Hebrew word · H5631
סָרִיס
saris
eunuch
Borrowed from Akkadian ša rēši ("one of the head", meaning a royal attendant). The word covers (1) a high court official (Gen 39:1, Potiphar, who was married; 2 Kgs 18:17, the Rab-saris) and (2) a castrated man in royal service (Esth 2:3, guardians of the harem; Isa 39:7).
Appears 42 times in 42 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
official, eunuch
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Borrowed from Akkadian ša rēši ("one of the head", meaning a royal attendant). The word covers (1) a high court official (Gen 39:1, Potiphar, who was married; 2 Kgs 18:17, the Rab-saris) and (2) a castrated man in royal service (Esth 2:3, guardians of the harem; Isa 39:7). In Assyrian and Persian courts many such officials were in fact eunuchs.
- Against the English
All major versions say "eunuch". Here that is right, because his complaint ("dry tree") and God's reply (v. 5, "better than sons and daughters") show he can have no children. Elsewhere the word can simply mean "official".
- How it drifted
Modern English "eunuch" calls up a harem guard or a curiosity. In the ancient Near East a saris was often a powerful, trusted official whose castration was part of his role.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Deut 23:1 [Heb 23:2]: a man with crushed or cut-off genitals "shall not enter the assembly of YHWH". Lev 21:20 bars priests with crushed testicles from offering. Isa 39:7: Hezekiah's descendants will become sarisim in Babylon's palace (compare Dan 1:3). 2 Kgs 20:18 is the parallel to Isa 39:7.
- Range of meaning
(1) A castrated man, a eunuch. (2) More broadly, a royal official or courtier. The word comes from Akkadian ša rēši, 'he of the head', a title for officials close to the king who were in Assyria very often eunuchs. Potiphar in Gen 39:1 is called a saris and yet has a wife, which shows the broader sense was possible.
- Against the English
KJV 'chamberlains', BSB, WEB, YLT and ESV 'eunuchs', NIV 'officers'. 'Eunuch' tells the modern reader the men were castrated. That is likely true at the Achaemenid court (the Persian royal dynasty), but the Hebrew word itself also carries the sense of a trusted official. 'Chamberlain' keeps the sense of office but loses the court setting.
- How it drifted
English 'eunuch' means only castration. The Hebrew word names a court role that was often, but not necessarily, filled by castrated men.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Herodotus (8.105) says the Persians prized eunuchs as especially trustworthy servants. Greek writers such as Ctesias and Diodorus report that Xerxes I was in fact murdered in 465 BC in a palace plot involving the courtier Artabanus and a chamberlain-eunuch (Aspamitres in Ctesias). In Esther the sarisim run the harem and the king's chambers (1:10; 2:3, 14–15; 4:4–5).
- Range of meaning
From Akkadian ša rēši, 'one of the head', meaning a royal attendant or courtier. In many contexts it means a castrated official. Sometimes it seems to be just a title for a high court officer: Potiphar, a married man, is a seris in Genesis 39:1.
- Against the English
KJV 'chamberlain' and BSB 'trusted official' remove the physical sense entirely. WEB 'eunuch' keeps it.
- How it drifted
Early English translators often preferred 'chamberlain' or 'officer', partly from delicacy and partly because the word's range is genuinely wider. Modern readers then lose the reason a man could be put in charge of the king's women.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Greek writers (Herodotus, Ctesias, Xenophon) describe eunuchs as a fixture of the Persian court, valued as loyal attendants and harem guardians. The Septuagint translates eunouchos.
Where it appears
Genesis · 4
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Genesis 37:36 סְרִ֣יס an official of
Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
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Genesis 39:1 סְרִ֨יס [the] official of
Meanwhile, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, where an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
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Genesis 40:2 סָרִיסָ֑יו officials his
Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
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Genesis 40:7 סְרִיסֵ֣י [the] officials of
So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”
1 Samuel · 1
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1 Samuel 8:15 לְסָרִיסָ֖יו to officials his
He will take a tenth of your grain and grape harvest and give it to his officials and servants.
1 Kings · 1
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1 Kings 22:9 סָרִ֖יס a court-official
So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”
2 Kings · 7
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2 Kings 8:6 סָרִ֨יס a court-official
When the king asked the woman, she confirmed it. So the king appointed for her an officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers, along with all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the country until now.”
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2 Kings 9:32 סָרִיסִֽים׃ court-officials
He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.
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2 Kings 20:18 סָֽרִיסִ֔ים eunuchs
And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
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2 Kings 23:11 הַסָּרִ֔יס the court-official
And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.
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2 Kings 24:12 וְסָֽרִיסָ֑יו and court-officials his
Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.
Here: Palace officials who served the king personally. The word comes from an Akkadian title for royal attendants, and in Assyria such men were often eunuchs. Whether Judah's sārîsîm were castrated is debated.
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2 Kings 24:15 סָרִיסָ֗יו court-officials his
Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
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2 Kings 25:19 סָרִ֨יס a court-official
Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as five royal advisors. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.
1 Chronicles · 1
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1 Chronicles 28:1 הַסָּרִיסִ֧ים the court-officials
Now David summoned all the leaders of Israel to Jerusalem: the leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions in the king’s service, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, along with the court officials and mighty men—every mighty man of valor.
