Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 19:12
For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from [their] mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive [it,] let him receive [it.]
12. eunuchs = “unmarried.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
12. for the kingdom of heaven’s sake ] In old days some men abstained from marriage in order to devote themselves to the study of the law, in later times men have done so for the furtherance of Christianity.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For there are some eunuchs … – Jesus proceeds to state that there were some who were able to receive that saying and to remain in an unmarried state. Some were so born; some were made such by the cruelty of men; and there were some who voluntarily abstained from marriage for the kingdom of heavens sake – that is, that they might devote themselves entirely to the proper business of religion. Perhaps he refers here to the Essenes, a sect of the Jews (see the notes at Mat 3:7), who held that marriage was unsuitable to their condition; who had no children of their own, but perpetuated their sect by adopting the poor children of others. Eunuchs were employed chiefly in attending on the females or in the harem. They rose often to distinction, and held important offices in the state. Hence, the word is sometimes used with reference to such an officer of state, Act 8:27.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Eunuchs] , from , to have the care of the bed or bedchamber; this being the principal employment of eunuchs in the eastern countries, particularly in the apartments of queens and princesses. These are they whom our Lord says are made eunuchs by men, merely for the above purpose.
So born from their mother’s womb] Such as are naturally incapable of marriage, and consequently should not contract any.
For the kingdom of heaven’s sake.] I believe our Lord here alludes to the case of the ESSENES, one of the most holy and pure sects among the Jews. These abstained from all commerce with women, hoping thereby to acquire a greater degree of purity, and be better fitted for the kingdom of God: children they had none of their own, but constantly adopted those of poor people, and brought them up in their own way. PHILO, JOSEPHUS, and PLINY have largely described this very singular sect; and Dean PRIDEAUX, with his usual fidelity and perspicuity, has given the substance of what each has said. CONNEX. vol. iii. p. 483, c. edit. 1725. The account is very interesting, and well worthy the attention of every Christian. Among the rabbins we find these different kinds of eunuchs, not only mentioned, but circumstantially described, saris chama, eunuchs of the sun, i.e. eunuchs by the hand of God; men born impotent. saris Adam, eunuchs of men, those who were castrated. And they add a third sort; those who make themselves eunuchs, abstain from marriage, c., that they may give themselves UP to the study of the Divine law. See many examples in Schoettgen.
He that is able to receive] . These words are variously translated: he who can take let him take it; comprehend, let him comprehend it: admit, let him admit it. The meaning seems to be, Let the man who feels himself capable of embracing this way of life, embrace it; but none can do it but he to whom it is given, who has it as a gift from his mother’s womb.
The great ORIGEN, understanding the latter clause of this verse (which I have applied to the Essenes) literally – O human weakness! – went, and literally fulfilled it on himself!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
12. For there are some eunuchs whichwere so born from their mother’s wombpersons constitutionallyeither incapable of or indisposed to marriage.
and there are some eunuchswhich were made eunuchs of menpersons rendered incapable byothers.
and there be eunuchs whichhave made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sakepersonswho, to do God’s work better, deliberately choose this state. Suchwas Paul (1Co 7:7).
He that is able to receiveit, let him receive it“He who feels this to be his propervocation, let him embrace it”; which, of course, is as much asto say”he only.” Thus, all are left free in this matter.
Mt19:13-15. LITTLECHILDREN BROUGHTTO CHRIST. ( =Mar 10:13-16; Luk 18:15-17).
For the exposition, see on Lu18:15-17.
Mt19:16-30. THE RICHYOUNG RULER.( = Mar 10:17-31; Luk 18:18-30).
