Why do you think it should not?
I did go to my Greek-English Lexicon, by Danke and Bauer, and you are right about diakonos, despite the lexical masculine gender, being used for both male and female.
"Συνίστημι δὲ ὑμῖν Φοίβην τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἡμῶν, οὖσαν καὶ διάκονον τῆς ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἐν Κεγχρεαῖς." Romans 16:1
"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servantof the church in Cenchreae." HCSB
In the case of Romans 16:1, the usage includes οὖσαν, (ousan) which is the present active participle of Eimi, in the accusative, feminine. So "ousan" is referring to Phoebe, as a diakonos, used as a relative pronoun, and best translated as the word, "who," making the subordinate clause "who is a deacon of the church of Cenchraea."
In addition, the fact that Paul names her church where she is a deacon, shows she is a leader in that specific church.
Danke and Bauer have extended definitions of diakonos, as follows.
1. One who serves as an intermediary, agent or courier.
2. One who get something done at the behest of a superior, an assistant
Danke specifically mentions Phoebe in Romans 16:1, and and says this commendation goes beyond those of cultic attendants, whether male or female.
Thus, by reason of Paul specifically mentioning her in the text, with her church shows she is not merely a servant, but an ordained deacon, whom Paul is commending by name, along with the others he recognizes in Romans 16.
My other reasoning would be that good exegetics requires words used in the same way, be translated the same way. In Romans 16:1, Phoebe is singled out, just as Paul in other places in his writings singles out himself, Timothy, Ephraphas and others and uses the word diakonos. Just because the gender of Phoebe is female, doesn't change the definition of the word, unless you have an agenda (say, women not being pastors) to push!
Of course, my view of women being allowed to minister as pastors, does not rest on one proof text. But there is no doubt that Phoebe is a deacon in the fullest sense of the word, a leader who serves the church!
I did go to my Greek-English Lexicon, by Danke and Bauer, and you are right about diakonos, despite the lexical masculine gender, being used for both male and female.
"Συνίστημι δὲ ὑμῖν Φοίβην τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἡμῶν, οὖσαν καὶ διάκονον τῆς ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἐν Κεγχρεαῖς." Romans 16:1
"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servantof the church in Cenchreae." HCSB
In the case of Romans 16:1, the usage includes οὖσαν, (ousan) which is the present active participle of Eimi, in the accusative, feminine. So "ousan" is referring to Phoebe, as a diakonos, used as a relative pronoun, and best translated as the word, "who," making the subordinate clause "who is a deacon of the church of Cenchraea."
In addition, the fact that Paul names her church where she is a deacon, shows she is a leader in that specific church.
Danke and Bauer have extended definitions of diakonos, as follows.
1. One who serves as an intermediary, agent or courier.
2. One who get something done at the behest of a superior, an assistant
Danke specifically mentions Phoebe in Romans 16:1, and and says this commendation goes beyond those of cultic attendants, whether male or female.
Thus, by reason of Paul specifically mentioning her in the text, with her church shows she is not merely a servant, but an ordained deacon, whom Paul is commending by name, along with the others he recognizes in Romans 16.
My other reasoning would be that good exegetics requires words used in the same way, be translated the same way. In Romans 16:1, Phoebe is singled out, just as Paul in other places in his writings singles out himself, Timothy, Ephraphas and others and uses the word diakonos. Just because the gender of Phoebe is female, doesn't change the definition of the word, unless you have an agenda (say, women not being pastors) to push!
Of course, my view of women being allowed to minister as pastors, does not rest on one proof text. But there is no doubt that Phoebe is a deacon in the fullest sense of the word, a leader who serves the church!
