PHOEBE fē’ bĭ (Φοίβη, G5833, pure, bright, radiant). KJV PHEBE (Rom 16:1). A deaconess in the church at Cenchreae (a village on Corinth’s E harbor). See Deacon, Deaconess.

Paul describes Phoebe as (1) “our sister,” (2) “a deaconess,” (3) “a helper of many and of myself” (Rom 16:1, 2). Whether διάκονος, G1356, here signifies (1) a definite office or merely (2) social service to a community is unknown. (In the E an independent order of deaconesses existed from the time of the Syrian Didascalia until the early Middle Ages; in the W no such order developed.) Phoebe had undoubtedly ministered to Paul during his visits to Cenchreae. The apostle urged the Roman Christians to welcome her as one of their own number; and that they should “help her in whatever she may require.” It is generally assumed that she delivered this epistle.

The name Phoebe appears once in Scripture but frequently in mythology. In Papiri Fiorentini, Phoebe is a slave. This name also occurs in a striking 5th or 6th cent. inscr. discovered on Mount Olivet (cf. MM).

Bibliography E. J. Goodspeed, “Phoebe’s Letter of Introduction,” HTR, XXXXIV (1951), 55-57.