Is a Woman Minister Mentioned in the New Testament?

A Bible Study of the Greek Word for Minister

By Dianne D. McDonnell

Many believe that women are not to be ministers. But is there a record in the New Testament of a woman minister? If we find out the Greek word for minister and check every single place where that word is used, won't we be able to prove for ourselves-from the Bible-what is the truth? Or if there aren't supposed to be women ministers, won't we find a clear statement saying that ministers are supposed to be males? We'll use the most common translation, the King James Version, and a few study tools, and we are going to find out the truth!

1. We first discover that "Minister" is translated from the Greek word "diakonos" (dee-ak'-on-os), and in the numbering system used by Strong's Greek/Hebrew Dictionary, it is number 1249.

2. "Diakonos" was first used to indicate one who was a "servant", as these verses show:

Matthew 22:13

13        Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

John 2:5

5          His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

John 2:9

9          When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

3. Jesus told the disciples that if they wanted to be great, they were to be as servants-meaning having a servant attitude and doing deeds of service.

Matt 23:11

11        But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Mark 9:35

35        And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

John 12:26

26        If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.

4. These two verses are translated "servant" in most versions (New King James, New International Version, New International Update, New American Standard, Revised Standard Version) because they illustrate the attitude that Jesus was urging. Only the KJV and the American Standard Version translate "minister" in these two places Other versions begin to translate "diakonos" as minister only AFTER Jesus defined leadership as serving as a servant .

Matt 20:26

26        But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; (Translated as "servant" in most Bible versions.)

Mark 10:43

43        But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: (Translated as "servant" in most Bible versions.)

5. Once the disciples understood the concept of "servant leadership" servant became a code word for ministers. They were servants of Christ, yet they were ministers. All of the verses below are translated from the same word, "diakonos" formerly used as "servant" but now meaning a Christian minister.

Romans 13:4

4          For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Romans 15:8

8          Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

2 Corinthians 3:6

6          Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

2 Cor 6:4

4          But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,

2 Cor 11:15

15        Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

2 Cor 11:23

23        Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

 Galatians 2:17

17        But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

Ephesians 3:7

7          Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

Ephesians 6:21

21        But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:

Colossians 1:25

25        Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

6. The word Servant, (1249) was now understood to mean, "minister". So when Paul wanted to indicate someone who was also working very hard for Jesus he used a different Greek word, "sundoulos" (soon'-doo-los) 4889: meaning someone who was a servant of the same master that you served. Whenever the King James translators found "diakonos", 1249, used in speaking of Christian leadership they translated it as "minister" (with only one exception). If the Greek word "sundoulos" (fellow servant serving the same master) was written they translated it as "servant" or as "fellowservant". The lines below simplify this translation process:

"Diakonos", 1249, Greek for servant = Minister,

"Sundoulos", 4889, Greek for fellow servant=Servant.

This scripture follows the translating pattern above.

Col 1:7

7. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant (translated from "sundoulos, 4889), who is a faithful minister ("diakonos", 1249) of Christ on our behalf,

7. Paul also used the Greek word for "slave" which was "doulos" (doo'-los) 1401, and this was also usually translated as "servant" as it is below.

Romans 1:1

1          Paul, a servant ("doulos" 1401) of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Paul was stressing that he was an apostle so he did not use the word that now meant minister.)

8. When Paul wrote about a Christian woman named Phoebe in the very same book of the Bible he didn't use either of the words that indicated fellow servant or slave, but the word that now meant "minister"! The translators broke the pattern they used for every male leader and refused to translate the word "minister"!

First a little background information about this woman leader. Phoebe traveled to Rome from Cenchrea (Keng-khreh-a'-hee); which was the eastern harbor area of Corinth where Paul was living at that time. Most scholars believe she carried the book of Romans with her to deliver to the church at Rome, and that was why Paul was "commending" her or introducing her to the church. In the verses that follow the believers were also told to help her with the mission that had brought her to Rome because she was a traveler from another area about 800 miles away and was away from her own congregation.

Romans 16:1

1          I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, which is a servant (diakonos, 1249, minister!) of the church which is at Cenchrea: (in every other place dealing with leadership the word "diakonon" is translated as "minister" Strong's 1249!) There is no other example of a Christian leader coming from a specific area that is translated as "servant" -minister is always used except for Phoebe!

If Paul wanted to indicate that she was NOT a minister then he would have used "doulos" as he did in the very first verse of his letter to the Romans when he was stressing that he himself was an apostle rather than just a minister. Or he would have used the word "sundoulos" -BOTH would have rightly translated as Servant. Yet the word "diakonos" is always translated MINISTER in every other place where a Christian leader is named!

9. Notice this example of a beloved brother whom Paul calls a "diakonos"-a minister!

Col 4:7

7          All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister (1249) and fellowservant (from "sundoulos" 4889) in the Lord:

10. Right after Paul introduces Phoebe and reveals that she is a minister of the church at Cenchrea, he refers to her by the Greek word, "prostatis" (pros-tat'-is) that is translated only "succourer" by the King James, and "helper" by other versions. It means much more! Let's look at this verse.

Romans 16:2

2          That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer ("prostatis") of many, and of myself also.

The word for "succourer" is the Greek "prostatis", and it is defined in Strong's as:

4368 prostatis (pros-tat'-is); *feminine of a derivative of 4291; a patroness

If "prostatis" is the feminine form of 4291, just what does 4291 mean? According to Strong's it is "proistemi" (pro-is'-tay-mee); and means "to stand before, i.e. (in rank) to preside. And in this masculine form, the KJV translates it -- maintain, be over, rule!