For the exposition, see on Lu18:18-30.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For there are some eunuchs,…. Our Lord here distinguishes the various sorts of persons, that can and do live in a single state with content: some by nature, and others by violence offered to them, are rendered incapable of entering into a marriage state; and others, through the gift of God, and under the influence of his grace, abstain from marriage cheerfully and contentedly, in order to be more useful in the interest of religion; but the number of either of these is but few, in comparison of such who choose a conjugal state, and with whom it is right to enter into it, notwithstanding all the difficulties that may attend it. Some men are eunuchs, and of these there are different sorts; there are some,
which were so born from their mother’s womb; meaning, not such who, through a natural temper and inclination of mind, could easily abstain from marriage, and chose to live single; but such who had such defects in nature that they were impotent, unfit for, and unable to perform the duties of a marriage state; who, as some are born without hands or feet, these were born without proper and perfect organs of generation; and such an one was, by the Jews, frequently called, , “an eunuch of the sun n”: that is, as their doctors o explain it, one that from his mother’s womb never saw the sun but as an eunuch; that is, one that is born so; and that such an one is here intended, ought not to be doubted. The signs of such an eunuch, are given by the Jewish p writers, which may be consulted by those, that have ability and leisure. This sort is sometimes q called “an eunuch by the hands of heaven”, or God, in distinction from those who are so by the hands, or means of men, and are next mentioned:
and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: as among the Romans formerly, and which Domitian the emperor forbid by a law r; and more especially in the eastern countries, and to this day among the Turks, that they may the more safely be entrusted with the custody of their women; and this sort the Jews call , “an eunuch of men”, or , “by the hands of men”. The distinction between an “eunuch of the sun”, and an “eunuch of men”, is so frequent with the Jews s, and so well known to them, that a question need not be made of our Lord’s referring to it:
and there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs; not in a literal sense, in which the words are not to be taken, as they were by Origen; who though otherwise too much pursued the allegorical way of interpreting Scripture, here took it literally, and castrated himself t; as did also a sort of heretics, called Valesians u, from one Valens an Arabian; and which practice is recommended by Philo the Jew w, and by Heathen philosophers x, for the sake of chastity. But here it means such, who having the gift of continency without mutilating their bodies, or indulging any unnatural lusts, can live chastely without the use of women, and choose celibacy:
for the kingdom of heaven’s sake; not in order, by their chaste and single life, to merit and obtain the kingdom of glory; but that they might be more at leisure, being free from the incumbrances of a marriage state, to attend the worship and service of God, the ordinances of the Gospel church state, to minister in, and preach the Gospel of Christ, and be a means of spreading it in the world, and of enlarging his kingdom and interest.
He that is able to receive it, let him receive it: whoever is able to receive cordially, and embrace heartily, the above saying concerning the expediency and goodness of a single life, and having the gift of continency, can live according to it; let him take it, and hold it fast, and act up to it; he may have less of worldly trouble, and be more useful for God in the Gospel of Christ, and to the interest of religion; but this should be a voluntary thing: no man should be forced into it; and he that goes into it, ought to consider well whether he is able to contain, or not.
n T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 75. 1. 79. 2. & 80. 1. Maimon. Hilch. Ishot, c. 2. sect. 14. o Maimon & Bartenora in Misn. Yebamot, c. 8. sect. 4. p Bartenora, ibid. & Maimon. Hilch. Ishot, ut supra. q T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 80. 2. r Philostrat. vit. Apollon. l. 6. c. 17. s Misn. Yebamot, c. 8. sect. 4. Zabim, c. 2. sect. 1. T. Hieros. Yebamot, fol. 9. 4. Maimon. Hilch. Ishot, c. 2. sect. 26. & 4. 18. Mechosre Caphara, c. 3. sect. 6. Mishcabumoshab, c. l. sect. 5. t Euseb. Ecel. Hist. l. 6. c. 8. u Augustin de Haeres. c. 37. & Danaeus in ib. w Lib. quod deterius, p. 186. x Sexti Pythag. Sent. p. 8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
12. For there are eunuchs Christ distinguishes three kinds of eunuchs Those who are so by nature, or who have been castrated by men, are debarred from marriage by this defect, for they are not men. He says that there are other eunuchs, who have castrated themselves, that they may be more at liberty to serve God; and these he exempts from the obligation to marry. Hence it follows, that all others who avoid marriage fight against God with sacrilegious hardihood, after the manner of the giants. When Papists urge the word castrate, ( εὐνοῦχισαν) as if at their own pleasure men might lay themselves under obligation to continence, it is too frivolous. For Christ has already declared, that God gives it to whom he chooses; and, a little afterwards, we shall find him maintaining, that it is folly in any man to choose to live unmarried, when he has not received this special gift. This castration, therefore, is not left to free will; but the plain meaning is, while some men are by nature fit to marry, though they abstain, they do not tempt God, because God grants them exemption. (607)
