We shall suppose that Phoebe herself was sail- ing eastward from Cenchrea; or westward from Lechaeum, the port on the Corinthian Gulf, according to tlie view we take of the probable destination of Ro 16 (or vv.'"-, detached by some scholars from the rest f the chapter). If these verses are an integral part of the Epistle to the Romans, the letter which Phoebe carried was this most important of the apostolic letters and her journey was to Rome. The Imperial post was not available for private correspondence, and such a letter could be sent only by special messenger or by a trusted friend who happened to be travelling. St. Paul bespeaks for Phoebe not only a welcome ' in the Lord ' but assistance ' in whatsoever matter she may have need ' {iv if &p i/xQv XPVi'V irpiyfiari). If irpajfui bears here its common forensic sense (1 Co 6' [G. A. Deissmann, Bible Studies, Eng. tr., 1901, p. 233]), business at the law-courts necessi- tated for her a visit to Rome (E. H.Gifford,' Romans,' in Speaker's Commentary, iii. [1881] 231), and the Apostle, hearing of her projected journey, seized the opportunity of writing and dispatching his letter. The impossibility, however, of determining the ob- ject of Phoebe's journey from the use of vpayfia may be illustrated by Mt 18'". The ' matters ' in which she would require assistance might well have been connected with tlie church, and indeed she may have been specially sent to Rome by St. Paul, charged with the duty of 'reinforcing and supplementing the Apostolic message ' with which .she was entrusted (G. Milligan, Thessalonians, 1908, p. 130). If, on the other hand, Ro 16'-2' (or '-'') was addressed to the Church at Ephesus, Phcebe's destination was that city. According to some scholars who hold this opinion, these verses are only a part of a letter the remainder of which has been lost. Others regard them as forming a complete letter of recommendation (2 Co 3'), written expressly for the purpose of introducing Phoebe, whatever her errand may have been, to the persons greeted in it (C. von Weizsacker, Apostolic Age, Eng. tr., i.- [1897] 381), among whom, it may be noted, were a number of Christian women. Such letters were a characteristic feature of the Apostolic Church, as were the frequent journej'S which necessitated them and the generous hospitality which they called forth. They were a protection against impostors and false teachers. They formed one of the strongest bonds which held together the separate and scattered Christian communities. The verb u.sed by St. Paul (awiuT-qp.!, Bi vfun <i>oi737;v) is the regular technical term in classical Greek and in the Greek of the papyri for introductions by letter. If we suppose that Phoebe was commissioned by the Apostle to visit the Ephesian Christians, we may perhaps find in the warning which he included in the letter (vv.""-") the reason for her mission.
That Phoobe was evidently preparing to travel alone suggests that she was a widow (Conybeare- Howson, The Life and Epistles of St. Paul, new ed. , 1877, ii. 189 n.). The term n-poffTdris indicates that slie was a woman of means. YlpoixTiTis is the fem. of jrpoiTTdrT)!, in its strictly legal sense the wealthy and intlucntial citizen who acted as representative and guardian of the p.iToiKoi ('resident aliens') and others who had no civic rights. It corresponds to the Latin patronus. The term is not found again in the NT nor does it occur in the LXX. It was, however, in use to denote the ' patrons ' of the pagan religious societies, ' who were frequently ladies of rank and wealth ' (T. M. Lindsay, The Church and tlie Ministry in the Early Centuries, 1902, p. 124 n.). It is closely related to the terms rpoiffTd/ievos and irpoearus, applied to leadersliip in the Church in 1 Th 5'=, Ro 12», 1 Ti 5". Descrip- tive of Phoebe's relation to ' many,' presumably at Cenchreoe (perhaps at Corinth also), TrpodTdris must mean at the least that, in a special degree made possible by her circumstances, she discharged the duties of ' communicating to the necessities of the saints ' and of ' pursuing hospitality,' which belonged to all Christians alike (Ro 12"). Gitlbrd (op. cit. p. 231) conjectures that the personal reference (' and of mine own self) may be to an illness in which Phoebe ministered to St. Paul at Cenchreic, and that his recovery was the occasion of his vow. Certainly we may assume that she received him into her home when he visited or passed through Cenchreae (cf. Lydia at Philippi, Ac 16'°- *"), and that she ' mothered ' him as did the mother of Ruf us (Ro 16''). The house in which the Apostle stayed naturally became a centre for the community, and if it was also used as the meeting-place of the church (cf. Gaius at Corinth, ' my host and of the whole church,' Ro 16^), the owner must have been looked up to as a kind of 'president,' to whom the term ' patron ' might suitably be applied. In some such way as this Phoebe devoted herself and her means to the service of the Church, and earned thereby the title of S1.6.K0110S, which no more means ' deaconess ' in the later sense than it means 'deacon' when used to describe Apollos, Tychicus, Epaphras, Timothy, or the Apostle himself. The case of Phoebe may not be cited as evidence of the inclu- sion of women in the technical diaconate. With that of Prisca and others, it witnesses to the very important part played by women in the organiza- tion of the Church before informal ministries had given place to definite offices, and when rule and leadership were based only upon willingness to ' serve ' (cf. the household of Stephanas at Corinth, 1 Co 16"'"). Parallel with the term Sid/covos is the term dS«\0?) (F. J. A. Hort, The Christian Ecclesia, 1897, p. 208, where the Kal is said to be 'almost certainly genuine '). ' Brother ' and ' sister ' in the NT simply mean ' fellow-Christian.' St. Paul uses the term here and calls Phoebe 'our' sister, i.e., ours and yours, to remind those to whom he would introduce her that all Christians, whether person- ally acquainted or not, are already members of the same great spiritu.al family, of which God is Father and Jesus Christ the Elder Brother, and that they only need to be made known to one another to realize their close relationship in mutual love and helpfulness. T. B. Allwoethy.