Both “servants” (hypēretai) and “those entrusted” (oikonomoi) could refer to trusted helpers or estate managers (cf. Gen. 39:4). They are managers of God’s mysteries. Paul, here as in other places, uses the phrase “mysteries of God” (NIV: “mysteries God has revealed”) as a synonym for the gospel—the cross message, God’s wisdom (e.g., 2:7; 14:2; Eph. 1:9; 3:3–10). It is a “mystery” not because it is designed only for a few divinely initiated, as in the mystery religions, but because it runs contrary