For the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Many foolishly explain this as meaning, in order to deserve eternal life; as if celibacy contained within itself some meritorious service, as the Papists imagine that it is an angelical state. But Christ meant nothing more than that persons unmarried ought to have this for their object, that, being freed from all cares, they may apply themselves more readily to the duties of piety. It is, therefore, a foolish imagination, that celibacy is a virtue; for it is not in itself more pleasing to God than fasting, and is not entitled to be reckoned among the duties which he requires from us, but ought to have a reference to another object. Nay more, Christ expressly intended to declare that, though a man be pure from fornication, yet his celibacy is not approved by God, if he only consults his own ease and comfort, but that he is excused on this single ground, that he aims at a free and unrestrained meditation on the heavenly life. In short, Christ teaches us, that it is not enough, if unmarried men live chastely, unless they abstain from having wives, for the express purpose of devoting themselves to better employments. (608)
He that can receive it, let him receive it. By this conclusion Christ warns them, that the use of marriage is not to be despised, unless we intend, with blind rashness, to rush headlong to destruction: for it became necessary to restrain the disciples, whom he saw acting inconsiderately and without judgment. But the warning is useful to all; for, in selecting a manner of life, few consider what has been given to them, but men rush forward, without discrimination, in whatever direction inconsiderate zeal prompts them. And I wish that the warning had been attended to in past times; but men’s ears are stopped by I know not what enchantments of Satan, so that, contrary to nature, and, at it were, in spite of God, those whom God called to marriage have bound themselves by the cord of perpetual virginity (609) Next came the deadly cord of a vow, by which wretched souls were bound, (610) so that they never rose out of the ditch.
(607) “ Pource qu’il leur permet de s’en passer, et leur baille un privilege par dessus les autres;” — “because he allows them to abstain from it, and grants them a privilege above others.”
(608) “ Afin d’estre plus libres pour s’employer a meilleures choses a la gloire de Dieu;” — “in order to be more free for being employed in better things for the glory of God.”
(609) “ De perpetuelle virginite, comme on dit;” — “of perpetual virginity, as it is called.”
(610) “ Le voeu qui a este comme un licol pour tenir les poures ames enserrees de court;” — “the vow, which was like a halter to keep poor souls firmly bound.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) There are some eunuchs.The words are singularly startling in their form, and bear upon them an unmistakable stamp of being a true report of teaching which, in its depth and originality, went beyond the grasp of those who heard and reported it. What they teach is, that only those who are in some sense eunuchs, who are, i.e., without the impulses that lead men to marriage, either naturally, or by the mutilation which then, as now, was common in the East, or who have conquered those impulses by the power of self-consecration to a higher life, can safely abstain from marriage. The celibacy of self-indulgence, or even of selfish prudence, tends but too fatally to impurity of heart or life. The man who thus makes himself as the eunuch, must do it for the kingdom of heavens sake, not, as too many have understood the words to mean, in order to win heaven for himself (that aim is not excluded, but it must not be the only or chief motive), but for the sake of all that the kingdom of heaven implies, in order to enlarge its range, and more effectually to bring the souls of men to receive it. Those who heard the words could hardly fail, as they thought over them, to look on their Masters life as having been the great perfect example of what He thus taught as to the higher form of holiness. The motives which St. Paul states as determining his own choice of the celibate life (1Co. 7:7), or the counsel which he gave to others (1Co. 7:32-34), are identical with this teaching in their principle. They have influenced men in all ages of the Church, leading them to sacrifice the life of home, with all its blessings, for their work as pastors or evangelists. The Church of Rome and the founders of monastic orders were not wrong in their ideal of the highest form of life. Their mistake lay in enforcing that ideal as a rule on those who had not the power to realise it. The boldness (as it seems to us) of our Lords language seems intended to teach men that the work must be done as effectively as if, like Origen, they had obeyed the implied commandment in its letter. If the impulses still remain; if life is made miserable by the struggle with them; if they taint the soul by not being allowed to flow in their legitimate channel, the man is, ipso facto, disqualified for the loftier ideal. He has not made himself a eunuch for the kingdom of heavens