EUNUCH yū’ nək (סָרִיס, H6247, 2 Kings 9:32; 20:18; Isa 39:7; 56:3, 4; Jer 29:2, et al.; Dan 1; officer in Gen 37:36; 39:1; 40:2, 7; 1 Sam 8:15; 1 Kings 22:9 [cf. 2 Chron 18:8]; 2 Kings 8:6; 24:12, 15; 25:19; 1 Chron 28:1; chamberlain in 2 Kings 23:11; Esth 1-7; LXX and NT εὐνοῦχος, G2336, eunuch, Gen 37:36; Isa 39:7; and LXX σπάδων, eunuch). A male officer of the court or household of a ruler, and often one who had been castrated. סָרִיס, H6247, is prob. a loan word from Akkad. ša rēši, “he of the head,” a shorter form of Assyrian ša rēš šarri, “he of the head of the king,” indicating a courtier or confidant (cf. Rab Saris). The meaning “castrated one” was secondary, arising from the preference of rulers for such men in offices involving contact with the women of their households. It is therefore improbable that all those designated סָרִיס, H6247, in the OT were eunuchs, but in most cases it is not possible to decide by other than the probabilities of the context whether the meaning “official,” or “eunuch official” is more appropriate. There are passages in which the sense “eunuch” seems unlikely (Gen 37-40; 1 Kings 22:9; 2 Kings 8:6; 9:32; 20:18; 23:11; 1 Chron 28:1; Jer 34:19; 52:25); whereas in others it seems probable (1 Sam 8:15; 2 Kings 24:12, 15; Isa 39:7; Jer 38:7; 41:16, and Esth). The term is applied to men of Egypt (Gen 40:2), Assyria (2 Kings 20:18), Babylonia (Dan), Persia (Esth), and Israel.

In the NT, an Ethiopian is described as an eunuch (Acts 8:27-39), and a reference to eunuchs by Jesus is reported in Matthew 19:12.

Bibliography Arndt, 323, 324; AIs, 121; K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and Old Testament (1966), 165, 166.