Home church

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Leaving Church

Thousands of people are leaving what is called the Church daily. Looking at what is sometimes posing as Church today it is no wonder that so many people think they do not need “Church”. When Jesus said he would build His church he was not talking about a building nor does the original term we translate into Church mean an "assembly".

Many people have a problem with the modern version of an organized Church. One problem seems the way the Church is organized and what we think when we hear the word "organized" today. People can be so soured by their experience so that they begin to oppose anything organized like religion or even government. The Modern Church is seldom organized like, nor function in the same way, nor seemingly for the same purposes as the early Church.

Some Christian groups choose to meet in houses for a variety of reasons. They may find what is posing as the Church authoritarian, manipulative, greedy, or superfluous. Home Church groups may offer an intimacy and personalization the large church gathering cannot provide. It may certainly be cheaper than meeting in a dedicated building.

Some believe small churches were a deliberate apostolic pattern in the first century, and they were intended by Christ from the beginning. There seems to be evidence of that intent but we need to seek the whole plan of God and His righteousness.

House Church revisited

What is a house church?

The phrase "Home church" is used to describe having a church type gathering at someone's house and is a part of the modern house church movement which some acclaim as a rediscovery of the New Testament or first century Christian Church.

A House church group may be a part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish or network, but also may be independent groups that see the house church as the primary practice of the early Christian community. ut what was that early Church do and how did it function in the world?

Do we have a complete picture are we missing certain key elements of the local Christian community and the society of Christians who survived the decline and fall of the Roman empire and the degeneration of the Imperial Cult of Rome?

The early home Church

Is the home Church movement seeing clearly what the early church was doing?

While there can be no doubt that early Christians gathered in small groups often meeting in homes rather than in special building like we see being done today it is important to look deeper into the function, purpose, and motivation of the early Christian community.

Why were they meeting at all? What were they doing at these home gatherings and how did those gatherings relate to the activity of Paul and the other saints in the scriptures?




Ekklesia

The word Church could be used in a general sense to describe everyone following the way of Christ. Or it could be used to describe a more specific group of people. People even use it to describe a building. But that is not how the term was used in the original text.

The word Ekklesia did not really mean an assembly as much as it meant a called out group for a particular purpose.

Words like agora and paneguris as well as heorte, koinon, thiasos can all mean an assembly. There are other words in the Greek that can mean a small assembly of people like sumposion [1] used in Mark 6:39 when Christ commanded the people be assembled in familiar patterns of tens. The Greek words sunagoge[2] and sunago[3] or even sunalizo a verb that means "to gather together, assemble" [4] all contain the root of the word synagogue but none of them mean the same as ekklesia.

The authors of the Bible used the term ekklesia for a good reason. The word ekklesia was often used as a political term in the Greek. This makes perfect sense if we accept the idea that Jesus was the King of the Kingdom of God at hand. In classical Greek "ekklesia" meant "an assembly of citizens summoned by the crier, the legislative assembly."[5]

The disciples were called out much like Moses called out the Levites to be separate and do service to the congregations of the people. Those Levites were the called out by Moses and appointed by his authority to become the "Church in the wilderness".

The Kingdom

Jesus told the people what His plan was when He explained what He intended to the Pharisees and others who sat in the seat of Moses. He was going to take the kingdom away from them and appoint it to another group, His little flock, so they could bear fruit that the existing ministers of the Kingdom of God were not producing.[6]

He was not going to take that government away from them by force or even establish that Kingdom of Heaven at hand by the use of force. They would denounce there position out of their own mouths[7] and Jesus would establish His Kingdom of God by His sacrifice and through the faith, hope and charity through love of believers who were willing to repent and live according to The Way which James calls the perfect law of liberty.


Disappointing Church

Millions of people are disappointed or dissatisfied with what some people call the institutional Church. Certainly, Churches and the 40,000 denominations of churches are operating in a drastically different way than the first century Church. Are people disappointed or dissatisfied with God and Jesus or are they dissatisfied and unfulfilled by the practices of the Modern Church? Many people are finding the home Church more responsive, more intimate, more fulfilling but are all home churches doing what Christ fully intended?

While there is little doubt Christians commonly met in houses what Christ intended and what the early Church was doing reached far beyond local fellowship meetings in the homes of believers. There is also little doubt that Christ wanted us to set ourselves down in small intimate groups or companies or what the Greeks called sumposion[8] since He actually commanded his disciples to "make" the people do so.[9] But He also commanded that those companies gather in ranks of Tens.


Jesus was the highest son of David which made him the rightful heir to the throne, the rightful king of a nation. Israel was not a government like other governments of the world of the Gentiles that exercise authority one over the other but He came to set men free. For hundreds of years, early Israel had operated with no taxation except the freewill offerings of tithes to individual Levites "according to their service".[10]

The scriptures tell us that the people had rejected God when they elected to have a ruler over them in 1 Samuel 8. Jesus told the Pharisees that if they actually knew Moses they would have also known Him. Evidently what the Pharisees thought they knew about Moses was wrong. Their Corban was not like that of the Corban spoken of by Moses and so somehow it was "making the word of God to none effect".

Both Moses and Jesus told the people to love their neighbor as themselves.[11] Certainly they have expressed that love in many home Churches. They have helped one another in far more intimate, financial, and practical ways. This love is part of the keys to their success. But all home churches are not successful. But what is a successful church?

A successful church is one that does what Christ intended and propagates his doctrines and ordinances. But if we are to do what Christ intended was must look at the whole gospel.

Both Jesus and Moses called out a group of men to serve the people and placed certain restrictions on that body of public servants. They both appointed 70 men who were blessed with the Holy Spirit. In both the Old and New Testament there were also at least one group of 7 men appointed to help with a daily ministration.

Stretching Scripture

The departure from organized Church can bring condemnation and accusation from the mainstream Church, other Christians and even create feelings of personal guilt. In order to justify that departure from the orthodox view church assembly people will search the scriptures in order to transform the modern view into something, they find more accessible and acceptable.

We should closely and honestly examine why so many people are asking "how does the Bible portray the church?"[12] Unfortunately, some people may stretch the original meaning of the text to justify the home Church movement as they wish to see it and experience it. The use of quotes to associate church with a house gathering can lead people to miss or fall short of some of the primary purposes and functions of those early seekers of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

If we are going to conform to Christ and His appointed Church we should do so to find the whole truth about the gospel of the kingdom and what it meant to them back in those ancient times and what it can and should mean to us today.

House

One of the first scriptures quoted by some home Church advocates point to where the Church was called “God’s household” in some translations in the King James version of 1 Timothy 3:15 we see:

"But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

In 1 Timothy 3:15 we find the Greek noun "oikos"[13] meaning a "house". But the phrase "house of God" appears numerous times in the gospels[14] as a specific reference to the tabernacle where the shewbread was eaten by David.


But the word we see translated "house" which is oikos[13] did not just mean a building or the house on the street where you live any more than the word for "Church" which is ekklesia in the Greek meant a building where you met on Sunday or Sabbath.

Both these words can be used in different ways to imply different sense to the word depending on their context. Context is not only the sentence they are used in but the whole context of scripture and the times in which they are written.

The word "oikos" could mean "all the persons forming one family" "the family of God, of the Christian Church" or even the "descendants" of a family. The word appears more than a hundred times in the Bible including references to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel"[15] and a reference to the temple as the "house of God"[16] or the temple where Christ calling it "My house" "the house of prayer" and then cast out the moneychangers.[17]

Several passages in the Bible seems to specifically mention churches meeting in houses.

  • 1 Corinthians 16:19 "The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house."
  • Romans 16:3-5 "Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise [greet] the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
  • Philemon 1:2 "And to [our] beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:"
  • Colossians 4:15 "Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house."

All these verses could be talking about people gathering in someone's house if "oikos" only meant someone's house and not "all the persons forming one family" or the "descendants" of a family and the word "ekklesia" simply meant a gathering or assembly of congregants.

Household

There are several words in the New Testament translated "household". One of the first appearances is when Jesus warns us in Matthew 10:25 and Matthew 10:36[18] that his disciples will be falsely accused or even demonized. The noun "oikiakos"[19] only appears in the Bible in these two verses and is referring to "one belonging to a house". The belonging to a house does not necessarily mean family house. In the first verse, we also see the phrase "master of the house"[18] as a phrase referencing Jesus as Lord and master of His house translated from the word "oikodespotes" [20] which is more commonly translated householder or goodman of the house but clearly means someone who has rule over a house.

Household of God

We see the phrase "house of God" three times in the epistles in a much different context. Of course, 1 Timothy 3:15 which we have seen but also in Hebrews and Peter.[21] None of this has anything to do with church service in the home. If we misapply verses or the original meaning of words in scripture we can easily miss their intended message of the author.

We also see the phrase "household of God" where the adjective "oikeios"[22] is used in Ephesians 2:19.[23] The term "oikeios" is describing someone who is seen as " belonging to a house or family". So the text is talking about people who belong to the "house of God" which could also be another way of saying the "children of God" which is another common Phrase in the text.[24]

And finally we see the phrase house or "household of faith" mentioned in Galatians 6[25]

Service Rendered

Now another word translated "household" is the completely different Greek word "therapeia"[26] meaning a "service rendered by one to another" which is found in Matthew 24:45, Luke 9:11, Luke 12:42 , and Revelation 22:.2[27] As we can see this noun does not mean your house or s house but has to do with a "service rendered by one to another" specifically a "medical service: curing, healing" "of a nation" orit can refer to a "body of attendants, servants".[26]

In Luke 12:42 we see several interesting words that Jesus said, "And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward[28], whom his lord shall make ruler[29] over his household[26], to give them their portion of meat[30] in due season?"

People had a choice when Christ came to obtain their "portion of meat" from the Church ministers appointed by Christ or from the Caesar's administers apointed by Rome. Caesar and the Pharisees were using force and the apostles and the Church were using charity which is the service of love in action to rightly divide the bread from house to house.

This was what the doctor ordered. This is what Jesus the teacher was saying and if we were not doing this we were not considered believers by the early Church. Until John the baptist everyone was trying to use systems like socialism to establish their kingdoms or government utopias by force. Jesus was preaching a kingdom of love and charity and appointed his Little flock the responsibility to see that His people, His sheep, lived by that charity. Unlike the governments of the world, they could not exercise authority one over the other.

Early Church

We clearly see Jesus “calling out” a small group of men he calls his little flock. He then "appoints" to them "a kingdom" but also "commanded" to gather in groups of Tens and forbid them to “exercise authority one over the other” like the “governments” of the "world".

We see the early Church complying with that command and providing all the social welfare for a broad Christian community that had spread across the Roman Empire. They were eventually persecuted because they would not apply to the temples of Caesar for his "free bread" and welfare benefits. Those benefits of Rome were considered to be deceitful dainties[31] and real Christians had no appetite for those wages of unrighteousness. because that would be coveting their neighbor's goods through men who call themselves benefactors but exercise authority. The called out appointed men, the Church, were benefactors locally and internationally, as we see in acts rightly dividing bread from house to house, providing a "daily ministration" and international relief during economic "dearths". They were able to do this is because they organized the people by a network of voluntary "companies" of tens which were connected through servant ministers of these called out public servants all across the world as Jesus "commanded". The modern Church and even home church groups say it is okay to apply to the rulers of the governments who exercise authority taking from their neighbor to obtain their social welfare benefits which practices do seem to go against Christ and the prophets who said we should not covet nor desire the wages of unrighteousness.



