3. SiaKovos, 8iaK0V€iv, -eXo'Sai. (Si-qKOVOVV, 5i7]K6vr]ffa, later impf. and aor. for ediaKovow, ediaKOfTjaa). —
The derivation of hiaxovo; is uncertain. If Buttmann's con- jecture is right {Lexil. i. 218), that the root of the word is an obsolete verb hia.yM = hiuxM, it may have originally meant 'a messenger.' Prellwitz (Etymol. Worterbuch, 74) connects it ■with = iyxoviai, ' to be active,' the long a being explained as arising from S(a + a = a weak form of the it in iyxov-u. The original meaning would then be ' one who is quick and active in service.' The Greek usage of the word is fully dealt with bj' Hort (Ecclesia, 202 ff.), who quotes, amongst other passages which bring out its menial associations, Plato, Gorg. i. 518 A, where it is said that, except gymnastics and medicine, 'all other arts which ha\e to do with the body are 8er\ ile and menial (iia.- xj>Mix.a;) and illiberal.' Hort also shows that by later Greek writers it was sometimes used in a loftj' figurati\e sense, e.g. by Epictetus, Dissertationes, iv. 7. 20, ' For I think that what God chooses is better than what I choose. I will attach ms'self as a minister and follower (iiaxovos xa.} axoXoutio;) to Him ; I have the same mo\ements as He has, 1 have the same desires ; in a word, I have the same will (mvOo.u).' Long's translation, 348. — ' The true proper Greek sense ' is ' an attendant whose duty it is to wait on his master at table.'
In the Gospels, Std/covos and its deriA'atiA^es are used in the sense of preparing or serving a meal, Mk 113 (II Mt 411), Mk 131 (II Mt 8l^ Lk 43^), Lk 10*» 1237 J78^ M^; 2213, Jn 25- « 12^ ; in the same sense, figuratively, Mk 93^ (not exactly II Mt23ii, Lk 2226-27), Mk 10«- 45 (II Mt 20^6- 28), Jn 1226 ; of ministering service generally, Lk 83, Mk 15«, Mt 27^5 2544. Sid- Kovoi does not occur in St. Luke, who uses 6 SiaKovGiv
(2-226- 27)_
The passages in Avhich 'minister,' 'to minister,' are the renderings adopted in AV and RV, are the folloAving : (i.) Of the ministry of angels, Mk li3 (II Mt 4") ol ayyeXoL Si.r)Kbvovv avrS, cf. Gn 281^ 1 5 19^ Dn 10^1, Jn l-", Lk 22^3^ He 1", 1 P P-. Christ's nativity. His temptation. His agony. His resurrec- tion, His ascension, Avere all accompanied by their sympathetic ministrations.— (ii.) Of Peter's Avife's mother, INIk pi (|| Mt Si^, Lk 43^) dirjKoiei avTois at the Sabbath meal immediately after tl e fever left her. ' Et nos ministremus Jesu ' ( Jerom s, quoted by SAvete, in loc). — (iii.) Of the ministerir g women, Lk 8* (Mk 15^, Mt 27^^) airives 5L-QKi6vo v
MINISTER, MIXISTRATIOX
MIXISTRY
183
aiTw [ttLTOis] ^K tQv virapxovTiav airrals, and continued doing so till the close of Christ's life on earth. aiTLvei { = tales quce) may imply that they had the heart as well as the means to minister to Him. Lk. has much to tell us about the women friends of Jesus (c.<7. 103«-42 11-^23-' 2422).— (iv.) The great sayings about service being the path to true great- ness, !Mk 9^ TrdvTusv Smkovos, ' minister of all.' EV (not exactly : Mt 23", Lk 22-«-"i, Mk 10*^ « (Mt 20M- 2s^ which is followed by an extensive inter- polation of a similar tenor in D<l>, Hastings' 3B, Ext. Vol. 345*) earai vfjwv diaKovos . . . Kai yap 6 wos ToC' dvOpuTTOv oi'K J]\de dLaKovrjdyjvai dXXd 8iaK0vrj(rai. — Promotion to true gi-eatness is not etlected by such methods as are adoirted by ' the princes of the Gentiles ' to gain or to retain supreme power ; nor does it depend on an act of i^artiality, such as the sons of Zebedee imagined might be exercised in their favour if they applied for it in time. It is regulated by lixed spiritual laws, or by the general principle tliat honoru- comes in the Kingdom of God by disinterested love. As ' to get pleasure you must forget it ' (Seth, Eth. Principles, 66 ; NV. L. Davidson, Theism, 372), so to be great you must cease to think of gi-eatness and humble yoiu"- self to serve others, which includes the being quick to discern and oi^en-hearted to minister to their needs, even to the sacrificing of yourself for their good. They who shall have the highest place in God's household are they who take the duties of its humblest meniber, the 5ov\os, upon themselves ; and they who shall be qualified to sit down at the feast of salvation are thej' who fulfil the work of the didKovos at table, who wait upon those whom God regards as His guests, and minister to their \vants (of. Menzies, Mark, 200). Jesus sets forth this principle in the most touching manner as that of His own life (cf. Ac 10^). He is Himself the living embodiment of the truth which He teaches. In saying that He ' came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,' He does not mean that the ministrations He is receiving are not welcome, but He defines the main object of His sojourning in this world, and speaks of Himself not as the Guest whom the whole world will delight to honour, but as the humble attendant upon those who Jire in want ; not as the Benefactor who is to be raised by men to the highest earthlj- glory, but as One who is come to serve them (seeing that on account of the state they are in there is no other way in which He can effectually and com- pletely serve them) by the surrender of life itself (cf. Mk 15^'). This was Jesus' path to the most exalted greatness. It led to there being given Him by God ' the name which is above every name ' (Ph 2^*, cf. He 2*), and also to His recei^'ing from man the undying homage of his heart, together with the confession of the tongue that his highest ideal of human goodness and service is now realized in Jesus. So, when we follow His example and are lifted out of ourselves by His Spirit of minister- ing love, everything that came to Him will come to us, according to the measure in which we, who are infinitely inferior to Him, will be found meet for it, — God's approval of our life, increasing influ- ence for good, that true ga-eatness which consists in our becoming better able to elevate and bless our fellow-men (cf. Caird, Univ. Serm. 260), and to minister to them in the highest way by leading them to righteousness (Dn 12^), and which may also comprehend the power to minister to them in a higher state of being (cf. Mt 25-\ Lk 19*').