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Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #1249 - διάκονος
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- one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master, a servant, attendant, minister
- the servant of a king
- a deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use
- a waiter, one who serves food and drink
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διάκονος [ᾱ ],
Ion. διήκονος, ὁ, later διάκων (q.v.): —
I
1. servant, Hdt. 4.71, 72, PFlor. 121.3 (iii A.D.), etc.; messenger, A. Pr. 942, S. Ph. 497; ὄρνιθα καὶ κήρυκα καὶ δ. Id. Fr. 133: — as fem., Ar. Ec. 1116, D. 24.197.
2. attendant or official in a temple or religious guild, Inscr.Magn. 109,217, IG 9(1).486 (Acarnania, ii/i B.C.), 4.774.12 (Troezen, iii B.C.): fem., CIG 3037 (Metropolis in Lydia): — esp. in the Christian church, deacon, 1 Timothy 3:8, etc., POxy. 1162.3 (iv A.D.): fem., deaconess, Romans 16:1.
II as Adj., servile, menial, ἐπιστήμη Pl. Plt. 290c: irreg. Comp. διᾱκονέστερος Epich. 159 Ahr. (Cf. ἐγ-κονέω, ἀ-κονιτί.)
διάκονος, διακονου, ὁ, ἡ (of uncertain origin, but by no means, as was formerly thought, compounded of διά and κόνις, so as to mean, properly, 'raising dust by hastening'; cf. ἐγκόνειν; for the alpha in the preposition διά is short, in διάκονος, long. Alexander Buttmann (1873) Lexil. i., p. 218ff (English translation, p. 231f) thinks it is derived from the obsolete διάκω equivalent to διήκω (allied with διώκω; cf. Vanicek, p. 363)); one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master; a sergeant, attendant, minister;
1. universally: of the servant of a king, Matthew 22:13; with the genitive of the person served, Matthew 20:26; Matthew 23:11; Mark 9:35; Mark 10:43 (in which passage it is used figuratively of those who advance others' interests even at the sacrifice of their own); τῆς ἐκκλησίας, of one who does what promotes the welfare and prosperity of the church, Colossians 1:25; διάκονοι τοῦ Θεοῦ, those through whom God carries on his administration on earth, as magistrates, Romans 13:4; teachers of the Christian religion, 1 Corinthians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 6:4; 1 Thessalonians 3:2 R T Tr WH text L marginal reading; the same are called διάκονοι (τοῦ) Χριστοῦ, 2 Corinthians 11:23; Colossians 1:7; 1 Timothy 4:6; ἐν κυρίῳ, in the cause of the Lord, Colossians 4:7; (Ephesians 6:21); ὁ διάκονος μου, my follower, John 12:26; τοῦ Σατανᾶ, whom Satan uses as a servant, 2 Corinthians 11:15; (ἁμαρτίας, Galatians 2:17); διάκονος περιτομῆς (abstract for concrete), of Christ, who labored for the salvation of the circumcised, i. e. the Jews, Romans 15:8; with the genitive of the thing to which service is rendered, i. e. to which one is devoted: καινῆς διαθήκης, 2 Corinthians 3:6; τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, Ephesians 3:7; Colossians 1:23; δικαιοσύνης, 2 Corinthians 11:15.
