Dispensation - Definition - Walvoord

The word dispensation comes from the Greek word oikonomia, which means a stewardship or an administration. This word, which occurs nine times in the New Testament, comes from oikos (“house”) and nomos (“a law”). An oikonomos was a person who ran a household or an estate as a steward or manager. The word dispensation does not in itself involve the concept of time, but the fact that one dispensation replaces another dispensation at a certain time suggests it. Thus dispensationalism refers to the view that God has administered the world in various stages of revelation and according to various principles or standards. Four times Paul used oikonomia of a divine stewardship or administration (Eph. 1:10; 3:2, 9; Col. 1:25).

John F. Walvoord, “Dispensation,” ed. Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck, The Theological Wordbook, Swindoll Leadership Library (Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, Inc., 2000), 99.