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.
ἐγκονεῖν; for
α in the preposition
διά is short, in
διάκονος, long.
Buttmann 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 servant, 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 διάκ.
μου, my follower,
John 12:26;
τοῦ Σατανᾶ, whom Satan uses as a servant,
2 Corinthians 11:15; [
ἁμαρτίας,
Galatians 2:17];
διάκ.
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., Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, Schaff-Herzog under the word Deacon; Bp.
Lightfoot's Commentary on Philippians, dissert. i. § i.;
Julius Mϋller, Dogmatische Abhandlungen, p. 560ff]:
Philippians 1:1;
1 Timothy 3:8,
12, cf.
Acts 6:3ff;
ἡ διάκονος,
a deaconess (
ministra, Pliny, epistles 10, 97), a woman to whom the care of either poor or sick women was entrusted,
Romans 16:1 [cf. Dictionaries as above, under the word Deaconess; Lightfoot as above, p. 191;
B. D. under the word Phœbe].
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
-νία, 5; [also Wetstein 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
ἑλεύθερος, 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.
ὑπηρ. according to its etymology suggests subordination. Cf. Trench § 9; B. D. under the word Minister; Meyer on
Ephesians 3:7; Schmidt ch. 164.]
THAYER’S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database.
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