εὐνοῦχος,
-ου,
ὁ, (from
εὐνή a bed, and
ἔχω),
Sept. סָרִיס; from Herodotus down; properly,
a bed-keeper, bed-guard, superintendent of the bedchamber, chamberlain, in the palace of oriental monarchs who support numerous wives;
the superintendent of the women's apartment or
harem, an office held by eunuchs; hence,
a. an emasculated man, a eunuch:
Matthew 19:12b. But eunuchs in oriental courts held other offices of greater or less importance, like the oversight of the treasury, held by the Ethiopian eunuch mentioned in
Acts 8:27, 34, 36, 38f; cf.
Gesenius, Thesaurus, ii., p. 973; [
B. D. under the word Eunuch].
b. one naturally incapacitated — either for marriage, Matthew 19:12a; or
for begetting children, Wis. 3:14, cf.
Grimm, exgt. Hdb. at the passage.
c. one who voluntarily abstains from marriage:
Matthew 19:12c.
Fischer, De vitiis lexx.
N. T. etc., p. 485ff treats of the word more fully.
THAYER’S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com
BLB Scripture Index of Thayer's
-
Matthew
-
19:12; 19:12; 19:12
-
Acts
-
8:27; 8:34; 8:36; 8:38