sake, and he is therefore among those who cannot receive the saying that it is not good to marry. On such grounds the conduct of those who have married after pledging themselves, as priests of the Church of Rome, to vows of celibacy is amply justified. The vows were such as ought never to have been imposed, and men ought never to have taken, and therefore, like the tetrarchs oath (Mat. 14:7-9), when they were distinctly found to clash with the higher law of Nature, and to narrow what God had left free, their obligatory power ceased. The case of the monk who enters deliberately into an order of which celibacy is a condition, may seem at first to stand on a different footing; but here, also, though celibacy may legitimately be made a condition of continuing to belong to an order, the vow of a lifelong celibacy must be held to have been such as men had no right either to impose or take, and therefore as binding only so long as a man chooses to continue a member of the society which requires it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. For Our Lord proceeds now to specify three classes to whom it is given not to marry. To the first it is given by a peculiarity of nature; to the second by the cruelty of man; to the third by a divine duty and qualification. Eunuchs The word eunuch signifies a couch-guard; and it designates a class of men who, in the Oriental countries, are subjected to a cruel degradation, and kept by their masters to guard the females of their harems. It is used here by our Lord to designate all persons who live entirely pure from the other sex. So born Born of a constitution by which marriage is not desired. Made eunuchs of men By barbarous violence. Made themselves eunuchs By perfect chastity of mind and body. There are some (like Bishop Asbury) who, giving themselves up wholly to the ministry, or to religious study or devotion, exempt themselves for all or a part of their lives from the entanglements of life, that they may serve God more intensely.
Worst of all is the method of the Church of Rome, which enforces upon a whole class the duty of celibacy, regardless of natural power or constitution; and which binds others, by forced and perpetual vows, to the restraint for which no gift has qualified them. The results are cruelly and shamefully demoralizing.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“For there are eunuchs, who were so born from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs, who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs, who made themselves eunuchs for the kingly rule of heaven’s sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.”.
This view of Mat 19:11 is confirmed now by what He says in Mat 19:12. For here Jesus is demonstrating that the practise of non-marriage has in fact been true for some throughout the ages, and is now even more true in the light of the coming of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. He is pointing out that there have always been some who could not marry, (even if they wanted to), and that that situation has now widened, and has become desirable for some, by the coming of the Kingly Rule of Heaven.
The basic idea of a eunuch was that he was someone who totally abstained from sexual activity. In the official sense only the middle type was a eunuch, for a eunuch was someone who had been castrated so that his whole attention would be concentrated on serving his master, often, although not necessarily, involving him in having responsibilities in the harems of great kings (as a eunuch he would not be a sexual threat to the women). Eunuchs were often looked on as men of unique devotion to their masters and as such deserving of high office, even though they could also be looked on with ridicule.
However, a considerable number of men were also ‘natural eunuchs’ (or to utilise a Rabbinic phrase ‘eunuchs of Heaven’). This arose either because of genetic defects at birth, or because of some accident or act of violence that rendered them so (consider the seriousness attached to the possibility of a woman interfering with a man’s genitals during a fight, the only crime in Israel which warranted the amputation of the hand – Deu 25:11-12). The description may have also been intended to include slaves forbidden by their masters to marry. For all such people marriage was usually not an option. Heaven had thus decreed otherwise. To all intents and purposes they were eunuchs, and no doubt sometimes insultingly called such. For no woman could be expected to marry a man who could not produce children. It is an open question as to whether such people were originally intended to be excluded from the assembly of the Lord by Deu 23:1, or whether that simply referred to the deliberate castration practised in Canaanite religion. But they could certainly not be priests active in the sanctuary (Lev 21:20-21). On the other hand, if born to priestly families, they could eat ‘the bread of their God (Mat 19:22). What they could not do included approaching the altar and going within the inner sanctuary behind the first veil (Mat 19:23). The corollary of this, in view of their views on marriage, would be that no man should minister to God who was not married and did not pass on the seed of life. This treatment of maimed priests suggests, however, that such people were not wholly excluded from the assembly of the Lord, and that it was only those whose defect arose from idolatrous religion that were originally to be so excluded.
