διακονέω

διακονέω — diakonéō

διακονέω, διακόνῳ; imperfect διηκόνουν (as if the verb were compounded of διά and ἀκονέω, for the rarer and earlier form ἐδιακονουν, cf. Buttmann, 35 (31); Ph. Alexander Buttmann (1873) Ausf. Spr. § 86 Anm. 6; Krüger, § 28, 14, 13); (future διακονήσω); 1 aorist διηκόνησα (for the earlier ἐδιακόνησα); passive, present participle διακονουμενος; 1 aorist infinitive διακονηθῆναι, participle διακονηθεις; (διάκονος, which see); in Greek writings from (Sophocles), Herodotus down; to be a servant, attendant, domestic; to serve, wait upon;

1. universally: (absolutely ὁ διακονῶν, Luk 22:26); with the dative of person to minister to one; render ministering offices to: Joh 12:26; Act 19:22; Phm 1:13; passive to be served, ministered unto (Winers Grammar, § 39, 1; (Buttmann, 188 (163))): Mat 20:28; Mar 10:45.

2. Like the Latinministrare, to wait at table and offer food and drink to the guests, (cf. Winer's Grammar, 593 (552)): with the dative of person, Mat 4:11; Mat 8:15; Mar 1:13; Mar 1:31; Luk 4:39; Luk 12:37; Luk 17:8; absolutely ὁ διακονῶν, Luk 22:27; so also of women preparing food, Luk 10:40; Joh 12:2; (Menander quoted in Athen. 6 c. 46, p. 245 c.; Anacreon 4, 6; others; passive διακονεῖσθαι ὑπό τίνος, Diodorus 5, 28; Philo, vit. contempl. § 9).

3. to minister, i. e. supply food and the necessaries of life: with the dative of person, Mat 25:44; Mat 27:55; Mar 15:41; διηκόνουν αὐτοῖς ἐκ: (Rec. ἀπό) τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐταῖς, Luk 8:3; to relieve one's necessities (e. g. by collecting alms): Rom 15:25; Heb 6:10 τραπέζαις, to provide, take care of, distribute, the things necessary to sustain life, Act 6:2. absolutely, those are said διακονεῖν, i. e. to take care of the poor and the sick, who administer the office of deacon (see διάκονος, 2) in the Christian churches, to serve as deacons: 1Ti 3:10; 1Ti 3:13; 1Pe 4:11 (many take this last example in a general rather than an official sense).

4. with the accusative of the thing, to minister, i. e. attend to, anything, that may serve another's interests: χάρις διακονουμένῃ ὑφ' ἡμῶν, 2Co 8:19; (ἁδρότης, ibid. 20); ὅσα διηκόνησε, how many things I owe to his ministration, 2Ti 1:18; ἐπιστολή διακονηθεῖσα ὑφ' ἡμῶν, an epistle written, as it were, by our serving as amanuenses, 2Co 3:3. with the accusative of the thing and the dative of person, to minister a thing unto one, to serve one with or by supplying anything: 1Pe 1:12; τί εἰς ἑαυτούς, i. e. εἰς ἀλλήλους, to one another, for mutual use, 1Pe 4:10.