What is a Eunuch?

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Question: What is a Eunuch? Was Daniel the prophet one of them?

Answer: Being a eunuch is a purely physical situation for a male. If castration occurs in a child before puberty or he 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 sold by their parents. They did this to give the child a better life or to provide sustenance for the rest of the family. The selling of girls occurred as well.

Daniel, who was a captive by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon when he conquered Judah, was very likely one of these men. First century historian Josephus asserts that he AND his three friends were these type of people:

"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)

"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 . . . 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? " (Acts 8:27, 30-31, NKJV throughout)

According to the Bible, Queen Esther (wife of the Persian King Ahasuerus) had one assigned to serve her personal needs. This shows 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)

Only certain types of people, again based on the Bible, even if they were descendants of Aaron the High Priest they could not make certain kinds of offerings:

"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 ' " (Leviticus 21:16-18, 20)

Jesus taught in Matthew 19 that some may choose to be eunuchs (meaning someone who chooses not to marry) for the sake of serving God:

"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: . . . 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)

The idea that a person who was 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.