She was a minister of the Word and a benefactor to Paul
This series of Bible studies seeks to retell the stories of women who were divinely called and empowered to do great things. Many of them rose to the occasion, and a few very famously did not. Often, the tragedies and triumphs in their lives are missed, and their stories are told from perspectives other than with the honor and dignity they deserve.
After excavating their narratives from millennia of obfuscation, now meet the freshly restored, valiant, vivid (and sometimes villainous) women of the Bible.
Phoebe: Minister of the Word
Phoebe’s narrative is one of many in the Bible that recognizes God’s intentional call on women as well as men to be Jesus’s disciple, and to answer Jesus’s call to minister. Some English translations call her servant, but Paul called her a deacon, and praised her benefaction.
This thirty-page book includes the retelling of Phoebe’s story, a fifteen-question Bible study, and link to a twenty-minute multi-media presentation of Phoebe’s account, whose story offers a deep appreciation for God’s work and call in and through women and encourages us to take practical steps towards recognition and support of women in all levels and varieties of ministry and spiritual leadership today.
A Noted Disciple Whose Name Was Tabitha
Were there women leaders in the ancient church? The body of evidence available to us today indicates “yes.”
It might seem astonishing that an entire Bible study can be found in just two small verses written towards the end of one of the apostle Paul’s letters. But what is left unsaid in those verses, as well as the words Paul chose to describe the woman who was bringing his letter to the assemblies in Rome, requires closer examination.
What did Paul mean when he used the word for “deacon” and the word for “benefactor” but also “church official” (in the Septuagint) in association with Phoebe’s service to Paul and to the Body of Christ? What was Paul assuming his readers would already know and understand, so it went without being said?
As with so many stories of women in Bible, both translators and commentators have underplayed, dismissed, disregarded, and covered over the full import of what is recorded in the sacred pages of God’s word. When it comes to women in the scriptures, it has seemed culturally implausible that what is written in the ancient languages of the Bible could mean what the words say.
And yet, there it is. Careful forensics of the words and phrases Paul chose, and exegesis of how Paul prepared his readers for those two verses reveals that Phoebe was a deacon in the same way Stephen and other men were deacons. And she was a benefactor to Paul in ways that indebted him to her, beginning with the delivery and explication of his letter to Rome.
Once we get started, a mere fifteen questions may actually seem like an overview rather than a deep dive into this remarkable woman’s story.
Nearly forty free Bible studies on a woman in the scriptures are available through signing up to the newsletter below. What’s included:
- Access to all the Bible studies that have been made available so far.
- One new study each month.
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