2. a deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use (cf. BB. DD., Dict. of Christ. Antiq., Schaff-Herzog under the word
3. a waiter, one who serves food and drink: John 2:5, 9, as in Xenophon, mem. 1, 5, 2; Hier. 3, 11 (4, 2); Polybius 31, 4, 5; Lucian, de merced. cond. § 26; Athen. 7, p. 291 a.; 10, 420 e.; see διακονέω, 2 and διακονία, 5; (also Wetstein (1752) on Matthew 4:11). [SYNONYMS: διάκονος, δοῦλος, θεράπων, ὑπηρέτης: "διάκονος represents the servant in his activity for the work; not in his relation, either servile, as that of the δοῦλος, or more voluntary, as in the case of the θεράπων, to a person" Trench; yet cf. e. g. Romans 13:4; 2 Corinthians 6:4 etc.). δοῦλος opposed to ἐλεύθερος, and correlate to δεσπότης or κύριος, denotes a bondman, one who sustains a permanent servile relation to another. θεράπων is the voluntary performer of services, whether as a freeman or a slave; it is a nobler, tenderer word than δοῦλος. ὑπηρέτης according to its etymol. suggests subordination. Cf. Trench, § ix.; B. D. under the word
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διάκονος , -ου , ὁ , ἡ
(derivation unknown),
[in LXX for H5288, H8334 pi.: Ezra 6:3; Ezra 6:5, א B Ezra 1:10; Ezra 2:2, Proverbs 10:4, 4 Maccabees 9:17*;]
1. in general, a servant, attendant, minister: Matthew 20:26; Matthew 22:13; Matthew 23:11, Mark 9:35; Mark 10:43, John 2:5; John 2:9, 1 Corinthians 3:5, Galatians 2:17, Ephesians 6:21, Colossians 4:7; δ . θεοῦ , Romans 13:4, 2 Corinthians 6:4, 1 Thessalonians 3:2; δ . Χριστοῦ , 2 Corinthians 11:23, Colossians 1:7, 1 Timothy 4:6; cf. ὁ δ . ὁ ἐμός , John 12:26; δ . περιτομῆς , Romans 15:8; δ . καινῆς διαθήκης , 2 Corinthians 3:6; δ . δικαιοσύνης , 2 Corinthians 11:15; δ . [εὐαγγελίου ], Ephesians 3:7, Colossians 1:23; δ . [ἐκκλησίας ], Colossians 1:25.
2. As technical term for Church officer (so in pre-Christian times, v. M, Th., I, 32), a deacon: Philippians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:8; 1 Timothy 3:12; fem. (cf. Eccl. διακονίσσα ), Romans 16:1 (cf. 1 Timothy 3:11, and CGT, in l, also M, Th., l.c.).†
SYN.: δοῦλος G1401, bondman; θεράπων G2324, servant acting voluntarily; ὑπηρέτης G5257, servant, attendant, by etymol. suggesting subordination. All these imply relation to a person, in distinction from which δ . represents rather the servant in relation to his work. Cf. also λειτουργός G3011, a public servant, in which the idea of service to the community is prominent; οἰκέτης G3610, a house servant.
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
For the word in its general sense cf. P Flor II. 121.2 (c. A.D. 253) ἐπεὶ ἔδοξεν τοῖς [δεκαπρώτοις ?] τὸν διάκονον Εἰ [ρηναῖον ? ἐπ᾽ ]ἐνιαυτὸν χρησι [μεύειν ἡμῖν ?. There is now abundant evidence that the way had been prepared for the Christian usage of this word by its technical application to the holders of various offices, as in the i/B.C. Magn 217, where the dedicators of a statue to Hermes are described as κομάκτορες, κήρυκες and διάκονοι. A definitely religious connotation belongs to the word in ib. 109 (c. B.C. 100) where the remains of a list of temple officials concludes with μάγειρος. . διάκονος. For a similar combination the editor refers to IG IX. 1, 486 (ii/i B.C.) and IV. 774.11 (iii/B.C.), and to these examples Thieme (p. 17 f.), from whom the above citations are taken, adds CIG II. 1800, where we hear of a ";college"; of διάκονοι, presided over by a ἱερεύς, in the service of Serapis, Isis etc., and ib. 3037 where two διάκονοι and a female διάκονος (cf. Romans 16:1) are associated with a ἱερεύς and a ἱέρεια τῶν δώδεκα θεὧν.
For the Christian use of the word, see P Oxy VIII. 1162.8 (iv/A.D.) πρεσβυτ [έ ]ροις καὶ διακώνοις, P Flor III. 323.22 (A.D. 525), P Giss I. 55.12 (vi/A.D.) etc.
On the form διάκων, see Deissmann LAE p. 91, and add BGU IV. 1046ii. 24 (A.D. 158). Prof, W. M. Calder tells us it is common in Anatolian inscrr. It is on the same footing as κατήγωρ (see s.v. κατήγορος), which Thumb Hellen, p. 126, shows to be a natural Greek development : Radermacher Gr. p. 15, gives a number of parallels. It is fairly certain that διάκονος must be associated with ἐγκονέω, ἀκονι ̄τί, and the simplex preserved in the Anthology, also in glosses such as κόνει, σπεῦδε, τρέχε (Hesychius). The difficult α ̄ (Ionic διήκονος) is explained by Brugmann (see Boisacq Lex. s.v.) by analogy of διηνεκής etc.
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