1 Timothy 3:10

And let these also first be proved; then let them serve as deacons, if they be blameless.

And let these also first be proved ... This requirement of having first to be tested was also mandatory in the case of the elders. As Lenski expressed it:

The fact that such a testing was to be applied also to overseers is so self-evident from the conditions laid down in 1 Timothy 3:2-8, that "also" now refers to it. Paul states that the testing is likewise quite necessary in the case of the deacons.[31]

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.