Phoebe (Christian woman)

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Phoebe
birth_date=1st Century
death_date=1st Century
feast_day=September 8 - Roman Catholic Church
October 25 - Lutheran Church
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
Anglican Communion
Eastern Orthodox Church
Oriental Orthodox Church
Lutheran Church


imagesize=
caption=
birth_place=
death_place=
titles=Deaconess
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=Pre-Congregation
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes=
patronage=
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
issues=
prayer=
prayer_attrib=

Phoebe (Koine Greek "Polytonic|Φοίβη") was a Christian woman mentioned by the Apostle Paul in Romans 16:1.

Some have interpreted the Greek "diakonos" to relate Phoebe as a deaconess, however the more traditional and literal interpretation of the word is as a servant. The proper exegesis would allow continuity with the Pastoral Epistles which strictly show that the Apostle Paul directed men in the ordination of deacon's. This would also allow the continuity of other scripture where the same Greek word "diakonos" is primarily translated as minister and servant.

The Greek of Romans 16:2 uses the term "prostatis" which may indicate that she was Paul's patroness [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/missions.html] .

Some scholars believe Phoebe was responsible for delivering Paul's epistle to the Roman Christian church.Fact|date=February 2007 She is commemorated with Lydia of Thyatira and Dorcas in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on January 27 and on October 25 in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is September 3.

Phoebe was a Christian woman, described in Romans 16:1 as a "deacon" or "servant" in the church of Cenchreae. Some have called Phoebe a "servant," using a general rather than specific translation of the text from the original Greek. Still others have referred to Phoebe as a "deaconess."

The Greek word "diakonos," used to describe Phoebe in Romans 16:1, is the masculine form of the noun. Therefore, the word should be translated into English as "deacon" rather than "deaconess." Phoebe was a deacon of the church in Cenchrae, according to a strict translation of Romans 16:1. While the word "diakonos" is translated in other portions of the New Testament as "servant," it is also translated as "deacon" in still other passages. The "Today's New International Version" of the New Testament rightly translates "diakonos" as "deacon."

While some maintain that Paul restricted the office of deacon to men, other scholars dispute that assertion. For example, when describing the qualities that the office holders called "deacons" must possess, Paul, wrote in I Timothy 3:11 that the "gunaikas" (Greek for "women") "are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything." Combined with the fact that Paul called Phoebe a "diakonos" in the church, Paul's instruction to the "women" in I Timothy makes it apparent that there was an order of deacons in the early church that included both male and female members.

External links

* [http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=115 St Phoebe - Catholic Online]