HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE BIBLE
BIBLE STUDY
18
I am grateful to Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson of the UFMCC for pointing me in the direction of examining the “question” of eunuchs in the bible, through her book, Our Tribe. In my own research on line I discovered nearly 28,000 articles on the subject. Needless to say I did not read them all, but of the ones I did study, many listed Rev. Wilson’s book as a reference source.
Eunuchs, as we have seen, served in many important capacities during the era covered by the Bible, including acting as go-betweens or mediators, messengers, court officials, servants in women’s quarters, savior to Jeremiah, spies on occasion, and in the case of Queen Jezebel, administrators of justice.
Another role theoretically attributed to eunuchs in the Bible was the role of magician or shaman. It is interesting to note that, likewise, in Native American culture, many tribes were convinced that homosexuals were two-spirited, possessing attributes of both the male and female. Often they became the “medicine man,” (or woman), and were honored and revered by the tribe.
Rev. Wilson poses the theory that the Magi of the second chapter of Matthew were eunuchs.
“They were Zoroastrian priests, astrologers, magicians, ancient shamans from the courts of ancient Persia. They were the equivalent of Merlin of Britain. They were sorcerers, high-ranking officials, but not kings—definitely not kings. But quite possibly, they were queens. We’ve always pictured them with elaborate, exotic, unusual clothing—quite festive, highly decorated and accessorized! …Also, the wise eunuchs, shamans, holy men were the only ones who had the forethought to go shopping before they visited the baby Jesus!”
They also have shamanistic dreams. They deceive evil King Herod and actually play the precise role that many other prominent eunuchs play in the Bible: they rescue the prophet, this time the Messiah of God, and foil the evil royal plot against God’s anointed.”
I am also grateful to Fred Phelps of Topeka, KS. Phelps considers himself a Christian pastor, and heads a church whose congregation primarily consists of his own family, and whose primary mission in life seems to be to show up at homosexual gatherings, or where people gather who have given their support to the GLBT community, and places where the focus is on people with AIDS, including funerals of those who have succumbed to the disease. Known particularly for carrying mean-spirited signs, such as Queer = Death and Got AIDS Yet?, Phelps caught my attention with one sign in particular, because it contained a scripture reference. The sign read God Hates Fags, and carried the reference: Romans 9:13.
Sometimes our blessings come from the strangest places! Romans 9:13 reads: Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” I had to chuckle when I read the passage. Paul was actually quoting from the book of Malachi 1:2 & 3: “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” God says. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
I laughed out loud when I realized that Phelps had gotten his analogy a little backwards. If we apply historically stereotypical images of heterosexuals and homosexuals, Esau was the manly, macho man, the hairy hunter, the epitome of heterosexuality. Jacob, on the other hand, was gentle and quiet. He hung around the tents with the women and cooked. He was a momma’s boy. While Esau was hairy, Jacob’s skin was smooth–a trait one might call effeminate–Jacob was a poster-boy for homosexuality. In spite of the fact of Jacob’s stereotypically homosexual demeanor, it is through Jacob’s line that the Biblical story of Israel continued, not “manly” Esau’s.
Thus, if Phelps’ analysis of the Jacob/Esau story is correct–that it is about the struggle between a straight man and a gay one–then Phelps’ sign, in keeping with both the passages in Malachi and Romans, would have to be corrected to read, “God Loves Gays,” since it is “gay” Jacob that God loves, and not “straight” Esau.
One of the most oft-heard sayings in the GLBT community is “We are everywhere.” If we agree with the scholars who believe that the eunuchs “who were born that way” were by and large GLBT people, we readily can see that the saying similarly applies to scripture. The following are examples of the more notable biblical references to eunuchs. Though in different translations instead of the word eunuch one might find words such as palace official, commander, attendant, etc., I have shown the original Hebrew derivation(s) i.e. (saris, sarisive, sarisim, sarisi). Other scriptural references to eunuchs will follow later.
Genesis 37:36ff: In the story of Joseph, he of the coat of many colors, was sold by his brothers to Midianite merchants, who in turn took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, a saris (eunuch), one of Pharaoh’s officials and captain of the guard. Later we read in 40:2 that Pharaoh was angry at his cupbearer and baker, both sarisiv (eunuchs). Still later, 41:8, Pharaoh has a bad dream and calls all the magicians and wise men (eunuchs?) to interpret it.
1 Kings 18:3: …and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace (a eunuch). (Obadiah was a devout believer in God. While Jezebel was killing off God’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each and had supplied them with food and water.)
2 Kings 10:30-33 On the Death of Jezebel: Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out a window. As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?” (1Kings 16:8-20) Jehu looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs (sarisiv) looked down at him. “Throw her down! Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot.
Esther: The book of Esther contains several references to eunuchs.
Esther1:10-12a: On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs (sarisim) who served him–Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zetha, and Carcas–to bring him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. But when the attendants (sarisim) delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come.
Esther 1:15 “According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?” he asked. “She had not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs (sarisim) have taken to her.”
Esther 2:3: Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful girls into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch (saris), who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them.
Esther 2:14a,15a: In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgzaz, the king’s eunuch (saris) who was in charge of the concubines….When the turn came for Esther (the girl Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch (saris) who was in charge of the harem, suggested.
Esther 2:21: During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers (sarisi) who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
Esther 4:4, 5: When Esther’s maids and eunuchs (sarisim) came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs (sarisim) assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.
Esther 6:2: It was found recorded there that Mordecai had expose Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers (sarisi), who guarded the doorway and who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
Esther 6:14: While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs (sarisi) arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.
Esther 7:9: Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs (sarisim) attending the king, said, “A gallows seventy-five feet high stands by Haman’s house. He had it made for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.” The king said, “Hang him on it!”
Jeremiah: also has several references to eunuchs. In fact, Jeremiah’s life was saved by a eunuch.
Jeremiah 38:7-10, 13: But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, an official (saris) in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to him, “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.” Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” …and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Jeremiah 39:3: Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarkesim, chief of the eunuchs (rav-saris), Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah 39:13: So he sent Nebuzarandan, chief executioner, and Nebushasban, chief officer (rav-saris), Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officers of the king of Babylon sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard.
Jeremiah 41:16: Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the survivors from Mizpah whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam: the soldiers, women, children and court officials (saris) he had brought from Gibeon.
Jeremiah 52:25: Of those still in the city, he took the officer (saris) in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers.
This ends this week’s study. Next week: Was Daniel a eunuch?