Phoebe, Trusted Servant

“ I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.” –Romans 16:1-2 (ESV).

Paul commended Phoebe to the church at Rome, and, indeed, she may have been the bearer of his letter to the church at Rome, as many scholars believe.  If this be the case, Phoebe would have taken the letter soon after Paul wrote it in Corinth in 57 AD when he was on his third missionary journey.  Cenchrea, where Phoebe served as a servant in the church (the word in the Greek, diakonos, means “deacon” and also “servant”)  Phoebe may well have been a deaconess in her home church at Cenchrea.  Her hometown was a port city just 6.5 miles east of Corinth.  On the third missionary journey, Paul spent many months at Corinth (some scholars say 18 months), time for him to do much teaching, write the letter to the Romans, and make acquaintance with those who had responsibilities for leadership in the church.  We can imagine that Phoebe sat many times and listened to Paul preach and teach.

He instructs the church at Rome to welcome Phoebe “in a way worthy of the saints.”  Would there have been some suspicion of a woman being chosen for such an important task as delivering a letter from the Apostle Paul?  His commendation of her was doubtless intented to give her a good introduction to the Christians at Rome, far removed from her hometown of Cenchrea.  To be greeted as a saint, and to greet her in a saintly way (reciprocal action) indicated that both she and the Roman Christians would benefit from her going there.

Phoebe may have been moving from Cenchrea to Rome for some reason unidentified in the scripture.  Paul encouraged the Roman church to “help her in whatever she may need from you.”  She deserved this help, for she herself had been a “patron,” indicating that she had helped many and had assisted Paul as well.  Patron carries the idea of financial assistance and certainly hospitality. Another synonym for patron in its feminine form is “protectress.”  As such, she would have served by visiting the sick, helping orphans and widows, assisting young women in the faith, and giving to the poor. As Phoebe traveled from Corinth to Rome, she had a long sea voyage around the southern tip of the province of Achaia and probably to the port of Rhegium in Sicily.  Then, changing ships, she would sail to the port of Puteoli in mid-western Italy and take an overland route to Rome as Paul would do later when he had appealed to Caesar for justice in his case.  Perhaps the help Phoebe needed when she arrived at Rome was assistance in finding living quarters and work.  We cannot help but wonder about a woman’s safety as she traveled such a distance with an important mission like delivering Paul’s letter.  But we have proof that her mission was successful, for now we ourselves have the privilege of reading the epistle to the Romans and benefiting from its deep theology and teachings on the righteousness, mercy and judgment of God.  Phoebe stands as a model of servanthood and as one willing to make adjustments in her life.  How we wish we had more information about her.  But what we know serves us well as we seek to emulate her example of service.