1 Timothy 3:11

γυναῖκας : Sc. δεῖ εἶναι, not governed by ἔχοντας (1 Timothy 3:9). These are the deaconesses, ministrae (Pliny, Ep. x. 97) of whom Phoebe (Romans 16:1) is an undoubted example. They performed for the women of the early Church the same sort of ministrations that the deacons did for the men. In confirmation of this view it should be noted that ὡσαύτως is used in introducing a second or third member of a series. See on 1 Timothy 2:9. The series here is of Church officials. Again, the four qualifications which follow correspond, with appropriate variations, to the first four required in deacons, as regards demeanour, government of the tongue, use of wine, and trustworthiness. And further, this is a section dealing wholly with Church officials. These considerations exclude the view that women in general, as R.V. apparently, are spoken of. If the wives of the deacons or of the clergy were meant, as A.V., it would be natural to have it unambiguously expressed, e.g., by the addition of αὐτῶν.

διαβόλους : slanderers. While men are more prone than women to be δίλογοι, double-tongued, women are more prone than men to be slanderers. See Titus 2:3. The term is predicated in 2 Timothy 3:3, not of men, but as characterising the human race, ἄνθρωποι, in the last days.

νηφαλίους : see note on 1 Timothy 3:2.

πιστὰς ἐν πᾶσιν : It may be that, as Ell. suggests, this has a reference to the function of deaconesses as almoners, a possible inference from Constt. Apost. iii. 16. But more probably it is a comprehensive summary with a general reference, like πᾶσαν πίστιν ἐνδεικνυμένους ἀγαθήν, Titus 2:10.