So Jesus’ argument is that there have always been at least two types of men for whom it was inexpedient to marry, natural ‘eunuchs’ and man-made eunuchs (It was known for some of the latter to ‘marry’. Strictly, however, it would not in Jewish eyes be a true marriage for it could not be consummated. Consider possibly Genesis 39 where Potiphar was ‘a eunuch of Pharaoh’ but married. Although the question then is whether the word translated ‘eunuch’ had come to mean ‘high official’). The Rabbis later in fact clearly distinguished between the two, they spoke of ‘eunuchs of Heaven’ and ‘eunuchs of man’, and the idea was therefore almost certainly prevalent in Jesus’ day. This clearly demonstrated that God had made allowances for some who could not marry due to natural reasons (due to Heaven) or violence done to the person (due to man). It had not therefore, even in ancient days, always been the duty of a man to marry under all circumstances, for God had made the world otherwise.
That being so He then adds a third type who need not marry, a type resulting from the fact that the Kingly Rule of Heaven has come, and that is of those who deliberately refrain from marriage and from sexual activity ‘for the sake of the Kingly Rule of Heaven’. That indeed is in mind as a possibility in Mat 19:29, and we should always allow the context to speak for itself. But such abstinence could only at that stage have had the purpose of enabling that person to serve the Kingly Rule of Heaven with full devotion, in the way that eunuchs did in the case of their masters, and in the way that both John the Baptist and Jesus Himself had (although both died while comparatively young, certainly young enough still to marry, which had possibly, although not necessarily, saved them both from the charge of failing in their duty to God, and this was especially so with Jesus as He had had younger brothers to bring up and provide for). For in fact all priests, including the High Priest, along with all Jewish males, considered it their duty to marry and bear children, demonstrating that none saw marriage as hindering a man from being holy. Thus this exception that Jesus proposed would appear to Jews to be an unusual exception. We can compare with this Paul’s words in 1Co 7:8; 1Co 7:27; 1Co 7:32. His point was that from now on devotion to God and the production of spiritual children could replace the normal duty to marry and bear children.
There is no question of this indicating a higher form of service or something to be reserved for a certain class of ministry. Peter was married, as were others of the Apostles. It is rather a matter of their being able to serve the Kingly Rule of Heaven in the best possible way. For some that would be by bearing children and bringing them up to serve Him (it is largely this ministry that has often perpetuated the church at times when love for Him has grown lukewarm), for others it would involve being free from cares and responsibilities so that they could minister better in an itinerant ministry or in difficult situations (1Co 7:29). Each should determine what was God’s purpose for him or her, and serve Him accordingly.
This is further evidence that Jesus saw the Kingly Rule of Heaven as now a present reality. It was precisely because that was so that He could introduce the idea of ‘eunuchs’. For all knew that that the term ‘eunuch’ regularly signified someone with particular loyalty to a monarch. Here then it signified someone with a particular loyalty to the cause of the Kingly Rule of Heaven and its King (an idea prominent in this section). It was one of Jesus’ vivid illustrations. He did not intend that they would physically become eunuchs, only that they would behave like eunuchs.
‘He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.” Jesus recognises that not all men will be able to recognise this truth, for it went against all that most of the Scribes and Pharisees taught and practised concerning marriage. Nevertheless, Jesus says, it is a truth open to those who will receive it, to those to whom it has been ‘given’, and that includes His disciples. Let them therefore now receive it. These words emphasise what a revolutionary idea this was seen to be, and that it should therefore have awoken His disciples to recognise the new situation that was coming. So the whole passage stresses that the Kingly Rule of Heaven is now entering a stage of extreme urgency. The world is about to be turned upside down with the result that marriage is no longer to be seen as a man’s first priority. It was very much a practical wake up call. The new age was here.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it , let him receive it .
Ver. 12. Which were so born ] Of a frigid constitution of body, and unapt for generation. This is not continence, but impotence, effeminacy, a defect in nature.
Which were made eunuchs of men ] Evirati, bereft of manhood, as in the court of Persia of old, and of Turkey at this day, where Christians’ children are not gelded only, but deprived of all their genitals, supplying the uses of nature with a silver quill; which inhuman custom was brought in among them by Selymus II out of jealousy lest his eunuchs were not so chaste as they should have been in keeping their ladies’ beds. For though made eunuchs by men, yet are they not without their fleshly concupiscences, yea, they are magni amatores mulierum, as she in Terence saith.
