In Matthew 19:12, Jesus is reported to say, “For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.” This is one of the odder sayings of Jesus. Has Professor Ehrman ever commented on this passage?
Interesting question. I used the search function to look for the word “eunuch” in Professor Ehrman’s blog posts. I found the following.
In his January 26, 2014 post on “Mary Magdalene and Jesus” he said in response to a question “I don’t think Jesus had castrated himself! (That’s what “becoming a eunuch normally meant in the ancient world).” He said pretty much the same thing in response to a question on his January 24, 2014 post on “Was Jesus Married?”
In a response to a question in his January 18, 2013 post on “In Favor Demythologizing the Ethics of Jesus” he said “Ah, the eunuch idea was one of the first to be demythologized!!”
In response to a question on his August 29, 2012 post on “Problems with Other Translations”, he said “Well, I’m not sure the verse is clear; are you saying that “make themselves eunuchs” means “castrate themselves”? I wonder if Matthew supported self-castration for the sake of the kingdom. If so, I’m not sure what it means! (Why would it be for the sake of the kingdom?)”
Fearguth said
In Matthew 19:12, Jesus is reported to say, “For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.” This is one of the odder sayings of Jesus. Has Professor Ehrman ever commented on this passage?
I think it fits in with Jesus’ tendency to advocate extreme actions for securing entrance to the Kingdom, it is part of his apocalyptic imagery.
Will Professor Ehrman please state his position on whether or not this is likely or not to be an authentic saying of Jesus? That seems to be the first issue to settle.
Then why does he find it difficult to interpret? It seems pretty straightforward. Even if taken figuratively to mean that a male should remain celibate if he can take that upon himself, a male who remains celibate is only a half step away from being an actual eunuch. In fact, he might be better off taking that half step and not be tormented by hormonal urges that would distract from dedication to the kingdom. I must admit the notion sounds more Pauline or Johannine, so did Jesus really say this?
Wimrick388 said
Will Professor Ehrman please state his position on whether or not this is likely or not to be an authentic saying of Jesus? That seems to be the first issue to settle.Then why does he find it difficult to interpret? It seems pretty straightforward. Even if taken figuratively to mean that a male should remain celibate if he can take that upon himself, a male who remains celibate is only a half step away from being an actual eunuch. In fact, he might be better off taking that half step and not be tormented by hormonal urges that would distract from dedication to the kingdom. I must admit the notion sounds more Pauline or Johannine, so did Jesus really say this?
I think the verse fits in with Matt 5:29-30 : It is better to do away with bodily based desires by way of self-mutilation if they prevent you from entering the Kingdom. It is just the most extreme case. Both two as diverse scholars as Gerd Lüdemann and Géza Vermes considered it to be possibly authentic in varying degrees (Jesus nach 2000 Jahren, p.264/The authentic Gospel of Jesus p.365-66). It seems to me that all the authenticity criteria are met here.
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert
1 Guest(s)