Here: Palace officials close to the king. The word can mean 'eunuch', but in many texts it is simply a title for a royal officer. Here it most likely means court functionaries.
2 Chronicles · 1
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2 Chronicles 18:8 סָרִ֖יס a court-official
So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”
Esther · 12
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Esther 1:10 הַסָּ֣רִיסִ֔ים the eunuchs
On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was merry with wine, he ordered the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas—
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Esther 1:12 הַסָּרִיסִ֑ים the eunuchs
Queen Vashti, however, refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs. And the king became furious, and his anger burned within him.
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Esther 1:15 הַסָּרִיסִֽים׃ ס the eunuchs
“According to law,” he asked, “what should be done with Queen Vashti, since she refused to obey the command of King Xerxes delivered by the eunuchs?”
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Esther 2:3 סְרִ֥יס [the] eunuch of
and let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom to assemble all the beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women, and let them be given beauty treatments.
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Esther 2:14 סְרִ֥יס [the] eunuch of
She would go there in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and summoned her by name.
Here: "Eunuch of" the king. In a post guarding the royal women this almost certainly means a castrated official, the standard figure in charge of women's quarters at the Persian court.
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Esther 2:15 סְרִיס־ [the] eunuch of
Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. And when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s trusted official in charge of the harem, had advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her.
Here: 'Eunuch of the king.' In a Persian harem this almost certainly means a castrated court servant, which is exactly why he could be trusted with the women.
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Esther 2:21 סָרִיסֵ֤י [the] eunuchs of
In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, grew angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
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Esther 4:4 וְסָרִיסֶ֙יהָ֙ and eunuchs her
When Esther’s maidens and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, the queen was overcome with distress. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.
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Esther 4:5 מִסָּרִיסֵ֤י one of [the] eunuchs of
Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs appointed to her, and she dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what was troubling him and why.
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Esther 6:2 סָרִיסֵ֣י [the] eunuchs of
And there it was found recorded that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the king’s entrance, when they had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
Here: Courtiers who served close to the king. At the Persian court these were very often castrated men, trusted because they could found no rival family line. The word can also mean simply 'court official'.
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Esther 6:14 וְסָרִיסֵ֥י and [the] eunuchs of
While they were still speaking with Haman, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed him to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
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Esther 7:9 הַסָּרִיסִ֜ים the eunuchs
Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” “Hang him on it!” declared the king.
Here: Royal attendants. At the Persian court these personal servants were typically castrated men, which is why most versions say 'eunuchs.'
Isaiah · 3
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Isaiah 39:7 סָרִיסִ֔ים eunuchs
And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
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Isaiah 56:3 הַסָּרִ֔יס the eunuch
Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”
Here: A palace official, here clearly one who has been castrated, since his complaint is that he can have no descendants. Such men served in royal courts, often after being taken captive.
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Isaiah 56:4 לַסָּֽרִיסִים֙ to the eunuchs
For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant—
Here: 'To (or concerning) the eunuchs.' Verse 3 ('a dry tree') and verse 5 ('better than sons and daughters') show these are men who cannot have children, i.e. castrated men, many of them serving in royal courts.
Jeremiah · 5
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Jeremiah 29:2 וְהַסָּרִיסִ֜ים and the court-officials
(This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.)
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Jeremiah 34:19 הַסָּֽרִסִים֙ the court-officials
The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf,
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Jeremiah 38:7 סָרִ֗יס a court-official
Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,
Here: A royal attendant. The word often meant a castrated man, but it could also be a court rank (Potiphar is called a saris in Gen 39:1 and had a wife). It ties him to the inner palace, perhaps the women's quarters.
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Jeremiah 41:16 וְסָ֣רִסִ֔ים and court-officials
Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him took the whole remnant of the people from Mizpah whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam: the soldiers, women, children, and court officials he had brought back from Gibeon.
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Jeremiah 52:25 סָרִ֨יס a court-official
Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.
Daniel · 7
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Daniel 1:3 סָרִיסָ֑יו officials his
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring in some Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—
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Daniel 1:7 הַסָּרִיסִ֖ים the officials
The chief official gave them new names: To Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
Here: "The court officials". The word was borrowed from Akkadian (the language of Assyria and Babylon). It names royal servants, many of whom in that world were castrated. So "eunuchs" and "officials" are both possible renderings. Either way, this is the head of the king's inner household staff.
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Daniel 1:8 הַסָּרִיסִ֔ים the officials
But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.
Here: A court title borrowed from Akkadian, the language of Assyria and Babylon (ša rēši, "he of the head"), meaning a royal attendant. Many such officials were eunuchs, but the word by itself means a royal official.
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Daniel 1:9 הַסָּרִיסִֽים׃ the officials
Now God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official,
Here: 'The sārîs-men': royal courtiers or palace attendants. The word was borrowed from Akkadian and can mean a castrated official, but in Hebrew it is used more broadly for high court officers (Potiphar is a sārîs and married, Gen 39:1).
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Daniel 1:10 הַסָּרִיסִים֙ the officials
but he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age? You would endanger my head before the king!”
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Daniel 1:11 הַסָּֽרִיסִ֔ים the officials
Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
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Daniel 1:18 הַסָּרִיסִ֔ים the officials
Now at the end of the time specified by the king, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.