The Definition of Economy

Word Studies

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words

DISPENSATION

oikonomia (oikonomia, 3622) primarily signifies “the management of a household or of household affairs” (oikos, “a house,” nomos, “a law”); then the management or administration of the property of others, and so “a stewardship,” Luke 16:2-4; elsewhere only in the epistles of Paul, who applies it (a) to the responsibility entrusted to him of preaching the gospel, 1 Cor. 9:17 (RV, “stewardship,” KJV, “dispensation”); (b) to the stewardship committed to him “to fulfill the Word of God,” the fulfillment being the unfolding of the completion of the divinely arranged and imparted cycle of truths which are consummated in the truth relating to the church as the body of Christ, Col. 1:25 (RV and KJV, “dispensation”); so in Eph. 3:2, of the grace of God given him as a stewardship (“dispensation”) in regard to the same “mystery”; (c) in Eph. 1:10 and 3:9, it is used of the arrangement or administration by God, by which in “the fullness of the times” (or seasons) God will sum up all things in the heavens and on earth in Christ. In Eph. 3:9 some mss. have koinônia, “fellowship,” for oikonomia, “dispensation.” In 1 Tim. 1:4 oikonomia may mean either a stewardship in the sense of (a) above, or a “dispensation” in the sense of (c). The reading oikodomia, “edifying,” in some mss., is not to be accepted. See STEWARDSHIP.¶

Note: A “dispensation” is not a period or epoch (a common, but erroneous, use of the word), but a mode of dealing, an arrangement, or administration of affairs. Cf. oikonomos, “a steward,” and oikonomeô, “to be a steward.” (174)

STEWARD, STEWARDSHIP

  1. Nouns.
    1. oikonomos (oikonomoV, 3623) primarily denoted “the manager of a household or estate” (oikos, “a house,” nemô, “to arrange”), “a steward” (such were usually slaves or freedmen), Luke 12:42; 16:1, 3, 8; 1 Cor. 4:2; Gal. 4:2, RV (KJV, “governors”); in Rom. 16:23, the “treasurer” (RV) of a city (see CHAMBERLAIN, Note); it is used metaphorically, in the wider sense, of a “steward” in general, (a) of preachers of the gospel and teachers of the Word of God, 1 Cor. 4:1; (b) of elders or bishops in churches, Titus 1:7; (c) of believers generally, 1 Pet. 4:10.¶
    2. epitropos (epitropoV, 2012) is rendered “steward” in Matt. 20:8; Luke 8:3: see GUARDIAN.
    3. oikonomia (oikonomia, 3622) is rendered “stewardship” in Luke 16:2, 3, 4, and in the RV in 1 Cor. 9:17: see DISPENSATION.
  2. Verb.
    3. oikonomeô (oikonomew, 3621), akin to A, Nos. 1 and 3, signifies “to be a house steward,” Luke 16:2.¶ In the Sept., Ps. 112:5.¶ (599-600)

Vine, W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1984.


Vine’s Expository | Wuest’s Word Studies
Vincent’s Word Studies | Interpreter’s Bible
Today’s Dictionary | New Bible Dictionary

Translations | Definitions | Word Studies

Main | Summary | Definition | Way
Steps | Experience | Goal | Quotes | Links

Copyright ©1999, 2002. Christian Websites. All Rights Reserved.