( PART 12 ) DID THE EARLIEST POST-BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN WRITERS TEACH CHRISTENDOM'S OFFICIAL DOCTRINE OF THE TRI{3}NITY? = CLEMENT OF ROME – LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS – CHAPTER 4



ΚΛΗΜΕΝΤΟΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α
1ST CLEMENT TOWARD [THE] CORINTHIANS


GREEK TEXT: “...Γέτραπται [1.] γὰρ οὕτως· Καὶ ἐγένετο μεθ’ ἡμέρας, ἤνεγκεν Κάϊν ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν τῆς γῆς θυσίαν τῷ θεῷ, καὶ Ἄβελ ἤνεγκεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπὸ τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν προβάτων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν στεάτων αὐτῶν. [2.] καὶ ἐπεῖδεν ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ Ἄβελ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις αὐτοῦ, ἐπὶ δὲ Κάϊν καὶ ἐπὶ ταῖς θυσίαις αὐτοῦ οὐ προσέσχεν. [3.] καὶ ἐλυπήθη Κάϊν καὶ συνέπεσεν τῷ προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ. [4.] καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς Κάϊν· Ἱνατί περίλυπος ἐγένου, καὶ ἱνατί συνέπεσεν τὸ πρόωπόν σου; οὐκ ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς, ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς, ἥμαρτες; [5.] ἡσύχασον· πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποσροφὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ. [6.] καὶ εἶπεν Κάϊν πρὸς Ἄβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ· Διέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πεδίον. καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ, ἀνέστη Κάϊν ἐπὶ Ἄβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτόν. [7.] ὁρᾶτε, ἀδελφοί, ζῆλος καὶ φθόνος ἀδελφοκτονίαν κατειργάσατο. [8.] διὰ ζῆλος ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν Ἰακὼβ ἀπέδρα ἀπὸ προσώπου Ἠσαῦ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ. [9.] ζῆλος ἐποίησεν Ἰωσὴφ μέχρι θανάτου διωχθῆναι καὶ μέχρι δουλείας εἰσελθεῖν. [10.] ζῆλος φυγεῖν ἠνάγκασεν Μωϋσῆν ἀπὸ προσώπου Φαραὼ βασιλέως Αἰγύπτου ἐν τῷ ἀκοῦσαι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁμοφύλου. Τίς σε κατέστησεν κριτὴν ἢ δικαστὴν ἐφ’ ἡμῶν; μὴ ἀνελεῖν με σὺ θέλεις, ὃν τρόπον ἀνεῖλεσ ἐχθὲς τὸν Αἰγύπτιον; [11.] διὰ ζῆλος Ἀαρὼν καὶ Μαριὰμ ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς ηὐλίσθησαν. [12.] ζῆλος Δαθὰν καὶ Ἀβειρὼν ζῶντας κατήγαγεν εἰς ᾅδου διὰ τὸ στασιάσαι αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸν θεράποντα τοῦ θεοῦ Μωϋσῆν. [13.] διὰ ζῆλος Δαυεὶδ φθόνον ἔσχεν οὐ μόνον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ Σαοὺλ βασιλέως Ἰσραὴλ ἐδιώχθη...” - (Chapter 4:1-13,1st Epistle to the Corinthians, [ΚΛΗΜΕΝΤΟΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α] by Clement of Rome,” THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS, I CLEMENT, II CLEMENT Based on the Krissop Lake text of the Loeb Classical Library First published 1913.)

