Can you tell me what the word eunuch means please?
The simple standard dictionary definition adequately portrays the two ordinary meanings of the word “eunuch” as it is used in the Bible: “a castrated man placed in charge of a harem or employed as a chamberlain in a palace.”1 (Emphasis added, ler.) Anciently, a castrated male was entrusted with the care and safety of females because he was personally incapable of compromising their chastity. Further, typically eunuchs were trustworthy and loyal toward their masters. Owing to their dedication, they often were employed in other capacities in the administration of a king. Sometimes, the word eunuch (or another English word that nevertheless is translated from an original language word meaning “eunuch”) apparently does not refer to a castrated male. Therefore, a Hebrew, Greek or English word meaning “eunuch” may refer to a castrated male, a male not castrated but serving in a capacity of importance in a kingdom or a castrated male serving in some capacity of importance in a kingdom.
The usual, literal reference to a eunuch, though, was to a castrated male. This is evident from a portion of the discourse of Jesus Christ about marriage and divorce that appears in Matthew 19. “For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it” (Matthew 19:12). Those who are born eunuchs, from birth due to physical defect, will never be able father children. Those who are made eunuchs are castrated or neutered. Jesus mentioned these two ordinary, literary circumstances as the basis for making a figurative application respecting the context (Matthew 19:3-9) in which he discussed marriage and divorce. In this context, those who make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom’s sake voluntarily refrain from contracting unlawful marriages, that is, they have no approval from God to enter into another marriage if their divorce from the previous marriage was not because they were the innocent party of a divorce for the cause of fornication (Matthew 19:9). These following observations from various resources corroborate the data in the two preceding paragraphs.
Primarily and literally, a eunuch is an emasculated man (Deut 23:1). … the kings of Israel and Judah followed their royal neighbors in employing eunuchs (1) as guardians of the harem (2 Kings 9:32; Jer 41:16), and (2) in military and other official posts (1 Sam 8:15 margin; 1 Kings 22:9 margin; 2 Kings 8:6 margin; 23:11 the King James Version margin; 24:12-13 margin; 25:19 margin; 1 Chron 28:1 margin; 2 Chron 18:8 margin; Jer 29:2; 34:19; 38:7; compare Gen 37:36; 40:2,7; Acts 8:27).2
… a male servant of a royal household in Bible times. Such servants were often emasculated by castration as a precautionary measure, especially if they served among the wives in a ruler’s harem (2 Kings 9:32). The New Testament reported the conversion of a eunuch from Ethiopia under the ministry of PHILIP the evangelist (Acts 8:26-38).3
We must remember that both the Heb. and Gk. terms were sometimes applied to those filling important posts, without regard to bodily mutilation. … Figurative. The term is employed figuratively by our Lord (Matt 19:12) with reference to the power, whether possessed as a natural disposition or acquired as a property of grace, of maintaining an attitude of indifference toward fleshly desires and temptations.4
… in Mt. 19:12 the meaning ‘castrate’ is beyond doubt. In this last passage three classes of eunuch are mentioned, namely, born eunuchs, man-made eunuchs and spiritual eunuchs. The last class includes all those who sacrificed legitimate, natural desires for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.5
Under Judaism, eunuchs faced certain restrictions respecting Tabernacle (and later Temple) worship (Deuteronomy 23:1; Leviticus 21:15), but being a eunuch did not alienate God’s affection from this segment of his people (Isaiah 56:3). The Hebrew word “caric” appears 42 times in Old Testament and is often translated “eunuch,” sometimes when it refers to castrated males (2 Kings 20:17-18; Isaiah 39:7). Other references, some of which are translated “eunuch” (Jeremiah 38:7; 52:25), “officer” (Genesis 37:36) and “chamberlain” (2 Kings 23:11), indicate important political or military responsibilities with which eunuchs were entrusted. The Greek noun for “eunuch” (a transliteration) appears seven times in the New Testament, twice in Matthew 19:12 and the balance in Acts Eight respecting the Ethiopian convert. The Greek verb for “eunuch” (also a transliteration) appears three times in Matthew 19:12. See Internet articles that also treat the subject of “eunuchs” at:
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2000/feb/page3.shtml and
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2001/dec/page2.htm
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1 Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated) 1993.
2 International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia. Electronic Database. (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft) 1996.
3 Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers)1986.
4 The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. (Chicago, IL: Moody Press) 1988.
5 The New Bible Dictionary. (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1962.