"Prostatis" indicates a woman that has rank or authority-a woman leader.

To back up this concept of responsibility over others, Thayer's Greek Definitions defines "prostatis" as:

1) a woman set over others 2) a female guardian, a protectress, a patroness, caring for the affairs of others and aiding them with her resources.

The term means that she has the financial resources to help others, and is set over others in responsibility. From Paul's words, the Roman church realized that Phoebe was a woman of some wealth, a protector or guardian who was "set over" others to aid them!

Was Phoebe giving financial aid to Paul and to others at Rome? Was she coming to Rome to try and purchase the freedom of a church member? Was that her "business" in Rome? Had she brought money for the journeys and living expenses of Paul and others?

11. Since Phoebe was a woman "set over others" --a wealthy woman who was a patroness, she could not be a poor servant doing the bidding of a master. She was a SERVANT-MINISTER doing the bidding of Jesus, as were all the ministers of Jesus Christ. She was a minister traveling to take care of business in Rome!

In his Interlinear published by Zondervan Publishing House. Alfred Marshall, a British

expert in New Testament Greek, translates Romans 16:1 , "Now I commend to you Phoebe the sister of us, being also a minister of the church in Cenchrea, in order that her ye may receive in (the) Lord worthily of the saints, and may stand by her in whatever thing of you she may have need; for indeed she became a protectress (a woman who protects) of many and of myself." (The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament)

12. Another deviation from the usual KJV translation comes where Paul is discussing leadership qualifications. The King James and other versions switch from translating "diakonos" as "minister" and instead use "DEACON", yet it is the same Greek word!

Philippians 1:1

1          Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons ("diakonos" 1249):

1 Timothy 3:8-12

8          Likewise must the deacons (1249) be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;

9          Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

10        And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.

11 Even so ("must their" These words are not in the Greek, but were added by the KJV translators) wives (This word, the plural of "gune" 1135, can be translated "women" or "wives" as Greek did not have a separate word for a wife. ) be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.

When Paul addresses the women he does not use the words "must their" although Greek has words indicating possession. He lists parallel requirements that indicate that women must meet the same requirements as men for ministry. The King James translators couldn't accept that women could be ministerial candidates and made it "their wives" when "their" wasn't in the text, and the word used may indicate women in general.

13. Many translators felt that in Verse 11 Paul is indeed listing the qualifications of women ministers or minister-candidates. Remember, the same word used in this section, in the verse just before this one, was regularly translated minister, 1249, "diakonos". Paul lists the qualifications for male ministers (grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre); and then lists in just slightly different words the very same qualifications for women! Here are four other translations of this verse:

1 Tim 3:11

11        Women {must} likewise {be} dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. (New American Standard)

1 Tim 3:11

11        The women likewise must be serious, no slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things. (Revised Standard Version)

1 Tim 3:11

11        Women in like manner (must be) grave, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. (American Standard Version)

1 Tim 3:11

11        Women {must} likewise {be} dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. (New American Updated)

Paul continues on in 1 Timothy 3:12

12        Let the deacons (ministers "diakonos" 1249) be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

Some of the priests of that day had multiple wives. Gamaliel, a Pharisee who taught Paul, Acts 22:3, had four wives at one time. Here Paul limits ministers of Christ to one wife. He does not need to tell the women ministers that they can have one husband as women could only be married to one man at a time-so this limitation didn't need to be mentioned for the female ministers.

14. When summing up these qualifications for both men and women ministers, Paul does not use the word "man" in verse 13, but a word that includes both men and women which is translated "they".

1 Tim 3:13

13        For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

In 1 Timothy 4:6 the translators are back to translating 1249 as "minister" again rather than "deacon" as the reference to women is past. To be consistent, in 1Timothy 3:8-12 "deacon" should be translated as "minister". There is nothing to indicate that Paul is setting up a different group of leaders-he uses the same word that defines Timothy and himself!

1 Tim 4:6

6          If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

15. Paul used the same word to refer to Phoebe that he used to refer to himself.

1 Cor 3:5

5          Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers (1249) by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

Col 1:23

23        If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister ("diakonos" 1249);

Now we have looked at EVERY scripture that contains the Greek word "diakonos".

In Conclusion, Jesus told his disciples and all Christian leaders that they were to have a serving attitude and to be a servant of all. Because of the words of Jesus, the word servant became the code word used to indicate a minister. When "servant" appeared in the KJV it was normally translated from "slave" and "fellow servant". Diakonos was a minister.

We have not found any injunction against a woman being a minister in our word study. We did find a woman named Phoebe who is called a "diakonos" -a minister. And discovered that the King James hid this fact by translating "servant" even though she was a woman set over others in authority. All male leaders, without exception, whom Paul identified as a "diakonos" were all translated as ministers.

Some think that Paul told women not to teach men, and this argument is dealt with in the paper "Paul and Women Teachers" on the churchofGodDFW.com web site, Women's Role section. Others wrongly believe that women are to "keep silent" and this is addressed in "A Church Without Women", also found on the web site.

In many scriptures Paul refers to numerous women who were leaders, and even some that evangelized and headed churches. "A Church With Women" shows these passages, and "Junia, A Woman Apostle" gives in-depth research on Junia, a woman who was a relative of Paul and one of the later apostles as Paul was (located in the Monthly Article section of the web site).

All leaders, male or female, can learn that an attitude of serving is essential. Jesus himself came to serve and not to be served, and he sets the example for each of us. Whether you think of yourself as a leader or not, we are not to be passive believers! We are each to DO something-to reach out to others who need us in whatever way that we can-and all truly SERVE God!