Which have made themselves eunuchs ] Not gelded themselves, as Origen and some others in the primitive times, by mistake of this text. (So Tertullian tells of Democritus, that he pulled out his own eyes, because he could not look upon women and not lust after them; wherein he did but publish his extreme folly to the whole city, saith he.) Nor yet tied themselves by vow to perpetual continence, out of a superstitious opinion of meriting heaven thereby, as the Essenes of old (Joseph. B. J. ii. 6), and the Popish clergy now; but live single, that they may serve God with more freedom, fighting against fleshly lusts (that fight against the soul) with those spiritual weapons, meditation, prayer, abstinence, &c., which are mighty through God to the pulling down of Satan’s strongholds set up in the heart. Hence the Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, and Arabic render this text, Qui castrarunt animam suam, which have gelded their souls. And the truth is, there they must begin, that will do anything in this kind to purpose. Incesta est, et sine stupro, quae stuprum cupit, saith Seneca. And St Paul’s virgin must “be holy both in body and in spirit,” 1Co 7:34 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12. ] , as in E. V. and in Mat 19:11 , to receive it.
Mat 19:12 is an explanatory commentary on . : keeper of the bedchamber in an Oriental barem (from , ed, and ), a jealous office, which could be entrusted only to such as were incapable of abusing their trust; hence one who has been emasculated. Jesus distinguishes three sorts, two physical and one ethical: (1) those born with a defect ( ); (2) those made such by art ( ); (3) those who make themselves eunuchs ( ). . . ., for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. This explains the motive and the nature of ethical eunuchism. Here, as in Mat 15:17 , Jesus touches on a delicate subject to teach His disciples a very important lesson, viz. , that the claims of the Kingdom of God are paramount; that when necessary even the powerful impulses leading to marriage must be resisted out of regard to them. : by this final word Jesus recognises the severity of the demand as going beyond the capacity of all but a select number. We may take it also as an appeal to the spiritual intelligence of His followers = see that ye do not misconceive my meaning. Is not monasticism, based on vows of life-long celibacy, a vast baleful misconception, turning a military requirement to subordinate personal to imperial interests, as occasion demands, into an elaborate ascetic system?
born. See note on “begat”, Mat 1:2.
made eunuchs. The verb occurs only here.
of = by. Greek. hupo.
for . . . sake. Greek. dia. App-104. Mat 19:2.
the kingdom of heaven’s. See App-114.
heaven’s = the heavens’. Plural as in Mat 19:14. Not Singular as in Mat 19:21.
to receive . . . let him receive. Figure of speech Polyptoton. App-6.
12.] , as in E. V. and in Mat 19:11, to receive it.
Mat 19:12. , …, there are, etc.) There are three kinds of eunuchs: the first and second of which are treated indirectly, the third directly, in this passage. For the two former are either produced thus by nature, or made thus by the hand of man: to the latter it is given from above, although they may have been endowed with a body capable of marriage. And these (the latter) can receive the saying concerning blessed eunuchism: whereas, of those (the former), it can only be said that they cannot receive the law concerning marriage; although they too may accidentally (per accidens) obtain blessed eunuchism.- , by men) by whose art they are castrated, that they may act as chamberlains, singers, etc., or that they may, on some other ground, be prevented from contracting marriage, of which they had been previously capable. For these, also, are included in a perfect enumeration.- , have made themselves eunuchs) which they alone can do, to whom it is given. It is not in mans power thus to make another an eunuch; see 1Co 7:7.-, themselves) sc. by a voluntary abstinence from marriage; sometimes having even relinquished a wife for the name of Christ (see Mat 19:29), and adding exercises calculated to preserve chastity, and subdue the fires of nature.-, …, for the kingdom of heavens sake) Not because they can only be saved by remaining unmarried, but that they may be able to devote themselves more entirely to the contemplation and propagation of Divine Truth; see 1Co 7:32; 1Co 9:12.-, let him receive) A precept not addressed to all, but only to those who are able to receive it. Not even all the Apostles seem to have been able to receive it; see 1Co 9:5.
kingdom
(See Scofield “Mat 3:2”)
which were made: Isa 39:7, Isa 56:3, Isa 56:4
which have: 1Co 7:32-38, 1Co 9:5, 1Co 9:15
Reciprocal: Mat 5:29 – pluck 1Co 7:7 – But 1Co 7:17 – as God 1Co 7:35 – not
9:12
The only means God created for the perpetuation of the human race was the fleshly union of the sexes. As an inducement for man to cooperate with Him in this he established the mutual attraction of the male and female for each other. Like most blessings from God, this one was subject to misuse and unlawful enjoyment. For this reason the institution of family relationship was given so that human beings could have a lawful means of gratification and at the same time accomplish the divine edict to “multiply and replenish the earth.” From the foregoing truths we may understand that it is a moral risk for a man to decide against entering marriage, for he will be tempted to yield to his sexual inclinations unlawfully. But a eunuch may safely refrain from it and thus adopt the saying of the disciples “not to marry,” because such a person is free from this fleshly tendency.
