Eunuchs: Matthew 19:12

For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

This article is part of a series explaining Jesus’s Confusing Sayings.

Know a confusing Jesus verse? Write me in a comment so I can analyze its Greek in a future article.

This article covers a Jesus verse that discusses sex in a very odd way: by discussing those who are sexless. This verse comes after Jesus discusses marriage saying marriage unites a man and a woman into one flesh, which is literally true, describing the DNA of their children. He goes onto say that divorce is wrong, even though Moses allowed it in his Law. To this, one of his disciples commented in what sounds like a typical marriage joke, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.(NIV)” I imagine that this was spoken by one of the unmarried disciples as a jab at the married ones. Jesus then responded by saying in Matthew 19:11,

NIV: “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.”

Then, Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 19:12 something that seems strange in a discussion of men, women, marriage and divorce:

NIV: For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.

• The words in boldface are explained in this article.

Castration

There is a unique word for Jesus here, “eunuchs,” that is used in both the form of a noun and a verb (“have been made eunuchs”). The English noun is adopted from Greek rather than translated. The Greek word literally means “bed holder” or “bed watcher.” Eunuchs were originally guards for a harem. The word is uncommon in ancient Greek literature. In ancient times, the defining characteristic of a eunuch was the inability to have children. Jesus uses the noun to refer to people who are born disinterested in sex, those who are castrated, and those who avoid sex.

Interestingly, he traces a disinterest in sex to the womb. While the phrase “born that way” sounds like a reference to a Lady Gaga song, the original Greek is more descriptive. It says “from the womb of a mother born this way.” This seems to pinpoint the prenatal environment as the key to a disinterest in procreative sex.

The verb form of this same word, translated as “have been made eunuchs” in this verse, is commonly translated as “castrate.” The noun form was used before Jesus, but the use of the verb form appears for the first time in this verse and appears in ancient Greek less than a dozen times afterwards.

The final group is described as “who choose to live like eunuchs” but the Greek actually says “castrate themselves,” which sounds a lot more painful. Nor does it say, “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.” There is a Greek word that means “for the sake of,” but that word is not used here. The word used here means “through” and “by” in the sense of a cause. So, the sense is that they castrate themselves “by the kingdom of heaven” or, more accurately, “by the realm of the skies,” as if the realm can be used for castration.

Notice that in all three of these examples, Jesus attributes castration to a force outside of our power. We are castrated in the womb, by other people, or by the realm of the skies. None of this is controlled by one’s own power. This is part of the setup for the final line, which has many different meanings.

The Punchline

Another rare verb, translated as “accept.” is used twice in the final line, the punchline. It is in two different forms. This same verb is translated as “accept” in the prior verse, Matthew 19:11. This word is essentially comical, having the sense of being able to “stomach” or “digest” something. Using this verb twice in a row, in two different forms, is especially caustic, “If you can stomach it, you must stomach it.”

Humorous meaning aside, the verb also means both “to contain” and “to make room for another.” When referring to sex and marriage, all three meanings work at once. We can room for another, which describes a wife and a child, or we can contain ourselves. So, “If you can make room [for another], you must make room” or “if you can contain it [your sexual desire], you must contain it.” Of course, you will trust these are true only if you can stomach it.

A more accurate translation of what Jesus said would be:

Listeners Heard: Because there are eunuchs who from a womb of a mother were born in this way. And there are eunuchs who been castrated by those men. And there are eunuchs that castrate themselves by the realm of the skies.

Let he who has himself the ability to make room [for another], make room. OR Let he who has the ability to contain himself, contain himself. OR Let he who has the ability to stomach this, stomach it.

This last line describes an ability within us, not coming from the outside.