. T. Roberson, Word Pictures of the New Testament, Vol. IV, 1931, 575).
Other translators also have it right (See The New American Standard Version of the Bible, The Amplified Bible, The New Testament in Basic English, John A. Broadus New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and Williams New Testament [C. B. Williams, 1869-1937, was a graduate and Dean of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, with a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago]).
Even Roman Catholic scholars have it right in the New American Bible. They translate gunaikas as "women" in 1 Timothy 3:11 because the word is used absolutely. If "wives of deacons" were meant, a positive "their" would be expected. Moreover "women" are introduced by the Greek word hosantos, "similarly" as in the passage about deacons in verse 8. The parallel suggests that women too exercised the same duties.
Some translators try to have it both ways (see Oxford New English Bible where in verse 11 gunaikas is translated "wives," but in a footnote it puts "deaconesses."
Deaconesses
In Romans 16:1, Phoebe is referred to as a diakonon, a minister, deacon (or deaconess) of the church. Dr. Robertson declares the only question here is whether it is used in a general sense or a technical sense (See Phil. 1:1.). He appears to prefer deaconess because she is a minister of the church at Cenchreae. In apostolic and later literature there are numerous references to deaconesses.
Roman Catholic scholars (in the New American Bible) identify Phoebe as a minister of the church. It has the imprimatur of the Archbishop of Washington. There have been deaconesses in the Catholic Church for centuries.
As we have seen, the King James Version of the Bible has "wives," not women deacons, in 1 Timothy 3:11, and the KJV designates Phoebe as a "servant" of the church in Romans 16:1. Why?
In 1611, King James of England appointed a committee of scholars to translate the Bible. Anglican priests on the committee, in order to prevent women from serving as deacons, translated women in verse 11 as "wives" and deaconess as "servant" in Romans 16:1. The story appears in their "Translation Notes," which were placed under Royal Seal for 350 years. By order of Queen Elizabeth II they were opened in 1961.
One of the Anglican priests admits gunaikas in verse 11 was translated "wives" to prevent women from becoming deacons. He noted that they themselves were all deacons before becoming priests. He goes on to say, "If we let the women be deacons, the next thing you know they will want to be priests." (Cited by theologian Dr. Wayne Ward who read "Translation Notes." Baptists in Transition, unpublished paper, June 11, 2001, 1-2.)
Some translators of the Bible may, in some cases, express bias in their work. In the two passages we have studied, translators have reflected their chauvinism and fear of women becoming bishops, pastors, or overseers in the church. They resort to eisegesis (reading into Scripture) in hermeneutics to maintain dominance over women in church and life. Patriarchal in thinking, they use Holy Scripture as a tool to keep women "in their place."
Note: Dr. Barnette sent this article for publication in CET shortly before his death in 2004.