The Lord then named three classes of these eunuchs. The one is a person who was born without this normal function and hence would not have any inclination toward the opposite sex. Another is a man who has been mutilated by others for whatever reason, and by such action has been robbed of his manly powers. The third one is a man who has been able so to subdue this fleshly tendency that the opposite sex makes no appeal to him. The apostle Paul was one of such characters (1Co 7:7). Outside of these three classes of eunuchs the only divine safeguard against un-chastity is the institution of marriage, and the proper exercise of the function in that relationship of husband and wife. (See 1Co 7:5.)
Mat 19:12. For there are. Assuming that the married state is the normal one, three classes are here mentioned who should (or may) remain in celibacy: (1.) those who from natural incapacity or inaptitude, have no desire to marry; (2.) those who have been mutilated, a class very common once and not unknown now; (3.) those who abstain from marriage, whether for the first or second time, to work the better for Christs cause. The first case has no moral quality, the second implies misfortune, the third has a moral value. But it is not set forth here as a law for the ministry, nor is there any superior merit in celibacy. The figurative exposition which understands by the second and third classes those who remain unmarried from moral considerations, or sacrifice, when married, their conjugal enjoyments to their spiritual calling, is forced and incorrect, since all Christians are bound to the latter course and exceptional cases are here spoken of.
He that is able to receive it. This does not imply a superiority in those who can receive it, but simply that such a sacrifice would be expected from some of His disciples.On the whole subject of marriage and celibacy, comp. Schaffs History of the Apostolic Church, 112, pp. 448-454.
Mat 19:12. For there are some eunuchs, &c. Our Lord here shows that the fore-mentioned gift of continence is given to three sorts of persons: 1st, To some by natural constitution, without their choice. 2d, To some by the violence of men, against their choice: and, 3d, To others by grace, with their choice; who steadily withstand their natural inclinations, that they may wait upon God without distraction, and may glorify him in a single life, judging it to be a state more free from worldly cares, and more friendly to devotion, than that of marriage. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it He that has this gift, in any of these ways, whether by natural constitution and disposition; or by the injury of human force used upon him, rendering him incapable of the matrimonial union; or by an ardent desire of promoting the interests of religion, animating him to subdue his natural appetite, and enabling him to live in voluntary chastity, unencumbered with secular concerns; such a person will not sin though, he leads a single life. The words, however, let him receive it, must not be referred to the clauses immediately preceding them, as if our Lord had meant to say, He that is able to become a eunuch by any of the ways I have mentioned, let him become one; for the second way, namely, through violence offered to mens bodies, is absolutely unlawful: but they must be referred to Mat 19:11, as is plain from the words themselves; and the meaning of them is, He that can receive the saying there mentioned, and live chastely without marriage, may receive it; and, as many commentators understand the words, ought to receive it. They who have the gift of continency, says Henry, and are not under any necessity of marrying, do best if they continue single, 1Co 7:1; for they that are unmarried have opportunity, if they have but a heart, to care more for the things of the Lord, how they may please the Lord, 1Co 7:32; 1Co 7:34, being less encumbered with the cares of this life, and having greater vacancy of thoughts, and time to mind better things. The word eunuchs, from the Greek , eunouchoi, means having the care of the bed, or bed-chamber, (from ,) this being the principal employment of eunuchs in the eastern countries, that is, of such as our Lord says were made eunuchs by men, merely for the purpose of attending in the apartments of queens and princesses.
19:12 For there are some {l} eunuchs, which were so born from [their] mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have {m} made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive [it], let him receive [it].
(l) A man can become a eunuch in one of two ways: the first is by castration or emasculation, and the other by natural causes, such as a rupture.
(m) Who abstain from marriage, and live as celibates through the gift of God.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes