While infertility is not generally considered a disability in the modern world, historians of disability suggest that it would have been a particularly disabling experience for people in the ancient world. Eunuchs not only lived with a form of bodily impairment, but they lived with an impairment that impacted their role in society. For men whose duty it would have been to father children and continue the family line, the inability to do so would have carried with it much stigma and shame. As such, eunuchs held a liminal place in ancient society. They were, according to the second-century CE writer Lucian, “neither a man or woman but something composite, hybrid and monstrous, alien to human nature” (Eunuch 6–11).
How are eunuchs portrayed in the Bible and early Jewish tradition?
In the Hebrew Bible, the precarious position of eunuchs is made clear by restrictions on their participation in the community of God (Deut 23:1). However, while Lev 21:21 places restrictions on those with “crushed testicles” from being able to present food offerings, they are by no means prevented from serving in the role in the priest or eating the “holy food.” In fact, later in the Mishnah, the rabbis mention eunuchs who were priests, including some who were born eunuchs (m. Yev. 8:6). These eunuchs were restricted from certain ritual activities, but they were still accepted as members of the priestly community and, under certain circumstances, were even eligible for marriage. Isaiah 56:3–5 presents an eschatological vision of a time when eunuchs no longer have any restrictions on their participation in the holy community. For those who uphold the covenant, God will give them “within my temple and its walls, a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters” (v. 5).
How is the eunuch portrayed in Acts 8?
The eunuch in Acts 8 is described as having travelled to Jerusalem “to worship” (v. 27) and was now returning home. What is not clear from the passage is what this worship entailed. It is generally believed that the restrictions on eunuchs outlined in the Hebrew Bible were still normative in the first century, thus restricting the eunuch’s ability to enter the Jewish temple. However, it is not clear from the passage in Acts whether the man’s intention was to enter the temple or whether he was successful in doing so.
When Philip came upon the eunuch, he was reading from Isaiah about the suffering servant (53:7–8). While it is difficult to know for certain the literacy skills of slaves and servants in the ancient world, it is thought that someone in the eunuch’s position might have, at best, possessed only a functional level of literacy. This eunuch’s literacy appears far more advanced if he could read from the book of Isaiah. In this respect, this eunuch defies stereotyped assumptions about eunuchs being completely poor and marginalized in the ancient world.
The eunuch asks Philip which prophet Isaiah was referring to, and Philip takes the opportunity to inform the eunuch of “the good news about Jesus” (v. 35). It is possible that the eunuch is drawn to the image of the suffering servant because it parallels his own experience of being made into a eunuch. The image of the servant’s humiliation, deprivation of justice, and the absence of descendants (v. 33) could well apply to the eunuch’s own situation. It is possible that the eunuch saw in Jesus, someone who shared in his own marginality and suffering. For this reason, the invitation to mark his belonging in the Jesus community through baptism would have been particularly appealing.
What is the significance of the eunuch in Acts 8?
What is significant about this passage from a disability perspective is that Philip does not heal the eunuch of his impairment. Often in the gospels and Acts, participation in the Jesus community is linked with physical healing. For instance, earlier in the same chapter of Acts, Philip is seen healing “the paralysed and lame” (v. 7). Acts 8 interrupts this pattern. There is no attempt to heal the eunuch’s impairment. The eunuch makes no request for healing, which is markedly different to others depicted in the gospels. It seems that any functional impairment associated with his condition was not significant enough to lead him to request healing from Philip. In this way, the narrative highlights the eunuch’s own acceptability of his body, which does not need to be healed to find a place of belonging in the developing Jesus community.
Bibliography
- Gosbell, Louise A. “The Poor, the Crippled, the Blind, and the Lame”: Physical and Sensory Disability in the Gospels of the New Testament. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament 469. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018.
- Melcher, Sarah J. “A Tale of Two Eunuchs: Isaiah 56:1-8 and Acts 8:26-40.” Pages 117-28 in Disability Studies and Biblical Literature. Edited by Candida R. Moss and Jeremy Schipper. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
- Moss, Candida R., and Joel S. Baden. Reconceiving Infertility: Biblical Perspectives on Procreation and Childlessness. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015.
- Parsons, Mikael C. Body and Character in Luke and Acts: The Subversion of Physiognomy in Early Christianity. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2011.
- Solevåg, Anna Rebecca. Negotiating the Disabled Body: Representations of Disability in Early Christian Texts. Early Christianity and Its Literature 23. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2018.
- Watson, David F. “Luke-Acts.” Pages 303-32 in The Bible and Disability: A Commentary. Edited by Sarah J. Melcher, Mikael C. Parsons and Amos Yong. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2017.
