‘I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church that is at Cenchreae, that you receive her in the Lord, worthily of the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may have need of you, for she herself also has been a helper of many, and of my own self.'
Phoebe may well have been the one who bore Paul's letter to Rome. Letters of commendation were a regular feature of the times and enabled travellers to find a welcome in places where they themselves were unknown. She is described as ‘a servant (diakonon) of the church which is in Cenchreae' (8 miles from Corinth), a service being fulfilled by being ‘a helper of many'. This probably refers to compassionate help to the poor and the sick, and possibly ministry among women, rather than to official ministerial help. ‘And to myself' indicates that the designations are not necessarily to be seen as official. It is doubtful whether at this time there were official ‘deaconesses' in the churches, but if not, Phoebe clearly came close to it.
She was to be ‘received in the LORD', that is, accepted as a genuine fellow-Christian, and ‘worthily of the saints (fellow-Christians)', that is as befits those who love their brothers and sisters. It was clear that she had some purpose in coming to Rome, a purpose that might need assistance from ‘locals' and he urges the church to supply that need, in view of the fact that she has regularly been a supplier of assistance to the needy, and even to himself.