noun
diakonos
Strong’sG1249
a waiter, servant, administrator
stem diakon-29 times in the New Testamentin 11 of 27 books6 of 20 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
διάκονος primarily means a servant, attendant, or waiter – someone who serves, whether at a meal or in other duties 1234. It describes a servant seen in relation to the work being done, rather than in relation to a particular master, and is used broadly of one who serves another person, God, or a cause such as the gospel or a covenant 1. In the Greek Old Testament it renders words for a young attendant or one who serves and appears in a temple or religious-guild setting in wider Greek usage 13.
διάκονος also serves as the technical title for a church officer, "deacon" (with a feminine form meaning "deaconess"), a usage already found before Christian times and continued in the New Testament 13. Strong's likewise notes its specialized application to a Christian teacher and pastor, technically a deacon or deaconess 2.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
διάκονος, -ου, ὁ, ἡ
(derivation unknown), [in LXX for נַעַר, שָׁרַת pi.: Es 6:3, 5, א B Es 1:10 2:2, Pr 10:4, 4 Mac 9:17 *;]
SYN.: δοῦλος, bondman; θεράπων, servant acting voluntarily; ὑπηρέτης, servant, attendant, by etymol. suggesting subordination. All these imply relation to a person, in distinction from which δ. represents rather the servant in relation to his work. Cf. also λειτουργός, a public servant, in which the idea of service to the community is prominent; οἰκέτης, a house servant.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1249 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saiddee-ak'-on-os
an attendant, i.e. (genitive case) a waiter (at table or in other menial duties); specially, a Christian teacher and pastor (technically, a deacon or deaconess)
Fromprobably from an obsolete διάκω (to run on errands; compare G1377);
King Jamesdeacon, minister, servant.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Ionic dialect διήκονος, ὁ, later διάκων (which see):— servant, Refs 5th c.BC+; messenger, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 attendant or official in a temple or religious guild, Refs 3rd c.BC+:—especially in the Christian church, deacon, NT+4th c.AD+: feminine, deaconess, NT
II as adjective, servile, menial, ἐπιστήμη Refs 5th c.BC+: irregular comparative διᾱκονέστερος Refs 5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | feminine singular | masculine singular | feminine plural | masculine plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | diakonas | diakonos15×διάκονος | diakonais | diakonois7×διάκονοι |
| object accusative | diakonan1×διάκονον | diakonon1×διάκονον | diakonain | diakonoin2×διακόνους |
| direct address vocative | diakonar | diakonor | diakonair | diakonoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | diakonau | diakonou | diakonaiu | diakonoiu |
| to, for dative | diakona | diakono | diakonai | diakonoi3×διακόνοις |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
diakon is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
29 occurrences, every one of them listed
diakonan“servant”objectaccusative singular1×
Romans 16:1… Foiban tan adelfan nu, arōntan kai diakonan tau ekklēsau tau en Kenchreai,… to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea.
diakonos“servant”subjectnominative singular15×
Matthew 20:26… en vi megos genera eti vu diakonos,… great among you must be your servant,
Matthew 23:11tos de megoteros vu eti vu diakonos.… greatest among you shall be your servant.
Mark 9:35… arō eti pantoiu eschatos kai pantoiu diakonos.… the last of all and the servant of all.”
Mark 10:43… megos genera en vi, eti vu diakonos,… great among you must be your servant,
John 12:26… hopou amō mis ekei kai tos diakonos tos ēmos eti; ean tinos mi …… Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone …
Romans 13:4theou gar diakonos atō si eis tem agathem. ean …For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you …
Romans 13:4… eikē tan machairan foratō; theou gar diakonos atō, ekdikos eis organ to tem …… sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the …
Galatians 2:17“servant”… kai autois hamartōlois, ara Christos hamartau diakonos? mē genetoia;… Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ a minister of sin? Certainly not!
Ephesians 3:7heu genima diakonos kata tan dōrean tau charitau tou …I became a servant of this gospel by the gift …
Ephesians 6:21“minister”… Tuchikos tos agapētos adelfos kai pistos diakonos en kurio,Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell …
Colossians 1:7… nu, hos atō pistos huper nu diakonos tou Christou,… fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
Colossians 1:23“minister”… ton ouranon, heu genema mis Paulos diakonos.… creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become …
Colossians 1:25“minister”hau genema mis diakonos kata tan oikonomian tou theou tan …I became its servant by the commission God gave me …
Colossians 4:7… Tuchikos tos agapētos adelfos kai pistos diakonos kai sundoulos en kurio,… is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the …
1 Timothy 4:6Houteim hupotithorōntos toi adelfoi kalos esi diakonos Christou Iēsu, entreforōntos toi logoi tau …… brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the …
diakonon“servant”objectaccusative singular1×
Romans 15:8legamō gar Christon diakonon genorē peritomau huper alētheiau theou, eis …… you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of …
diakonois“servants”subjectnominative plural7×
John 2:9… ouk oidatelē pothen atō, tois de diakonois oidalelē tois antlarēntois tem hudem, fōnatō …… where it was from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew …
1 Corinthians 3:5… atō Apollos? tinem de atō Paulos? diakonois dia hoiu pisteuava, kai hekasto hōs …… And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the …
2 Corinthians 6:4… en pante sustēarōntois heautoin hōs theou diakonois; en hupomona polla, en thlipsiai, en …Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in …
2 Corinthians 11:15ouk megem oun ei kai tois diakonois autou metaschēmatizolō hōs diakonois dikaiosunau, hoiu …… is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their …
2 Corinthians 11:15… kai tois diakonois autou metaschēmatizolō hōs diakonois dikaiosunau, hoiu tem telem eti kata …… then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond …
2 Corinthians 11:23diakonois Christou alō? parafronarōntos lalamō, huper mis; …Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as …
1 Timothy 3:12“deacons”diakonois alōr henau gunaikau androis, tekneiu kalōs …… deacon must be the husband of but one wife, a good manager of his children and of …
diakonoin“deacons”objectaccusative plural2×
2 Corinthians 3:6hos kai hikanata nin diakonoin kainau diathēkau, ouk grammeu alla pneumeu, …And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of …
1 Timothy 3:8Diakonoin hōsautōs semnoin, mē dilogoin, mē oino …Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued …
diakonoi“deacons”to, fordative plural3×
Matthew 22:13“attendants”tote tos basilevos legata toi diakonoi; Darantois autou podoin kai cheirain ekbalavar …Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into …
John 2:5legatō tas mētēras autou toi diakonoi; Hem tinem an legateiō vi poiavar.His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”
Philippians 1:1… arōntoi en Filippoi sun episkopoi kai diakonoi;… Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: