OT Characters: The Ethiopian Eunuchs

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas' <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/the-ethiopian-eunuchs/">website</a>.</p><p><strong>Eunuchs in the O.T.</strong></p><ul><li>Eunuchs were excluded from the assembly of the Lord and from the priesthood.<ul><li>“No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord" (Deut 23:1).</li><li>And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles... 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar..."</li></ul></li><li>Lev 22:24 — animals, too — unfit for offering as sacrifices.</li><li>2 Kings 9:30-33 -- Eunuchs defenestrate Jezebel.</li><li>Isa 39:7 = 2 Kings 20:28 -- Hezekiah's sons will be made into eunuchs in Babylon.</li><li>Also Jer 29:2; 34:19; 41:16.</li><li>Key passage: <strong>Jeremiah 38:1-13</strong></li><li>Esther 1:10 and throughout; Daniel 1:3-18 -- Daniel may have been a eunuch.</li><li>Important note about eunuchs and officials:<ul><li>The O.T. Hebrew word for official (<i>saris</i>) also means eunuch.</li><li>This is probably because many officials, especially those with access to the royal palace (and royal lives), were often castrated.</li></ul></li></ul><p><strong>Eunuchs in the N.T.</strong></p><ul><li>NT times: Matt 19:12 — Jesus is probably referring to eunuchs metaphorically -- those who forego marriage.</li><li>The better known Ethiopian Eunuch (<strong>Acts 8:26-40</strong>).</li><li>A Gnostic work from 180 AD names him "Simeon Bacchus." Perhaps that was his name (?).</li></ul><p>