Deacon
The office described by this title appears in the New Testament as the correlative of bishop. [Bishop] The two are mentioned together in (Philemon 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2,8) Its original meaning implied a helper, an assistant. The bishops were the “elders,” the deacons the young active men, of the church. The narrative of Acts 6 is commonly referred to as giving an account of the institution of this office.
The apostles, in order to meet the complaints of the Hellenistic Jews that their widows were neglected in the daily ministration, call on the body of believers to choose seven men “full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom,” whom they “may appoint over this business.” It may be questioned, however, whether the seven were not appointed to higher functions than those of the deacons of the New Testament. Qualifications and duties.
Special directions as to the qualifications for and the duties of deacons will be found in Acts 6 and (1 Timothy 3:8-12) From the analogy of the synagogue, and from the scanty notices in the New Testament, we may think of the deacons or “young men” at Jerusalem as preparing the rooms for meetings, distributing alms, maintaining order at the meetings, baptizing new converts, distributing the elements at the Lord’s Supper.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Deacon
The words SidKorot (-eu>-fa) refer to service rendered without regard to the quality of the person rendering it. Thus the SidKovot at a feast may be either bond or free ; and any one doing such service is a 5id/t. for the time being. Thus, in NT they are used — (1) of service gener- ally (Ac 12=», Ro 152», 1 Co 16") ; (2) of our Lord's work in particular (Mt 20^) ; (3) of the temporal ruler (Ro 13*) as deoO Siix. ; (4) of the work of the apostles (e.^. Ac 1" 6', 1 Co 3», 1 Ti 1") : but in none of these places is there any trace of SidKovos as an official title. The transition is found Ro 12^, where the StaKovla in contrast with rpo<firiTela., SiSoffxaXia, TapaxXijcrii, seems to indicate specific services, though the Jk^kovos himself is not men- tioned. (Cf. Hort, Christian Ecclesia, 198 f.). Where do we first find oflBcial StdKovoi T In Ac 6' oi veurrepoi are of course tacitly contrasted (as Lk 22-*) with ol rpea^vrepoi ; but the parallel riavlaKOi in 6'" seems to show that the contrast is only of age, not of o£Bce. Coming to Ac 6, were ' the seven ' deacons ? Permanent officials of…
Fausset's Bible Dictionary on Deacon
The appointment of the seven was designed to remedy the "murmuring of the Grecians (Greek-speaking Jews) against the Hebrew, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration." The apostles said, "It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve ("be deacons to"; diakonein) tables," i.e. secular business. It is an undesigned coincidence confirming the narrative, that, while no mention is made of their country, their names are all Grecian. The church's design evidently was that, since the murmurers were Grecians, their cause should be advocated by Hellenists. There was a common fund to which most disciples contributed by the sale of their property, and out of which the widows were relieved; a proof of the strong conviction of the truth of Christianity, which could constrain men to such self sacrifice. It is doubtful whether these seven correspond fully to the modern deacons of either episcopal or congregational churches. On the one hand, the distribution of alms was the immediate occasion of their appointment; on the other the qualifications involved higher…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia