Thinking with Eunuchs

Since the second century, the eunuchs of Matthew 19:12 have been read as a figure for celibacy. Ian Kinman challenges this consensus: drawing on first- and second-century literature, he argues that Matthew presents eunuchs not as models of discipleship but as an anti-type – those who remain “withered” in the face of the kingdom’s demands.

As far back as the end of the second century, some early Christians began to read the eunuchs of Matthew 19:12 as a simple cipher for celibacy. Many contemporary readings have challenged this view by noting that eunuchs would have been a problematic exemplar for celibacy, considering that the eunuch trope current at the time of Matthew’s gospel was that of a hyper-sexualized character, frequently used as a rhetorical foil for celibacy, not a model. Yet modern biblical exegesis of this passage depends on one obvious but oddly unquestioned presumption: that the eunuchs in question still should be seen as a model for discipleship. On this presumption, the exegetical task concerning the passage is to discern the otherwise enigmatic aspect of discipleship that the eunuchs model. Ian Kinman argues that such a reading is anachronistic and misguided: eunuchs were not seen by the author of Matthew’s gospel as a model, but an anti-type. Drawing on numerous examples of first- and second-century literature from the ancient Mediterranean world, and a detailed comparative exegesis of the gospel of Matthew, the author demonstrates how Matthew 19:12 presents eunuchs as an example of those who are not fruitful of the word of the kingdom, specifically in the context of Jesus’s challenging teachings on divorce and marriage. They are instead, to use the language of Isaiah 56:3, “withered.” As such, eunuchs represent not an illustration of how one is to live in Matthew’s community, but a warning against the incomplete acceptance of the challenging word of the kingdom of heaven

Introduction: Matthew's Enigmatic Eunuchs
A. The Challenge
B. Methodology
C. Scope of the Project
D. Note on Translations
Chapter 1: Eunuchs in the First Two Centuries CE: Rhetoric and Reality
A. The Language of Eunuchs
B. The Gender and Sexuality of Eunuchs
C. Eunuchs and Sex Without Procreation
D. The Sterile and Monstrous Eunuch
Chapter 2: Who Watches the Watchmen: The Eunuch in Rome
A. Martial and His Personae
B. Martial and His Mentula
C. Martial and Earinus, the Boytoy of the Emperor
D. Domitian's Revival of the Augustan Marriage Legislation
E. Eunuchs and Adultery in Elite Roman Households
F. Juvenal Concurs: Who Watches the Watchmen?
G. Cybele and the Galli in Martial's Rome
Chapter 3: The Character of the Eunuch in the Cults of the Magna Mater
A. Seeds of the Character: Origins and Myths of Cybele in the Roman World
B. Seeds of the Character: Origins and Myths of Attis in the Roman World
C. Deploying the Character: Attis and the Galli in Catullus's Rome
D. Prodigiosa (Monstrous) Atargatis: Galli in the Roman (and Greek) East
E. The Metamorphoses, by Apuleius, and Lucius, or The Ass, Ascribed to Lucian
F. Der Fromme Verfasser: Lucian of Samosata
G. Conclusion
Chapter 4: The Liminal and Lusty Eunuchs of Second Temple Literature
A. The סריסים in the Ancient Near East
B. The Books of Esther
C. The סריסים in the Joseph Narrative
D. Eunuchs in Philo's Alexandria
Chapter 5: Reorientation of Empire and Household in the Gospel of Matthew
A. The Gospel of Matthew at the Crossroads of Judaism and Roman Hegemony
B. Matthew's Kingdom of Heaven
C. Matthew's Household of Heaven
D. A Parallel New Order
Chapter 6: The Unfruitful Eunuch
A. Procreation and Fruitfulness in the Gospel of Matthew
B. Marriage in the Gospel of Matthew
C. Divorce in the Gospel of Matthew
D. Eunuchs as an Anti-Type of Discipleship
Epilogue: Minority Reports
A. Foundations of the Celibate Eunuch
B. The Eunuch as a Christian Sexual Character

• By (author) Ian Kinman