LATIN TEXT: “...Scriptum est enim sic: “Et contigit post dies, attulit Cain de fructibus terrae immolationem Domino{^} ; et Abel attulit de primitiuis{*} ouium suarum et de adipe earum. Et respexit Deus ad Abel et in munera eius, nam ad Cain et ad uictimas eius non respexit. Et tristis factus est Cain ualde, et confusa est facies illius. Et dixit Deus ad Cain: Quare tristis factus es, et quare corruit uultus tuus? Nempe, si recte offeras, et non recte diuidas, peccasti. Quiesce: ad te erit conuersio eius, et tu dominaberis eius. Et dixit Cain ad Abel fratrem suum: Eamus in campum. Et contigit, cum essent in campum, exsurrexit Cain in fratrem suum Abel, et occidit eum.” Intelligite, fratres, quia zelus et inuidia fecit, ut frater fratrem suum occideret. Propter zelum pater noster Iacob fugit a facie fratris sui Esau. Zelus fecit Ioseph usque ad mortem fugari, et usque in seruitutem deuenire. Zelus coegit Moysen fugere a facie Pharaonis regis Aegipti, cum audiuit a cumtribule suo: “Quis te constituit principem aut iudicem super nos? Aut occidere me tu uis quemadmodum occidisti hesterna die Aegiptium?” Propter zelum Aaron et Maria extra castra manserunt. Zelus Dathan et Abiron cum tabernaculis uiuos deduxit ad inferos, quia contenderunt contra fidelem Dei seruum Moysen. Propter zelum Dauid habuit inuidiam non a fratribus tantum, sed etiam a Saul rege Israhel, qui persecutus est eum...” - (Chapter 4:1-13, Latin translation circa 2nd-3rd Century C.E., preserved in 11th Century C.E., MSS G. Morin Sancti Clementis Romani ad Corinthios Epistulae version latina antiquissima, Anecdota Maredsolana 2 ; Maredsosus, Belgium, 1894.)
[FOOTNOTE ^]: Domino] Ita Const. Et LXX ; Alex. Et Syr. Gk., ( τῷ θεῷ ).
[FOOTNOTE]: Genesis 4:3-8.
[FOOTNOTE *]: Primitiuis] Gk., ( πρωτοτόκων ). Cf. Hebr. 12:23 “ecclesia primitivorum.”

LATIN TEXT: “...sacrificium Deo : Abel autem obtulit et ipse de primogenitis ovium […] Et respexit Deus super Abelem […] Et dixit Deus ad Cainum […] adversus famulum Dei Moysen...” - (Chapter 4:1-13, AD CORINTHIOS EPISTOLA PRIMA. SANCTI CLEMENTIS EPISCOPI ROMANI, ( EX VERSIONE RUFINI ) Tomus Primus [Book I], Patres Apostolici, COLLECTIO SELECTA SS. ECCLESIAE PATRUM, Complectens Exquisitissima Opera. By D. M. N. S. Guuillon. M. DCCC. XXIX.)


A COMPARISON OF TRANSLATIONS OLD AND NEW


CLEMENT OF ROME (circa. 30-100 C.E.): “...For [1.] thus it is written: "And it came to pass after certain days, that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to God; and Abel also brought of the firstlings of his sheep, and of the fat thereof. [2.] And God had respect to Abel and to his offerings, but Cain and his sacrifices He did not regard. [3.] And Cain was deeply grieved, and his countenance fell. [4.] And God said to Cain, Why are you grieved, and why is your countenance fallen? If you offer rightly, but do not divide rightly, have you not sinned? [5.] Be at peace: your offering returns to yourself, and you shall again possess it. [6.] And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go into the field. And it came to pass, while they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and killed him." [7.] You see, brethren, how envy and jealousy led to the murder of a brother. [8.] Through envy, also, our father Jacob fled from the face of Esau his brother. [9.] Envy made Joseph be persecuted unto death, and to come into bondage. [10.] Envy compelled Moses to flee from the face of Pharaoh king of Egypt, when he heard these words from his fellow countryman, "Who made you a judge or a ruler over us? Will you kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" [11.] On account of envy, Aaron and Miriam had to make their home outside of the camp. [12.] Envy brought down Dathan and Abiram alive to Hades, through the sedition which they excited against God's servant Moses. [13.] Through envy, David underwent the hatred not only of foreigners, but was also persecuted by Saul king of Israel...” - (Chapter 4:1-13, 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, by Clement of Rome,” The Anti-Nicene Fathers Volume One; Edited by A. Roberts and J. Donaldson.)

