Tool Beta
Hebrew and Greek Without Learning Either
A walk through Genesis, the Psalms, and John, plus the key Hebrew and Greek words worth knowing. Each card is a place the English Bibles part company, and what in the Hebrew or Greek made them.
diakonos
Servant. The word behind deacon, and it is not a lesser word than the one for slave.
Romans 16:1, in every translation this tool compares.
She serves on the board. She serves the tables. Same verb, opposite social weight, and only the context tells you.
Because the same noun is rendered servant, minister and deacon in one English Bible, and the choice of which decides whether a verse is describing an errand or an office.
Versions read servant, minister or deacon depending on the verse and sometimes on the person.
διάκονος diakonos · G1249
Diakonos is one who serves, including at table. It becomes a church office in the Pastorals. The same word is used of Phoebe at Romans 16:1, of Paul, and of Christ at Romans 15:8.
English has three words where Greek has one, and choosing between them is an interpretive act rather than a translation one.
When a single word is rendered three ways in one Bible, check whether the renderings track the context or track the person being described.
Servant is the majority rendering; deacon appears where an office is clearly in view.
- diakonos of Phoebe: Romans 16:1
- diakonos of Christ: Romans 15:8
- The office at 1 Timothy 3:8-13
