Who was a Eunuch?

Documented since the 6th century BCE, a Eunuch was a person who was born male, but had been born without genitals, ambitious genitals, or had had part of (or all) their sexual organs removed. Reasons for post-birth removal included:

• Due to an illness or born with genital deformities
• Due to parents wanted their child to serve the high royal officials
• Due to parents wanting to be seen as more special than other families
• Due to parents handing their children over to please the gods
• Due to slavery abuses on children or adults

A BIOLOGY LESSON

When a boy is castrated before puberty, that boy grows up with more effeminate characteristics. They don’t have the Testosterone hormones that lead to diminished or complete lack of facial hair growth. Besides facial and body hair, castration can also cause a reduction in muscle mass and strength, voice never lowers, and more body fat.

LESS VALUE

In most cultures around the world, Eunuchs were treated like women (little to no value), due to their femininity. Like women, they were not treated equally. Men that didn’t fit the mold of what it was to be “manly” were rejected, mocked, used as sex slaves, temple prostitution, or temple servants. Anyone born “female” or “effeminate” was at the bottom of the value system and under the authority of fathers, brothers, or male leaders.

Examples in History

Eunuchs in Rome were classified into three categories: spadones (males who were born with genital ambiguity and considered infertile from birth), thlibiae (men who’s testicles had been “pressed”),  thladiae (men who’e testicles had been cut off). They were usually chosen to be the caretakers, guards, and court officials, because they were thought to be less threatening.

Eunuchs in Imperial China were called huanguan, men who had part or all sexual organs cut off for the purposes of serving at the emperor’s court. Sometimes they would voluntarily castrate themselves, sometimes they were prisoners of war that were castrated, and sometimes they were boys that had been castrated by their impoverished families to prove their loyalty to the Imperial Palace. By the end of the Ming dynasty, there were thought to be around 100,000 eunuchs in China. Eunuchs often played a significant role in the court’s cultural life, even influencing trends in clothing and behavior and were patrons of the arts. Historical Chinese records include examples of Eunuchs in intimate physical sexual relationships, some of them with women and some of them were same-sex relationships. 

Eunuchs in India were also called hijra, and was an umbrella term for all people who were not considered fully male or female.

Eunuchs in Africa were castrated male slaves used in royal courts. Ethiopia was a notable exception to this rule. Ethiopia had un-castrated male servants holding posts that in other countries were filled by eunuchs. What position did the eunuchs of Ethiopia hold?

The Difference of Ethiopia

While most Bible stories don’t mention where foreigners are from (they are just “from other lands”, the Magi “from the East”, or “gentiles” ), the Eunuch story is different. This time, the writers go out of their way to mention the name of the country this particular man is from: Ethiopia.

It turns out that Ethiopia was unique in how they treated Eunuchs. While Eunuchs were usually uneducated servants or slaves in other countries, in Ethiopia they were well learned honored men in high positions.

While the servant men being used in temples in Israel were usually castrated men, in Ethiopia, the temple servants were uncastrated men, not Eunuchs.

The Eunuch In The Bible

The Ethiopian eunuch described in Acts 8:27 was no ordinary traveler. In the ancient world, eunuchs were often associated with servitude, castration, or temple service, especially in surrounding cultures. But this man’s position, education, and wealth suggest a different story. He was a high official serving Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, and in charge of her entire treasury—a person of considerable authority and wealth. Riding in a chariot and reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah, he likely had a driver accompanying him, which further reflects his elevated status.

Owning a scroll of the Hebrew Scriptures was extremely rare and expensive. That, combined with his ability to read, points to a man of learning and deep spiritual curiosity. He had likely traveled a long way to worship in Jerusalem, only to be denied access to the temple—because, according to Deuteronomy 23:1, eunuchs were excluded from entering the assembly of the Lord:

“No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.”

That rejection must have stung. But in the same Scriptures, the eunuch may have also read Isaiah’s prophetic words of welcome and reversal. Isaiah 56:3–5 says:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths… I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters… an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”

Perhaps he was reading Isaiah precisely because of that hope.

As he sought understanding, God sent Philip, one of the Seven appointed in Jerusalem to serve the marginalized. Philip joined him in the chariot, explained that Isaiah’s suffering servant pointed to Jesus, and shared the good news: that the kingdom of God was open even to him.

Moved, the eunuch asked to be baptized. They found themselves next to water, and Philip baptized him on the spot.

The story ends with a beautiful line: “He went on his way rejoicing.”

This wasn’t just about conversion. It was also about radical inclusion. Through Jesus, even sexual and social outsiders—like this Ethiopian eunuch—were fully welcomed into God’s family.

God’s Provision

GOD PROVIDED PHILIP

The text tells us that the Eunuch was traveling the road from Jerusalem to Gaza (Acts 8:26), a hot, deserted, wilderness, rugged road far from town. It would probably take about 4 days to walk. And yet, there was Philip. God provided Philip out in nowhere! No crowds waiting for him, no big opportunities, just a command from God to go. God told Philip to go to the area, and he just set out on about a 40 mile walk from where he was in Samaria. He doesn’t’ seem to know the plan, but still made himself available. Because of his obedience, he changed one traveler’s life forever (who we learn later, was influential in spreading the gospel to Africa). What a reminder that we, too, are called to go, sometimes into the barren, overlooked places, trusting that God is already at work.

GOD PROVIDED WATER

Along that dry and desolate path, there exists only one location where you find a small spring of water next to the road, called Ein HaBesor. Therefore, the words of the Eunuch shouldn’t surprise us when he said: “Look, here is water!” The presence of water in that place was no accident. It was grace waiting in the wilderness. In this deserted and barren land, God still provides.

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19–20

“He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.” Isaiah 49:10

“[God] turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.” Psalm 107:35

“For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water.” Revelation 7:17

The First African Missionary

The Bible says this Ethiopian Eunuch was one of the first gentile converts to Christianity. He took the gospel back to Africa. There are written documents and texts about this Ethiopian dating back to the 1st century, stories of his message spreading across Africa. He is honored still today by Christians around the world. The Russian Orthodox call him Djan Darada. In Ethiopia he goes by the name Simeon Bachos (BAKOS). Irenaeus (Greek Bishop 130-202 AD) wrote about him saying: “This man was sent into the regions of Ethiopia, to preach what he had himself believed” (Against Heresies Book III, Chapter 12:8).

No One Gets Left Behind

The story of the Ethiopian eunuch isn’t just a historical detail. It’s a powerful symbol woven into the heart of the gospel. At a time when eunuchs were mocked, excluded, and dismissed, God chose to center one in the story of salvation. Not just as a side character, but as the first recorded gentile convert, a spiritually curious, socially marginalized, sexually “othered” person—whom God sought out in the middle of the desert to personally welcome into the kingdom.

This story shows us that the good news of Jesus breaks every boundary: gender, nationality, social status, and bodily difference. If the early church could make space for someone like him, how much more should we, today, be making space for all who have been pushed to the margins?

The message of the gospel is not exclusion, but radical belonging—and the eunuch’s rejoicing is proof that when we follow Jesus, no one gets left behind.