The apostles showed wisdom by calling a meeting of all the Christians to resolve the dispute. They understood that the problem was very serious. They also knew their priority was teaching God's word. They decided to choose men who were wise and filled with the Holy Spirit to manage the food distribution.
The community agreed with the plan the apostles proposed. They selected capable leaders from the Christians who spoke Greek (all of their names are Greek). These seven men focused on this special task, allowing the apostles to pray and teach.
These seven men are sometimes called the first deacons because their role is similar to that of the office of deacon (see 1 Timothy 3:8–13). Although the Greek term translated “deacon” (Greek diakonos, “servant”) is not used here, a related Greek word is translated "to wait on tables" (6:2; Greek diakonein, “to serve”).