Let them also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, if they are blameless.
This is a very important point to be noted, because in it lies the certainty that the women to be mentioned in the same breath are the wives of both elders and deacons, the same requirements in their wives being mandatory for both.  The testing mentioned here applies to both elders and deacons; and the qualification of their wives also applies to the wives of both classes of officers.