The Appointment of the Seven
Acts 6:1-7
Between the twelve Apostles and the seven deacons, there was a division of labor within the community. The Twelve were praying, preaching the Gospel, and offering the Eucharist as the teaching and ministering authority of the Church. The mission of the seven was to assist the Twelve, especially in works of charity. However, the division of labor did not mean the deacons were not also proclaiming the Gospel, a duty of all Christians. The noun “deacon” (diakonos), which St. Paul will use in Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:8-13, is from a Greek word that means “one who serves.” St. Paul will advise St. Timothy on the selection of deacons, suggesting the same kind of critical examination of their character (1 Tim 3:8-10, 12-13; also see Tit 1:5-9 CCC 1554).
5 The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
All seven of the men have Greek names, as is fitting since they will be assisting Greek culture Christian widows who probably did not speak Aramaic. St. Stephen will become a pivotal figure in the continuing narrative in Acts of the Apostles as will St. Philip. The martyrdom of St. Stephen in Acts 7:59 will end the Jerusalem section of the early Church’s mission in Acts, and St. Philip will begin the movement of the Church’s mission into Samaria in Chapter 8.
6 They presented these men to the Apostles, who prayed and laid hands on them.
The Apostles ordained seven men by “the laying on of hands,” a means of transferring power. The ritual act of “laying-on-of-hands” was a transfer of power/authority that was also part of the ordination ritual for the Levitical lesser ministers (Num 8:10), the commissioning of Joshua (Num 27:18), and the symbolic transfer of life for atonement or consecration in the sacrificial rites (Ex 29:10). The seven men are the Church’s first deacons, and it is clear from this passage that the diaconate is a sacred office of apostolic origin. In about AD 107, St. Ignatius Bishop of Antioch will write: “Let everyone revere the deacons as Jesus Christ, the bishop as the image of the Father, and the presbyters as the senate of God and the assembly of the Apostles. For without them, one cannot speak of the Church” (Ad Trall. 3.1).
The Catholic Church teaches that the degrees of priestly participation (episcopate/bishops and presbyterate/priests) and the degree of service (diaconate) are all conferred by an act of ordination that is the Sacrament of Holy Orders (see CCC 1554). For the laying-on-of-hands in the sacramental rites of the Church today, see CCC 699, 1150, 1288, 1504, 1538, 1558, and 1573.
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Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission
