{What then?} (	i oun;). He does not say 	is (who), but
	i (what), neuter singular interrogative pronoun. {Ministers}
(diakonoi). Not leaders of parties or sects, but merely
servants through whom ye believed. The etymology of the word
Thayer gives as dia and konis "raising dust by hastening." In
the Gospels it is the servant ( Mt 20:26 ) or waiter ( Joh 2:5 ).
Paul so describes himself as a minister ( Col 1:23,25 ). The
technical sense of deacon comes later ( Php 1:1  1Ti 3:8,12 ).
{As the Lord gave to him} (h(9373) ho Kurios ed(936b)en). Hence no
minister of the Lord like Apollos and Paul has any basis for
pride or conceit nor should be made the occasion for faction and
strife. This idea Paul enlarges upon through chapters  1Co 3  4 
and it is made plain in chapter  1Co 12 .