2. H5S, pelach' (Chald.), Ezra vii, 24, " minister" of religion, XtiTOVpyoQ (comp. 'n^S, ver. 19), though he uses the word C^ri'C" in the same sense, ch. viii, 17. In the N. T. we have three terms, each with its distinc- tive meaning.
3. AtiTOvpoc, a term derived from Xilrov fpyov,"pub- lic work," and the leitonrgia was the name of certain personal services which the citizens of Athens and some other states had to perform gratuitously for the public good. From the sacerdotal use of the word in the N.T., it obtained the special sense of a " public divine service," which is perpetuated in our word '• liturgy." The verb XiiTovpyni' is used in this sense in Acts xiii,2. It an- swers most nearly to the Hebrew meshareth, and is usu- ally employed in the Sept. as its eiiuivalent. It be- tokens a subordinate public administrator, whether civil or sacerdotal, and is applied in the former sense to the magistrates in their relation to the divine authority (Horn, xiii, 6), and in the latter sense to our Lord in re- lation to the Father (Ileb. viii, 2), and to St. Paul in re- lation to Jesus Christ (Rom, xv, 1(5), wliere it occiu^ among otJier expressions of a sacerdotal character, " min- istering" (Ifpoj'joyorjTn)," offering up" (Trpocr^opn, etc). In all these instances the original and special meaning of the word, as used by the Athenians, namely, with re- spect to those who administered the public offices (Xti- Tovpyiat) at their own expense (Biickh, Staatshausk. der A thener, i, 480 ; ii, 02 ; Potter's Gr. A nt. i, 85), is pre- served, though this comes, perhaps, yet more distinctly forward in the cognate terms XnTovpyia and Xiirovp- ynv, applied to tlie sacerdotal office of the Jewish priest (Luke i, 23; Heb, ix,21; x, 11), to the still higher priest- hood of Christ (Ileb. viii, G), anil in a secondary sense to the Christian priest who offers up to God the faith of his converts (Phil, ii, 17, Xn-ox<pyia Tt'ig Trianwc), and to any act of public self-devotion on the part of a Christian disciple (Kom. xv, 27 ; 2 Cor. ix, 12 ; Phil, ii, 30).
4. The second Greek term, virr]piTT]c, differs from the two others in that it contains tlie idea of actual and per- sonal attendance upon a superior. Thus it is used of the attendant in the synagogue, the "jn, chazun, of the Talmndists (Luke iv, 20), whose duty it was to open and close the building, to produce and replace the books employed in the service, and generally to wait on the officiating priest or teacher (Carpzov, Apparat. p. 314), It is similarly applied to Mark, wlio, as the attendant on Barnabas and Saul (Acts xiii, 5), was probably charged with the administration of baptism and other assistant I duties (De Welte, ad loc); and again to the subordi- nates of the liigh-priests (John vii, 32, 45; xviii, 3, etc), or of a jailor (INIatt. v, 25 — TrpoKrwp in Luke xii, 58; Acts V, 22). Josephus calls Closes riv I'Trripirtjv Htow {Ant. iii, 1, 4). Kings are so called in Wisd. vi, 4. The idea of perso7ud attendance conies ]iroininently forward in Luke i, 2; Acts xxvi, IG, in both of which places it
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is alleged as a ground of trustworthy testimony (" ipsi viderunt, et, quod plus est, ministrarunt" Bengel). Last- ly, it is used interchangeably with Eu'ikovoq in 1 Cor. iV, 1, comp. with iii, 5, but in this instance the term is designed to convey the notion of subordination and hu- mility. In all these cases the etymological sense of the word {hirb tptTrjc) comes out. It primarily signifies an vnder-moei' on board a galley, of the class who used the longest oars, and consequently performed the severest duty, as distinguished from the Bpai'irt]^, the rower upon the upper bench of the three, and from the vav- rnt, sailors, or the 67ri/3arai, marines (Dem. 1209, 11, 14; comp. also 1208, 20; 1214, 23; 1216, 13; Pol. i, 25, 3): hence in general a hand, agent, minister, attend- ant, etc. The term that most adequately represents it in our language is "attendant."
5. The third Greek terra, Sk'ikovoc, is the'one usually employed in relation to the ministry of the Gospel; its application is twofold, in a general sense to indicate ministers of any order, whether superior or inferior, and in a special sense to indicate an order of inferior minis- ters. In the former sense we have the cognate term ciaicovia applied in Acts vi, 1, 4, both to the ministra- tion of tables and to the higher ministration of the Word, and the term Sicikovoq itself applied, without de- fining the office, to Paul and Apollos (1 Cor. iii, 5), to Tychicus (Eph. vi, 21 ; Col. iv, 7), to Epaphras (Col. i, 7), to Timothy (1 Thess. iii, 2), and even to Christ him- self (liom. XV, 8 ; Gal. ii, 17). In the latter sense it is applied in the passages where the Sh'ikovo^ is contra- distinguished from the bishop, as in Phil, i, 1 ; 1 Tim. iii, 8-13. The ^vord is likewise applied to false teach- ers (2 Cor. xi, 15), and even to heathen magistrates (Rom. xiii, 4), in the sense of a minister, assistant, or servant in general, as in Matt, xx, 26. The term dia- Kovoi denotes among the Greeks a higher class of ser- vants than the covXoi (Athen. x, 192; see Buttm. Lex. i, 220 ; comp. Matt, xxii, 13, and Sept. for HTi'lS, Esth. i, 10 ; ii, 2 ; vi, 3). It is worthy of observation that the word is thus of very rare occurrence in the Sept., and then only in a general sense : its special sense, as known to us in its derivative " deacon" (q. v.), seems to be of purely Christian growth.— Smith ; Kitto. See Minis- try.