CLEMENT OF ROME (circa. 30-100 C.E.): “...For [1.] so it is written, And it came to pass after certain days that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice unto God, and Abel he also brought of the firstlings of the sheep and of their fatness. [2.] And God looked upon Abel and upon his gifts, but unto Cain and unto his sacrifices He gave no heed. [3.] And Cain sorrowed exceedingly, and his countenance fell. [4.] And God said unto Cain, Wherefore art thou very sorrowful and wherefore did thy countenance fall? If thou hast offered aright and hast not divided aright, didst thou not sin? Hold thy peace. [5.] Unto thee shall he turn, and thou shalt rule over him. {This last phrase has also been translated: Be at peace: thine offering returns to thyself, and thou shalt again possess it.} [6.] And Cain said unto Abel his brother, Let us go over unto the plain. And it came to pass, while they Were in the plain, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. [7.] Ye see, brethren, jealousy and envy wrought a brother's murder. [8.] By reason of jealousy our father Jacob ran away from the face of Esau his brother. [9.] Jealousy caused Joseph to be persecuted even unto death, and to come even unto bondage. [10.] Jealousy compelled Moses to flee from the face of Pharaoh king of Egypt while it was said to him by his own countryman, Who made thee a judge or a decider over us, Wouldest thou slay me, even as yesterday thou slewest the Egyptian? [11.] By reason of jealousy Aaron and Miriam were lodged outside the camp. [12.] Jealousy brought Dathan and Abiram down alive to hades, because they made sedition against Moses the servant of God. [13.] By reason of jealousy David was envied not only by the Philistines, but was persecuted also by Saul [king of Israel]...” - (Chapter 4:1-13, 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, by Clement of Rome,” translated by J. B. Lightfoot.)

CLEMENT OF ROME (circa. 30-100 C.E.): “...For [1.] it is thus written: And it came to pass after certain days, that Cain brought of the fruits of the ground a sacrifice to God, and Abel brought also of the firstlings of the sheep and of their fat. [2.] And God had respect unto Abel and unto his gifts; but unto Cain and his gifts he had no regard. [3.] And Cain was grieved greatly, and his countenance fell. [4.] And God said unto Cain, Why art thou very sorrowful, and why hath thy countenance fallen? If thou hast rightly offered, but hast not rightly divided, hast thou not sinned? [5.] Hold thy peace; thy gift returneth unto thee, and thou shalt be master over it. [6.] And Cain said unto Abel, Let us pass over into the field. And it came to pass while they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. [7.] Ye see, brethren, jealousy and envy wrought the slaughter of a brother. [8.] Through envy our father Jacob fled from the face of his brother Esau. [9.] Envy caused Joseph to be persecuted unto death, and to enter into bondage. [10.] Envy compelled Moses to flee from the face of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, because he heard his countryman say, Who made thee a judge or a decider over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? [11.] Through envy Aaron and Miriam pitched their tents without the camp. [12.] Envy brought down Dathan and Abiram alive to the grave, because they contended against Moses, the servant of God. [13.] Through envy David suffered jealousy not only of foreigners, but was persecuted also by Saul, king of Israel...” - (Chapter 4:1-13, THE FIRST EPISTLE OF CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS translated by Charles H. Hoole, 1885.)


DOCTRINAL EXAMINATION


Once again as with the last two chapters, there is very little at all that touches on our examination of whether the doctrine of the Tri{3}nity is clearly and expressly taught in the genuine writings of Clement of Rome.

A few side points:

LAKE Gk., ( τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν προβάτων ) “...of the first ones to be born of the sheep...”

MORIN Ltn., ( primitiuis ouium ) “...[the] earliest of [the] sheep...”

RUFINUS Ltn., ( primogenitis ovium ) “...of [the] first ones to be born of [the] sheep...”

ROBERTS & DONALDSON: “...of the firstlings of his sheep...”
LIGHTFOOT: “...of the firstlings of the sheep...”
HOOLE: “...of the firstlings of the sheep...”

LAKE Gk., ( πρωτοτόκων ) = adjective, plural, masculine, genitive

MORIN Ltn., ( primitiuis ) = masculine dative plural
  1. the first or earliest of its kind, primitive
  2. the first-born

RUFINUS Ltn., ( primogenitis ) = masculine dative plural “...first-born...”

LAKE Gk., ( τὸν θεράποντα τοῦ θεοῦ Μωϋσῆν )

MORIN Ltn., ( fidelem Dei seruum Moysen ) “...a faithful servant/slave of God – Moses...”

