The Economy of God and The Stewardship of Men

The Economy of God and The Stewardship of Men:
Exegetical and Lexical Word Studies
Economy of God - Meaning

Meaning of Oikonomia, Oikonomos, and Oikonomeo
A Lexical Study

The word oikonomia is rendered as “stewardship” and “economy” in the above verses. In the LXX of the Old Testament (OT) it is only found in Isaiah 22:19, 21, where there is reference to the “stewardship” of the servant Eliakim who was given the key of David (22:22). In the New Testament (NT), oikonomia (derived from oikonomeo, to manage, to be a steward) is found nine times. In literature outside the NT it refers primarily to the management of a household (Goetzmann in Brown, DNTT, 2:253).

The word oikonomos is translated as “steward” in all of the above verses except for Romans 16:23, where it is “city treasurer.” In the LXX, oikonomos is used for the stewards serving under different kings: Solomon (1Kings 4:6); Asa (1Kings 16:9); Ahab (1Kings 18:3-4); Hezekiah (2Kings 18:18, 37; 19:2); and Ahasuerus (Esther 1:8; 8:9). In the NT, oikonomos (from oikos, house, and nomos, law, or nemo, to manage, to distribute) is found ten times. The oikonomos outside the NT “denotes the house-steward, and then by extension the managers of individual departments within the household” (Ibid., 2:254).

To understand both words, oikonomia and oikonomos, it is necessary to stress the root word, oikos (house). Goetzmann (Ibid., 2:255) further points out,

“In the NT, God's people (are) His house, which He builds up through the work of those He has called to the task, to whom He entrusts the stewardship of the house. They are not to look upon these household affairs as their own; they are merely stewards of the gifts entrusted to them and have to give an account of their stewardship….The work of the oikonomos is rooted in the divine oikonomia.”

In addition to the stress on oikos, it is important to see the significance of nomos, especially as it is derived from nemo, to distribute. Arndt and Gingrich give the meaning of nemo (nemomai) as “to feed, graze, pasture,” and for the cognate word, nome, pasture. In the OT these concepts are significant as they define and help to illustrate oikonomia and oikonomos. In the LXX, nome is found in Jer. 50(27):19 (“And I will restore Israel to his pasture [nome] and he shall feed [nemo] on Carmel and on mount Ephraim and in Gilead, and his soul shall be satisfied”); Song of Songs 4:5; Hosea 4:16; Micah 7:14; and others.

The word oikonomeo, to steward, to be a steward, is found just once in the NT (Luke 16:2).