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Footnotes

  1. ↑ 4849 ~συμπόσιον~ sumposion \@soom-pos’-ee-on\@ from a derivative of the alternate of 4844; ; n n AV-company 1, not tr. 1; Repeated twice in Mark 6:39
    1) a drinking party, entertainment
    1a) of the party itself, the guests
    1b) rows of guests
    "The symposium (or symposion) was an important part of ancient Greek culture from the 7th century BCE and was a party held in a private home where Greek males gathered to drink, eat and sing together. Various topics were also discussed such as philosophy, politics, poetry and the issues of the day."
    " The equivalent of a Greek symposium in Roman society is the Latin convivium."
    A Roman convivium according to Marcus Tullius Cicero for the republican period and Seneca suggest that ten to twelve was the maximum number.
    Plato in his "Laws" endorses the benefits of the symposium as a means to test and promote virtue in citizens.
  2. ↑ 4864 ~συναγωγή~ sunagoge \@soon-ag-o-gay’\@ from (the reduplicated form of) 4863; TDNT-7:798,1107; {See TDNT 764} n f AV-synagogue 55, congregation 1, assembly 1; 57
    1) a bringing together, gathering (as of fruits), a contracting
    2) in the NT, an assembling together of men, an assembly of men
    3) a synagogue
    3a) an assembly of Jews formally gathered together to offer prayers and listen to the reading and expositions of the scriptures; assemblies of that sort were held every sabbath and feast day, afterwards also on the second and fifth days of every week; name transferred to an assembly of Christians formally gathered together for religious purposes
    3b) the buildings where those solemn Jewish assemblies are held. Synagogues seem to date their origin from the Babylonian exile. In the times of Jesus and the apostles every town, not only in Palestine, but also among the Gentiles if it contained a considerable number of Jewish inhabitants, had at least one synagogue, the larger towns several or even many. These were also used for trials and inflicting punishment.
    • For Synonyms see entry 5897
  3. ↑ 4863 ~συνάγω~ sunago \@soon-ag’-o\@ from 4862 (with) and 71 (bring); ; v AV-gather 15, be gathered together 12, gather together 9, come together 6, be gathered 4, be assembled 3, take in 3, misc 10; 62
    1) to gather together, to gather
    1a) to draw together, collect
    1a1) of fishes
    1a2) of a net in which they are caught
    2) to bring together, assemble, collect
    2a) to join together, join in one (those previously separated)
    2b) to gather together by convoking
    2c) to be gathered i.e. come together, gather, meet
    3) to lead with one’s self
    3a) into one’s home, i.e. to receive hospitably, to entertain
  4. ↑ 4871 ~συναλίζω~ sunalizo \@soon-al-id’-zo\@ from 4862 and halizo (to throng); ; v AV-assemble together 1; 1
    1) to gather together, assemble
    2) to be assembled, meet with
  5. ↑ Liddell and Scott define ekklesia as "an assembly of citizens summoned by the crier, the legislative assembly." [R. Scott, and H.G. Liddell, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 206.] Thayer's lexicon says, "an assembly of the people convened at the public place of council for the purpose of deliberating" [J. H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 196]. Trench gives the meaning as "the lawful assembly in a free Greek city of all those possessed of the rights of citizenship, for the transaction of public affairs" [Richard Chenevix Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, 7th ed., pp. 1-2]. Seyffert's dictionary states, "The assembly of the people, which in Greek cities had the power of final decision in public affairs" [Oskar Seyffert, A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, pp. 202-203].From "fully after the LORD" by Steve Flinchum http://www.bryanstation.com/flinchum-fully.htm
  6. ↑ Matthew 21:43 "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."
  7. ↑ John 19:15 "But they cried out, Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar."
  8. ↑ 4849 ~συμπόσιον~ sumposion \@soom-pos’-ee-on\@ from a derivative of the alternate of 4844; ; n n AV-company 1, not tr. 1; Repeated twice in Mark 6:39
    1) a drinking party, entertainment
    1a) of the party itself, the guests
    1b) rows of guests
    "The symposium (or symposion) was an important part of ancient Greek culture from the 7th century BCE and was a party held in a private home where Greek males gathered to drink, eat and sing together. Various topics were also discussed such as philosophy, politics, poetry and the issues of the day."
    " The equivalent of a Greek symposium in Roman society is the Latin convivium."
    A Roman convivium according to Marcus Tullius Cicero for the republican period and Seneca suggest that ten to twelve was the maximum number.
    Plato in his "Laws" endorses the benefits of the symposium as a means to test and promote virtue in citizens.
  9. ↑ Mark 6:39 "And he "commanded" them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass."
  10. ↑ Numbers 7:5 "Take [it] of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service."
  11. ↑ Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I [am] the LORD.
    Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine : enemy.
    Matthew 19:19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
    Matthew 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
    Mark 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
    Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
    Luke 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
    Romans 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
    Romans 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
    Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
    James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
  12. ↑ https://www.allaboutgod.com/house-church.htm
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 3624 ~οἶκος~ oikos \@oy’-kos\@ of uncertain affinity; n m AV-house 104, household 3, home + 1519 2, at home + 1722 2, misc 3; 114