RUFINUS Ltn., ( famulum Dei Moysen ) “...the servant/attendant of God – Moses...”

ROBERTS & DONALDSON: “...God's servant Moses...”
LIGHTFOOT: “...Moses the servant of God...”
HOOLE: “...Moses, the servant of God...”

COMPARE: Later chapters 43, 51, 53 of 1st Clement. Also LXX Exodus 4:10; 14:31; Numbers 12:7-8; Joshua 8:31,33; Epistle of Barnabas chap. 14, Justin Martyr Dial. chap. 56, Theophilus Ad. Autol. Book 3, chap. 9, 18 etc.

It is interesting how, in both cases, the Morin text, uses, older, more archaic Latin, than Rufinus, who was contemporary with Jeromes Vulgate.

MORIN Ltn., ( primitiuis )
MORIN Ltn., ( seruum )

RUFINUS Ltn., ( primogenitis )
RUFINUS Ltn., ( famulum )

This is a sign of the antiquity of this version. This is just one of many many examples that show why many scholars think the Morin Latin MSS is based on a 2nd-3rd Century proto-type, and therefore is most likely the oldest copy that we have today.

Just as a final note on this chapter.

A study of this word Gk., ( θεράποντα ) will help us when we come to later writers, such as Justin Martyr in particular, who uses a number of different words for “...SERVANT...” in regard to Jesus relationship to his God and Father.

It will be instructive to learn a little now about the subtle differences in the meaning of these words, so that we can return to this post for reference later.

Trench's work on Greek Synonyms, was ground breaking in it's time, and it is still one of the most valuable works a student of Greek can have in his library. It helps to distinguish the subtle nuances and differences in the varying shades of meaning found within similar, but, not the same, Greek words.

I highly recommend this work, though, I must qualify this with a measure of caution, because Trench was a Tri{3}nitarian, and his theological bias comes out in his work at times, but on the whole he is, what I would consider, one of the more honest Tri{3}nitarian scholars, and therefore if one sifts out the mud, and takes away the nuggets of gold to be found in this work, it can be of great help in finding the correct and accurate definitions of many valuable, even crucial, Greek words used in both the NT and the earliest ANF.

Now back to Gk., ( θεράποντα ):

RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH (circa. 1807-1886 C.E.): “...ix. θεράπων, δοῦλος, διάκονος, οἰκέτης, ὑπηρέτης. The only passage in the N. T. in which θεράπων occurs is Heb. 3:5: “And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant” (ὡς θεράπων). The allusion here to Num. 12:7 is manifest, where the Septuagint has given θεράπων as its rendering of עֶבֶר; it has done the same elsewhere (Exod. 4:10; Deut. 3:24; Josh. 1:2), yet has not made this its constant rule, frequently rendering it not by θεράπων, but by δοῦλος, out of which latter rendering, no doubt, we have at Rev. 15:3, the phrase, Μωϋσῆς ὁ δοῦλος τοῦ Θεοῦ. It will not follow that there is no difference between δοῦλος and θεράπων; nor yet that there may not be occasions when the one word would be far more fitly employed than the other; but only that there are frequent occasions which do not require the bringing out into prominence of that which constitutes the difference between them. And such real difference there is. The δοῦλος, opposed to ἐλεύθερος (1 Cor. 12:13; Rev. 13:16; 19:18; Plato, Gorg. 502 d), having δεσπότης (Tit. 2:9), or in the N. T. more commonly κύριος (Luke 12:46), as its antithesis, is properly the ‘bond-man,’ from δέω, ‘ligo,’Etym. Note. 4 one that is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, his will altogether swallowed up in the will of the other; Xenophon (Cyrop. viii. 1. 4): οἱ μὲν δοῦλοι ἄκοντες τοῖς δεσπόταις ὑπηρετοῦσι. He is this, altogether apart from any ministration to that other at any one moment rendered; the θεράπων, on the other hand, is the performer of present services, with no respect to the fact whether as a freeman or slave he renders them; as bound by duty, or impelled by love; and thus, as will necessarily follow, there goes habitually with the word the sense of one whose services are tenderer, nobler, freer than those of the δοῦλος. Titus Achilles styles Patroclus his θεράπων (Homer, Il. xvi. 244), one whose service was not constrained, but the officious ministration of love; very much like that of the squire or page of the Middle Ages. Meriones is θεράπων to Idomeneus (xxiii. 113), Sthenelus to Diomed, while all the Greeks are θεράποντες Ἄρηος (ii. 110 and often; cf. Nägelsbach, Homer. Theologie, p. 280). Hesiod in like manner claims to be Μουσάων θεράπων: not otherwise in Plato (Symp. 203 c) Eros is styled the ἀκόλουθος καὶ θεράπων of Aphrodite; cf. Pindar, Pyth. iv. 287, where the θεράπων is contrasted with the δράστης. With all which agrees the definition of Hesychius (οἱ ἐν δευτέρᾳ τάξει φίλοι), of Ammonius (οἱ ὑποτεταγμένοι φίλοι), and of Eustathius (τῶν φίλων οἱ δραστικώτεροι). In the verb θεραπεύειν (==‘curare’), as distinguished from δουλεύειν, and connected with ‘faveo,’ ‘foveo,’Etym. Note. 5 θάλπω, the nobler and tenderer character of the service comes still more strongly out. It may be used of the physician’s watchful tendance of the sick, man’s service of God, and is beautifully applied by Xenophon (Mem. iv. 3. 9) to the care which the gods have of men. It will follow that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, calling Moses a θεράπων in the house of God (3:5), implies that he occupied a more confidential position, that a freer service, a higher dignity was his, than that merely of a δοῦλος, approaching more closely to that of an οἰκονόμος in God’s house; and, referring to Num. 12:6-8, we find, confirming this view, that an exceptional dignity is there ascribed to Moses, lifting him above other δοῦλοι of God; ‘egregius domesticus fidei tuae’ Augustine (Conf. xii. 23) calls him; cf. Deut. 24:5, where he is οἰκέτης κυρίου. In agreement with this we find the title θεράπων κυρίου given to Moses (Wisd. 10:16), but to no other of the worthies of the old Covenant mentioned in the chapter; to Aaron indeed at xviii. 21. It would have been well if our Translators had seen some way to indicate the exceptional and more honourable title here given to him who “was faithful in all God’s house.” The Vulgate, which has ‘famulus,’ has at least made the attempt (so Cicero, ‘famuloe Idaeae matris’); Tyndal, too, and Cranmer, who have ‘minister,’ perhaps as adequate a word as the language affords. Neither ought the distinction between διάκονος and δοῦλος to be suffered to escape in an English Version of the N.T. There is no difficulty in preserving it. Διάκονος, not from διά and κόνις, one who in his haste runs through the dust—a mere fanciful derivation, and forbidden by the quantity of the antepenultima in διᾱκονος—is probably from the same root as has given us διώκω, ‘to hasten after,’Etym. Note. 6 or ‘pursue,’ and thus indeed means ‘a runner’ still (so Buttmann, Lexil. i. 219; but see Döderlein, Lat. Syn. vol. v. p. 135). The difference between διάκονος on one side, and δοῦλος and θεράπων on the other, is this—that διάκονος represents the servant in his activity for the work (διακονεῖν τι, Eph. 3:7; διάκονος τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, Col. 1:23: 2 Cor, 3:6); not in his relation, either servile, as that of the δοῦλος, or more voluntary, as in the case of the θεράπων, to a person. The attendants at a feast, and this with no respect to their condition as free or servile, are διάκονοι (John 2:5; Matt. 22:13; cf. John 12:2). The importance of preserving the distinction between δοῦλος and διάκονος may be illustrated from the parable of the Marriage Supper (Matt. 22:2-14). In our Version the king’s “servants” bring in the invited guests (ver. 3, 4, 8, 10), and his “servants” are bidden to cast out that guest who was without a wedding garment (ver. 13); but in the Greek, those, the bringers-in of the guests, are δοῦλοι: these, the fulfillers of the king’s sentence, are διάκονοι—this distinction being a most real one, and belonging to the essentials of the parable; the δοῦλοι being men, the ambassadors of Christ, who invite their fellow-men into his kingdom now, the διάκονοι angels, who in all the judgment acts at the end of the world evermore appear as the executors of the Lord’s will. The parable, it is true, does not turn on this distinction, yet these ought not any more to be confounded than the δοῦλοι and θερισταί of Matt. 13:27, 30; cf. Luke 19:24. Οἰκέτης is often used as equivalent to δοῦλος. It certainly is so at 1 Pet. 2:18; and hardly otherwise on the three remaining occasions on which it occurs in the N. T. (Luke 16:13; Acts 10:7; Rom. 14:4); nor does the Septuagint (Exod. 21:27; Deut. 6:21; Prov. 17:2) appear to recognize any distinction between them; the Apocrypha as little (Ecclus. 10:25). At the same time οἰκέτης (==‘domesticus’) does not bring out and emphasize the servile relation so strongly as δοῦλος does; rather contemplates that relation from a point of view calculated to mitigate, and which actually did tend very much to mitigate, its extreme severity. He is one of the household, of the ‘family,’ in the older sense of this word; not indeed necessarily one born in the house; οἰκογενής is the word for this in the Septuagint (Gen. 14:14; Eccles. 2:7); ‘verna,’ identical with the Gothic ‘bairn,’Etym. Note. 7 in the Latin; compare ‘criado’ in the Spanish; but one, as I have said, of the family; οἰκέτης ἐστὶν ὁ κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν διατρίβων, κἂν ἐλεύθερος ᾖ, κοινόν (Athenaeus, vi. 93); the word being used in the best times of the language with so wide a reach as to include wife and children; so in Herodotus (viii. 106, and often); while in Sophocles (Trach. 894) by the οἰκέται the children of Deianira can alone be intended. On the different names given to slaves and servants of various classes and degrees see Athenaeus, as quoted above. Ὑπηρέτης, which only remains to be considered, is a word drawn from military matters; he was originally the rower (from ἐρέσσω, ‘remigo’), as distinguished from the soldier, on board a war-galley; then the performer of any strong and hard labour; then THE - ( SUBORDINATE ) - OFFICIAL WHO WAITED TO ACCOMPLISH THE BEHESTS OF - ( HIS SUPERIOR ), - AS THE ORDERLY WHO ATTENDS A COMMANDER IN WAR (XENOPHON, CYROP. VI. 2, 13); THE HERALD WHO CARRIES SOLEMN MESSAGES (EURIPIDES, HEC. 503). THUS PROMETHEUS, AS I CANNOT DOUBT, INTENDS A TAUNT WHEN HE CHARACTERIZES - ( HERMES ) - AS Θεῶν ὑπηρέτης (aeschylus, Prom. Vinct. 990), ONE WHO RUNS THE ERRANDS OF THE OTHER GODS. IN THIS SENSE, AS -- ( AN INFERIOR MINISTER ) -- TO PERFORM CERTAIN DEFINED FUNCTIONS FOR PAUL AND BARNABAS, MARK WAS THEIR ὑπηρέτης (Acts 13:5); and in this official sense of lictor, apparitor, and the like, we find the word constantly, indeed predominantly used in the N. T. (Matt. 5:25; Luke 4:20; John 7:32; 18:18; Acts 5:22). The mention by St. John of δοῦλοι and ὑπηρέται together (18:18) is alone sufficient to indicate that a difference is by him observed between them; from which difference it will follow that he who struck the Lord on the face (John 18:22) could not be, as some suggest, the same whose ear the Lord had just healed (Luke 22:51), seeing that this was a δοῦλος, that profane and petulant striker a ὑπηρέτης, of the High Priest. The meanings of διάκονος and ὑπηρέτης are much more nearly allied; they do in fact continually run into one another, and there are innumerable occasions on which the words might be indifferently used; THE MORE OFFICIAL CHARACTER AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ὙΠΗΡΈΤΗΣ IS THE POINT IN WHICH THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THEM RESIDES. See Vitringa, De Synagogâ Vetere, pp. 916–919, and the Dictionary of the Bible, art. Minister...” - (Page 9, Servant, “SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT,” By Richard Chenevix Trench, D.D., London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. Ltd., 1915.)
[FOOTNOTE]: The following Strong's numbers apply to this section: G1249, G1401, G2324, G3610, G5257.