Abstract

The Bible uses the term "eunuch" several times. The question arises as to the meaning of this term. In this article Biblical and extra-Biblical data are considered. It is argued that the Hebrew word, refers to a castrated man, and that, in biblical usage, it refers to a castrated man in terms of Israel's religion (Deut. 23:1; Is. 56:3). The term is used in a different sense when it refers to a foreign person, i.e. a person in an official capacity in a king's court (as in Gen. 37), or a military commander (as in 1 Kings 22:9; 2 Kings 8:7; 23:12; 25;19; Jer. 52:25). The reference to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 is also discussed, and the conclusion is drawn that refers to a foreign official visiting Jerusalem to worship, and not to a castrated man.

Details

Title
Eunuch in the ancient Near East
Author
Nel, M
Pages
126-142
Section
Articles
Publication year
2008
Publication date
Jun 2008
Publisher
University of the Free State Faculty of Theology
ISSN
10158758
e-ISSN
23099089
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
Afrikaans
ProQuest document ID
2183673501
Copyright
© 2008. This work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.