What is a Eunuch?
Were Daniel and his three friends made Eunuchs?

Q. Was Daniel the prophet made a eunuch? What is a Eunuch?

(Submitted by: Jennifer)

A. Well, Jen, this is a purely physical situation for a male. If a child before puberty is castrated or damages his male gonads, he will not develop the ability to procreate, nor perform sexually and therefore is generally safe to guard the women of the king or high official's harem. These children were usually slaves or were sold by their parents to either give the child a better life or to provide sustenance for the rest of the family or were taken in war as captives. Both boys and girls in some cultures are sold into slavery for just this purpose.

Daniel, who was taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon when he conquered Judah, was very likely a eunuch. First century historian Josephus asserts that not only Daniel but also his three friends were made eunuchs:

"But now Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, took some of the most noble of the Jews that were children, and the kinsmen of Zedekiah their king, such as were remarkable for the beauty of their bodies, and the comeliness of their countenances, and delivered them into the hands of tutors, and to the improvement to be made by them. He also made some of them to be eunuchs . . . Now among these there were four of the family of Zedekiah, of most excellent dispositions, one of whom was called Daniel, another was called Ananias, another Misael, and the fourth Azarias; and the King of Babylon changed their names, and commanded that they should make use of other names.

Daniel he (the King) called Baltasar; Ananias, Shadrach; Misael, Meshach; and Azarias, Abednego. These the King had in esteem, and continued to love, because of the very excellent temper they were of, and because of their application to learning, and the progress they had made in wisdom." (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 10, Chapter 10, first paragraph)

The New Testament also refers to eunuchs. Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, sent one of her eunuchs to Jerusalem to worship the Creator God of the Hebrews. As the Eunuch was drawing closer to Jerusalem Philip, one of the leaders in the early New Testament church, was sent by God to explain and preach the gospel to him:

"Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."  This is desert.  So he arose and went.  And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning.  And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.  Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot."

"So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"  And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?  And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. . . " (Acts 8:26-31, NKJV)

Queen Esther who was the wife of the Persian King Ahasuerus had a eunuch assigned to serve her personal needs, showing that in this time period it was common for the women of the household to be attended by castrated males:

"Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai, to learn what and why this was." (Esther 4:5)

If a person was a Eunuch, and one of the descendents of Aaron the High Priest, he could not make an offering of bread or offering made by fire to God:

"And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron, saying: 'No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God . . . a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb too long . . . or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch.  No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord.  He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God . . . ' " (Leviticus 21:16-18, 20-21, NKJV)

Jesus taught in Matthew 19 that some may choose to be a eunuch (someone who chooses not to marry) for the sake of dedicating themselves to serving God and preaching the Gospel:

"They (the Pharisees) said to Him (Jesus), "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"  He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. . . ."

"His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."

"But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  He who is able to accept it, let him accept it." " (Matthew 19:7-8, 10-12, NKJV)

The idea that even a eunuch could be baptized, draw close to God and eventually be begotten into God's family shows the impartiality of our Father in all things. It also shows the better covenant made through Jesus and why (in part) the old covenant became obsolete.