Sure Sounds Like Church

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:  Philippians 1:1b  NASB

Oversees and deacons – Some English Bibles probably translate this as “bishops and deacons” since the Greek is epískopos and diákonos, but the “Christian” Church didn’t exist when Paul wrote to the assembly in Phillipi, so what could these words mean outside their later Christianization?  What do these words mean in a Jewish context?

Perhaps we should start this short investigation by noting that “the saints in Christ Jesus” is also Christianized.  In Jewish terms Paul is writing to those chosen people (the hágios) who are followers of the “Messiah Yeshua.”  “Christ Jesus” is the typical Christianized translation of this Hebrew term.  So, let’s not think that Paul is using Christian language in his opening.

Now, what about these other two words?  “Overseer” (epískopos) is derived from a root that means “to visit.”  In the LXX, it’s associated with care, protection, and inquiry.  In other words, these people are the ones who look after others in the community.  The Christian Church may have given them a title and a religious hierarchy, but in the Jewish world, these are just members of the assembly who take on the responsibilities of caring for the rest.  We see examples of this in the early Messianic community in Jerusalem when certain individuals are assigned to watch over food distribution.  By the time the Church gets established separately from the Jews, this Greek word takes on a different meaning, but when Paul writes, he’s still under the LXX Jewish vocabulary.  In fact, epískopos first becomes a common word in the LXX, so that’s where we should go to find out what it meant in the first century.  In the Greek world, epískopos “are local officials or the officers of societies, but the exact responsibilities are not clear and even when there is a religious connection, . .”^[1]  Beyer adds the following:

There is no clearly defined office of epískopos in the LXX but the term is used for “overseer” in various senses, e.g., officers in Judg. 9:28; Is. 60:17, supervisors of funds in 2 Chr. 34:12, 17, overseers of the priests and Levites in Neh. 11:9, the temple in 2 Kgs. 11:18, and temple functions etc. in Num. 4:16. Philo has the term for “one who knows souls,” and Josephus for a “guardian” of morality.^[2]

Beyer points out that there is no distinction between presbýteroi or epískopoi and diákonoi.^[3]  All have the task of shepherding.  Nevertheless, “In 1 Tim. 3:1 episkopḗ is a definite office that may be sought and for which there are qualifications (though no duties are listed).”^[4]  “The point of the office is service rather than power,”^[5] and this may be why Paul uses two words in his letter to the Philippians.

Now let’s consider diákonos.  First, note the difference in the verbal root.

diakonéō. This word for service, as distinct from douleúō (to serve as a slave), therapeúō (to serve willingly), latreúō (to serve for wages), and leitourgéō (to do public service), carries the basic nuance of personal service.^[6]

Beyer makes an important point.  Notice the reference to a Jewish context:

By exalting service and relating it to love of God, Jesus both sets forth a completely different view from that of the Greeks and purifies the Jewish concept. . . Waiting at table may well be included in Lk. 8:3, but the term covers many activities in Mt. 25:42ff. Here service of others is service of Christ and involves personal commitment. Worldly rulers lord it over their subjects but the concern of the disciples is with God’s kingdom, the way to which leads through suffering and death that has service as its point. Hence the only path of greatness for Christians is to become the servants and even the slaves of all (Mk. 9:35; 10:44). More than table service is now involved; all kinds of sacrificial activity on behalf of others,^[7]

Sometimes diákonos is used for the bearer of a specific office (translated diaconus, not minister, in the Vulgate) (cf. Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:8, 12). In Phil. 1:1 deacons are mentioned along with bishops. It is unlikely that these are two terms for the same people, but we are not told what the offices involve. Deacons are also found alongside bishops in 1 Tim. 3, which tells us that they are to be blameless, temperate, with one wife, ruling their houses well, not double-tongued or avaricious, holding the faith with a clear conscience. That their duties were those of administration and service may be deduced from the title, the qualities demanded, their relation to bishops, and the use of diakonía in the NT^[8]

It’s unfortunate the Beyer converts the terms to Christian usage before asking what they might mean in the synagogue, but we can still see that the roles of both of these groups find typical expression in the Jewish community.  The only real difference is that diákonos seem to be involved with administrative functions.  What we clearly learn is that these two Greek terms are right at home in the Jewish world.  They are not uniquely Christian titles or offices.  Paul wrote to Messianic believes in a Greek city, but his vocabulary reflects the environment of the Jewish synagogue.

Topical Index:  epískopos, bishop, diákonos, deacon, synagogue, Philippians 1:1b