διακονέω
diakonéō · G1247 · Greek · 37 occurrences
Meanings
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to serve, to render service, to help, service, help
To render assistance or help by performing certain duties, often of a humble or menial nature
ExamplesMatthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Luke 10:40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do the serving by myself? Then tell her to help me.”
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to take care of
To take care of, by rendering humble service to
ExamplesMatthew 4:11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to serve Him.
Matthew 25:44 “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’
Matthew 27:55 And many women were there watching from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while caring for Him.
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to serve, to wait upon
To serve food and drink to those who are eating
ExamplesMatthew 8:15 And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him.
Matthew 27:55 And many women were there watching from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while caring for Him.
Mark 1:31 And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she served them.
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to be a deacon, to minister to
To serve God in some special way, such as a deacon
Examples1 Timothy 3:10 These men must also first be tested; then have them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.
1 Timothy 3:13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
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to handle finances
(An idiom, literally: to serve tables) To be responsible for financial aspects of an enterprise
ExamplesActs 6:2 So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.
How it’s used In 11 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
37 occurrences in 13 groups
- Not stated (participle) 12
- Not stated: he, she or it 6
- Not stated: they 4
- τὶςsomeone 3
- Not stated (infinitive) 3
- Other words · 8 groups that occur once or twice (9) 9
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
22 occurrences in 6 groups
- αὐτόςhe, she, it, same 12
- ἐγώI, we 4
- ἅγιοςholy 3
- ὅσοςas many as, as much as 1
- σύyou 1
- τράπεζαtable 1
To or for whomIndirect object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- οὐnot 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
7 occurrences in 8 groups
- ὑπόby, under+ ἐγώI, we 3
- εἰςto+ ἑαυτοῦhimself, herself, itself 1
- ἐκfrom+ ὑπάρχωto be 1
- ἐνin+ δεσμόνbonds 1
- ἐνin+ ἜφεσοςEphesus 1
- πρόςto, toward, with+ δόξαglory 1
With adverbsAdverbs
5 occurrences in 4 groups
- οὐnot 2
- εἶταthen 1
- καλῶςwell, rightly 1
- παραχρῆμαimmediately, at once 1
Named alongside itApposition
4 occurrences in 5 groups
- ΜαρίαMary 2
- ἁδρότηςabundance 1
- ἕτεροςother, another, different 1
- ΣαλώμηSalome 1
- χάριςgrace, favor, thanks 1
What it doesIt is the subject
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- περιποιέομαιto acquire 1
What is done to itIt is the object
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- γινώσκωto know 1
- καταλείπωto leave, to leave behind 1
What it is said to bePredicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἀρεστόςpleasing 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- ἐγώI, we 1
- ἡγέομαιto consider, to lead 1
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- δύοtwo 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Semantic domains 5 entries
- To serve, to render service, to help, service, help35.19
- Used broadly of rendering aid to another, as of the angels who came and began to minister to Jesus after the temptation in Matthew 4:11.
- To take care of35.37
- Used of attending to someone's needs, as of Peter's mother-in-law getting up and waiting on Jesus once her fever left her in Matthew 8:15, and the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, caring for Him, in Matthew 27:55.
- To serve, to wait upon46.13
- Used of domestic table-service, drawn from the same broad range of meaning as the caring-for entries around it.
- To be a deacon, to minister to53.66
- Used of the Son of Man's own model of service, as of His declaration that He did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many, in Matthew 20:28.
- To handle finances57.230
- Used of the practical, sometimes menial care rendered to another in daily need, as of those who did or did not minister to Jesus in the persons of the hungry and thirsty in Matthew 25:44.
Word family 3 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon διακόνῳ; imperfect διηκόνουν (as if the verb were compounded of διά and ἀκονέω, for the…
1. universally: (absolutely ὁ διακονῶν, Lk 22:26); with the dative of person to minister to one; render ministering offices to: Jn 12:26; Acts 19:22; Phm 1:13; passive to be served, ministered unto (Winers Grammar, § 39, 1; (Buttmann, 188 (163))): Mt 20:28; Mk 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, Mt 4:11; Mt 8:15; Mk 1:13, Mk 1:31; Lk 4:39; Lk 12:37; Lk 17:8; absolutely ὁ διακονῶν, Lk 22:27; so also of women preparing food, Lk 10:40; Jn 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, Mt 25:44; Mt 27:55; Mk 15:41; διηκόνουν αὐτοῖς ἐκ: (Rec. ἀπό) τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐταῖς, Lk 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, Acts 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: 1 Tim 3:10, 1 Tim 3:13; 1 Pet 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, 2 Cor 8:19; (ἁδρότης, ibid. 20); ὅσα διηκόνησε, how many things I owe to his ministration, 2 Tim 1:18; ἐπιστολή διακονηθεῖσα ὑφ' ἡμῶν, an epistle written, as it were, by our serving as amanuenses, 2 Cor 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: 1 Pet 1:12; τί εἰς ἑαυτούς, i. e. εἰς ἀλλήλους, to one another, for mutual use, 1 Pet 4:10.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 5 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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