    1) a house
    1a) an inhabited house, home
    1b) any building whatever
    1b1) of a palace
    1b2) the house of God, the tabernacle
    1c) any dwelling place
    1c1) of the human body as the abode of demons that possess it
    1c2) of tents, and huts, and later, of the nests, stalls, lairs, of animals
    1c3) the place where one has fixed his residence, one’s settled abode, domicile
    2) the inmates of a house, all the persons forming one family, a household
    2a) the family of God, of the Christian Church, of the church of the Old and New Testaments
    3) stock, family, descendants of one
  14. ↑ Matthew 12:4 How he entered into the house <3624> of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
    Mark 2:26 How he went into the house <3624> of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?
    Luke 6:4 How he went into the house <3624> of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?
  15. ↑ Matthew 10:6 "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
    Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
  16. ↑ Matthew 12:4 "How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?"
  17. ↑ Matthew 21:13 "And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Matthew 10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
    Matthew 10:36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
  19. ↑ 3609 ~οἰκεῖος~ oikeios \@oy-ki’-os\@ from 3624; TDNT-5:134,674; {See TDNT 539} adj AV-of the household 2, of (one’s) own house 1; 3
    1) belonging to a house or family, domestic, intimate
    1a) belonging to one’s household, related by blood, kindred
    1b) belonging to the household of God
    1c) belonging, devoted to, adherents of a thing
  20. ↑ 3617 ~οἰκοδεσπότης~ oikodespotes \@oy-kod-es-pot’-ace\@ from 3624 and 1203; TDNT-2:49,145; {See TDNT 178} n m AV-householder 4, goodman of the house 4, master of the house 3, goodman 1; 12
    1) master of the house, householder
  21. ↑ Hebrews 10:21 And having an high priest over the house <3624> of God;
    1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house <3624> of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
  22. ↑ 3609 ~οἰκεῖος~ oikeios \@oy-ki’-os\@ from 3624 "house"; TDNT-5:134,674; {See TDNT 539} adj AV-of the household 2, of (one’s) own house 1; 3
    1) belonging to a house or family, domestic, intimate
    1a) belonging to one’s household, related by blood, kindred
    1b) belonging to the household of God
    1c) belonging, devoted to, adherents of a thing
  23. ↑ Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household <3609> of God;
  24. ↑ Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
    Luke 20:36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
    John 11:52 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
    Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
    Romans 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
    Romans 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
    Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
    1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
    1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
  25. ↑ Galatians 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household <3609> of faith.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 2322 ~θεραπεία~ therapeia \@ther-ap-i’-ah\@ from 2323 therapeuo which is commonly translated heal and cure but at least once translated worship; TDNT-3:131,331; {See TDNT 307} n f AV-household 2, healing 2; 4
    1) service rendered by one to another
    2) spec. medical service: curing, healing
    3) household service
    3a) body of attendants, servants, domestics
  27. ↑ Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household <2322>, to give them meat in due season?
    Luke 9:11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed2390> them that had need of healing <2322>.
    Luke 12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward<3623 oikonomos (house law)>, whom his lord shall make ruler<make, ordain 2525> over his household <2322>, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
    Revelation 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing <2322> of the nations.
  28. ↑ 3623 ~οἰκονόμος~ oikonomos \@oy-kon-om’-os\@ from 3624 oikos meaning house and the base of 3551 nomos meaning law; TDNT-5:149,674; {See TDNT 539} n m AV-steward 8, chamberlain 1, governor 1; 10
    1) the manager of household or of household affairs
    1a) esp. a steward, manager, superintendent (whether free-born or as was usually the case, a freed-man or a slave) to whom the head of the house or proprietor has intrusted the management of his affairs, the care of receipts and expenditures, and the duty of dealing out the proper portion to every servant and even to the children not yet of age
    1b) the manager of a farm or landed estate, an overseer
    1c) the superintendent of the city’s finances, the treasurer of a city (or of treasurers or quaestors of kings)
    2) metaph. the apostles and other Christian teachers and bishops and overseers
  29. ↑ 2525 ~καθίστημι~ kathistemi \@kath-is’-tay-mee\@ from 2596 and 2476; v AV-make 8, make ruler 6, ordain 3, be 2, appoint 1, conduct 1, set 1; 22
    1) to set, place, put
    1a) to set one over a thing (in charge of it)
    1b) to appoint one to administer an office
    1c) to set down as, constitute, to declare, show to be
    1d) to constitute, to render, make, cause to be
    1e) to conduct or bring to a certain place
    1f) to show or exhibit one’s self
    1f1) come forward as
    Ordain#An_Appointment_Ex_Officio
  30. ↑ 4620 σιτόμετρον sitometron sit-om’-et-ron from 4621 wheat or grain and 3358 measure; ; n n AV-portion of meat 1; 1
    1) a measured ‘portion of’ grain or ‘food’
  31. ↑ Proverbs 23:1 ¶ When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee:
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