{"id":39125,"date":"2026-02-05T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T12:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=39125"},"modified":"2026-02-05T20:32:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T01:32:52","slug":"eunuchs-in-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/biblical-topics\/bible-interpretation\/eunuchs-in-the-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"Eunuchs in the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"

But he said to them, \u201cNot everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u2014Matthew 19:11\u201312<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Stephen<\/a>

Stephen J. Patterson discusses what Jesus meant when he referred to \u201ceunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

Should the above words of Jesus<\/a> from the Gospel of Matthew<\/a> be taken literally? Is he saying that men\u2014who can\u2014should emasculate themselves?<\/p>\n

The initial question that prompted this controversial teaching about eunuchs in the Bible actually concerned marriage.<\/p>\n

When asked about marriage<\/a> and divorce in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus informs his crowd that anyone who divorces\u2014other than for reasons of unchastity\u2014and marries another, commits adultery (Matthew 19:9).<\/p>\n

Upon hearing this, his disciples respond, \u201cIf such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry\u201d (Matthew 19:10). Jesus then says there are indeed some who are called to be eunuchs \u201cfor the sake of the kingdom of heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is a \u201ceunuch\u201d in the Bible passage? Is Jesus talking literally about castration\u2014or just metaphorically about celibacy<\/a>? Stephen J. Patterson, the George H. Atkinson Chair of Religious and Ethical Studies at Willamette University, addresses this question about eunuchs in the Bible in his Biblical Views column \u201cPunch Thy Neighbor<\/a>\u201d in the May\/June 2015 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review<\/em><\/a>. He believes that the passage should be taken literally\u2014that Jesus is talking about castration:<\/p>\n

Scholars squeamish at the thought of Christian castrati have sometimes insisted that this passage must be referring metaphorically to celibacy. But that is nonsense. If Matthew\u2019s author had meant to speak of celibates (parthenoi<\/em>), he knew perfectly well how to do that. In a religious context, eunuch<\/em> had to mean eunuch<\/em>, else he would simply have confused his audience. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus advises men (who can) to emasculate themselves!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This interpretation is as controversial and countercultural today as it would have been in the days of Jesus\u2014a time saturated with masculine dominance and power. In the Roman world of \u201cphallo-dominance,\u201d castration would have set anyone apart. Stephen J. Patterson explains that Matthew\u2019s eunuchs \u201cremov[ed] the thing that ancients most associated with male power and dominance. This is how they chose to embody the kingdom of heaven on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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